What type of book is wuthering heights

It was the moors, the sort of bleak desolate nature of this place which was just on the periphery of Leeds. I was growing up in Leeds, a place where if you saw a blade of grass, you immediately ran out and kicked a football on it.

But as I was getting older, I was aware that right on the edge of Leeds, there was this wild strange place that, as an urban kid, meant nothing to me. That was the prism through which I looked at Wuthering Heights , and I had no fascination with the origins of Heathcliff or the romance at the center of it. It was just these brooding descriptions of this place that was slightly out of reach to me.

Why did he become so malevolent? Why did he become so cruel? Why was he so angry? Why was he so prey to these spasms of bitterness? And so I was as much fascinated with what kind of sensibility had written this as I was with what was in the book.

I never know what to think of it. I have just read over Wuthering Heights , and, for the first time, have obtained a clear glimpse of what are termed and, perhaps, really are its faults; have gained a definite notion of how it appears to other people — to strangers who knew nothing of the author; who are unacquainted with the locality where the scenes of the story are laid; to whom the inhabitants, the customs, the natural characteristics of the outlying hills and hamlets in the West Riding of Yorkshire are things alien and unfamiliar.

To all such Wuthering Heights must appear a rude and strange production. The wild moors of the North of England can for them have no interest: the language, the manners, the very dwellings and household customs of the scattered inhabitants of those districts must be to such readers in a great measure unintelligible, and—where intelligible—repulsive.

With regard to the rusticity of Wuthering Heights , I admit the charge, for I feel the quality. It is rustic all through. It is moorish, and wild, and knotty as a root of heath. Nor was it natural that it should be otherwise; the author being herself a native and nursling of the moors.

Doubtless, had her lot been cast in a town, her writings, if she had written at all, would have possessed another character. Even had chance or taste led her to choose a similar subject, she would have treated it otherwise. Whether it is right or advisable to create beings like Heathcliff, I do not know: I scarcely think it is. But this I know: the writer who possesses the creative gift owns something of which he is not always master—something that, at times, strangely wills and works for itself.

Wuthering Heights was hewn in a wild workshop, with simple tools, out of homely materials. The statuary found a granite block on a solitary moor; gazing thereon, he saw how from the crag might be elicited a head, savage, swart, sinister; a form moulded with at least one element of grandeur—power. He wrought with a rude chisel, and from no model but the vision of his meditations. Wuthering Heights is told so brilliantly.

Heart of Darkness also blew me away when I first read it. That, Wuthering Heights , and Hemingway showed me what literature could be; I could do whatever I wanted! Heathcliff embodies the idea of acting on pure id. I read Wuthering Heights when I was sixteen and had just left home. I did not read it as a love story. Wuthering Heights may help to reveal contemporary fears about a foreign presence in the house, threats to patrimony, or an influx of immigration through places like Liverpool, England in the form of the so-called "gypsy.

That Wuthering Heights is a romance is undeniable. The love between Heathcliff and Catherine transcends the boundaries between life and death, which is both creepy and aww-inspiring. While several marriages and sub-romances occur, the one between the two protagonists is far and away the most dramatic and memorable. All the characters are driven by their appetites—desire, passion, lust, and ambition. The plot line is propelled toward the reunion of the two lovers, so that when Catherine dies halfway through the book, the reader really wants to know how the romantic story will be resolved.

Heathcliff often shows up in top-ten lists of romantic fictional protagonists—often making number one. If you think that spitefulness is romantic, and that people destroying their lives is dramatic, go ahead and read this book. But don't say I didn't warn you. View all 36 comments. I just have to face the facts, Emily is no Charlotte. The characterisation of Heathcliff is incredibly strong.

He is a man who is utterly tormented by the world. As a gypsy boy he is dark skinned and dark haired, and to the English this rough, almost wild, look makes him a ruffian. He stands up for himself, and bites back; thus, he is termed a monster.

Call a man a monster, and eventually he may start acting like one. The world has made him bitter, and in a way ruined him. So he becomes even more tormented, this time by his own actions.

He has all the standard tropes of an anti-hero, one that becomes a figure that can be sympathised with and hated. Love is the key torment in both works. Heathcliff has been rejected, as Rochester cannot open his heart because of his secret wife. But, rather that overcome his personal loss, and subject the world to his dark and broody personality, Heathcliff actually seeks to do others harm. He is a very sensitive man when it comes to his own emotions, though he lacks any real empathy.

He does not care that he is creating more pain for others. He spends his life spreading more hate into the world. He knows how nasty he is: "She abandoned [her home] under a delusion," he answered, "picturing in me a hero of romance, and expecting unlimited indulgences from my chivalrous devotion.

I can hardly regard her in the light of a rational creature, so obstinately has she persisted in forming a fabulous notion of my character and acting on the false impressions she cherished. I have quite a few problems with the narrative. Why is it twenty years later in the form of an extremely long conversation?

Why is the servant still actually working for Heathcliff? She would have left. Nobody would choose to work for such a man. At times it felt like the credibility of the story was stretched to breaking point.

Nelly the servant actually being in some of the scenes was almost laughable. Often it was followed by a terrible explanation attempting to justify her presence. It sounded very desperate to me. This leads perfectly on to my next point. Half way through the story the start of volume ii we are told that the conversation has ended.

I mean seriously? So there are three layers of storytelling. Why not just have Heathcliff tell the story or at the very least have the servant tell the story from start to finish in one story arc with no time shifts. For me, it felt like Emily wrote herself into a corner with her choice of narrative and desperately tried to write herself out of it to the point of ridiculousness. How much of the story can we believe?

How much bias is in the narratives? Then there was the dialogue overloads. Large parts of the novel were entirely conversational. The narration was minimalistic and bare. The only character whose thoughts we were privy to, again Nelly the servant, was completely irrelevant to the plot. It was overflowing with emotions and private thoughts.

It was awkward. This is why plays have asides and soliloquies. There is clearly a great story here. Plot wise the novel is wonderful. But the way in which Emily told her story was nothing short of disastrous. It felt like a wasted opportunity. This novel needed to be taken apart, re-wrote, and put back together again.

Perhaps then it would have been worthy of the story it failed to tell. View all 48 comments. Written between October and June Most of the novel is the story told by housekeeper Nelly Dean to Lockwood, though the novel "uses several narrators in fact, five or six to place the story in perspective, or in a variety of perspectives". Thus, for example, Lockwood, the first narrator of the story, tells the story of Nelly, who herself tells the story of another character.

The use of a character, like Nelly Dean is "a literary device, a well-known convention taken from the Gothic novel, the function of which is to portray the events in a more mysterious and exciting manner". View all 7 comments. He visits his landlord, Heathcliff, who lives in a remote moorland farmhouse, Wuthering Heights. There Lockwood finds an odd assemblage: Heathcliff, who seems to be a gentleman, but whose manners are uncouth; the reserved mistress of the house, who is in her mid-teens; and a young man, who seems to be a member of the family, yet dresses and speaks as if he is a servant.

View all 14 comments. A classic revenge story with two characters with bad temperaments I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It's dark, it's pretty messed up and definitely not romantic really people? I worry about you. View all 17 comments. Apr 23, emma rated it liked it Shelves: owned-multiple , owned , clear-ur-shit , to-review , non-ya , classics. View all 49 comments. Feb 26, Jake rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorites. I first read this in AP English Literature - senior year of high school.

This book is dense and thick and confusing, and with a class full of haters, it was hard to wrap my head around it. I subsequently read it three or four more times for classes in college and every time I read it, I loved it more.

I always found some new, fascinating piece of the story I had never picked up on. The last time I read it, I suddenly realized that there were many hints and clues that Heathcliff could, in fact, be I first read this in AP English Literature - senior year of high school.

The last time I read it, I suddenly realized that there were many hints and clues that Heathcliff could, in fact, be black. A quick shot at research into Liverpool, where Mr. Earnshaw found the urchin, shows that it was the home to a thriving slave trade. This theory completely changes the story, in my opinion. Or the thought someone brought up in our seminar on the Brontes - what if Nellie is in love with Heathcliff and subsequently altered how she told the story?

You do find Nellie to be coincidently involved in many key scenes throughout the text. What if she isn't the good guy most readers assume she is? Wuthering Heights is one of the quintessential novels in history.

There's nothing else you can really say about it, except that it's one of the best pieces of writing to ever be created. It's just that incredible. View all 35 comments. Apr 05, Madeline rated it did not like it Shelves: ugh , the-list. If you've been following my status updates as I read this book, you can probably guess what kind of review this is going to be.

So let's get the good stuff out of the way first, and then I can start the ranting. Good stuff: I liked some of the characters. Ellen was sweet, and seemed to be the only sensible person in the story. And lord, does she get put through a lot of shit.

Girlfriend needs a hug and a spa weekend after all she's been through. I also liked Catherine II If you've been following my status updates as I read this book, you can probably guess what kind of review this is going to be.

I also liked Catherine II and Hareton - unlike their romantic predecessors and believe me, we'll get to those two soon , they were likeable most of the time. Sure, they had their jackass moments, but considering their respective upbringings, can you really blame them? Like I said, kind of irritating and stupid, but sweet. I also appreciated the incredible passion of the story and the passionate emotions it raised in me Sure, I hated Heathcliff, but even I swooned a little during his final scene with Cathy.

Sure, Emily Bronte has written the most terrifying portrayal of a love story I've ever seen Fatal Attraction? Terrifying as it is. Which brings me to the next section of this review Bad Stuff: I cannot, for the life of me, understand why anyone thinks this is a love story.

It's a horror story of love and passion gone horribly, horribly wrong, and Heathcliff is one of the greatest villains ever created in literature. Notice I said "villain" and not "antihero. He is a sociopath, and for the last fifty pages of the story I wanted to violently murder him so badly that my hands were shaking as I held the book. He is evil. Cathy doesn't get my sympathy, either. She was a spoiled, unfeeling bitch during every moment she was present in the story, and it's only because she was dead by page that she didn't make me as angry as Heathcliff did - she simply didn't have enough time.

But let's get back to Heathcliff - I cannot outline here all of the evil things he did over the course of the story, and to do so would probably be to give away spoilers. Let me just say this: I now understand completely why Wuthering Heights is being advertised in bookstores as "Bella and Edwards Favorite Book!

It should be. I don't know why so many readers get all fangirly over Heathcliff. He's an asshole, a sociopath, and even he knows how evil he is. As he says of Isabella, a girl he marries and then treats so horribly I can't even talk about it right now: "She abandoned them under a delusion I can hardly regard her in the light of a rational creature, so obstinately has she persisted in forming a fabulous notion of my character, and acting on the false impression she has cherished.

Even he thinks you're all morons for liking him. And, just to end this on a good note: I've shared this webcomic before, but it fits here too because, let's face it, the Bronte sisters had terrible taste in men. View all 54 comments. Feb 07, Kellie rated it did not like it Shelves: books-that-should-cease-to-exist. I read this book for my AP Literature class. I loved the teacher, loved the subject matter, and loved pretty much everything else we had read, so I had high hopes for this book. I must say, I made a genuine and sincere effort to like this book, I really did.

I got half way through with no hope in sight, yet I perservered, hoping the second half would show promise in the next generation. No such luck. Although nothing tops the finale "love scene" between Heathcliff and Katherine, with Heathcliff I read this book for my AP Literature class.

Although nothing tops the finale "love scene" between Heathcliff and Katherine, with Heathcliff foaming at the mouth and a verbal battle of "no, YOU killed me" "no, you killed yourself" a stupidity hiterto unknown since the "no YOU'RE prettier" battles. Eventually, the final pages came into view and I was desperate- there must be some redemption for this junk!

The characters are so self-absorbed and posses an unprecendeted lack of intelligence, yet are still portrayed as intelligent by the literary world, that it seemed like the only fitting ending would be the characters realizing their stupidity and engaging in a mass suicide. Every last word was idiotic and as empty as the first. But you know what grinds my gears even more than the fact that I wasted a week on this worthless pseudo-classic?

Foaming at the mouth, marrying someone you don't love, wow View all 38 comments. But this is a story set in , about a man named Mr.

Lockwood, staying the night at Wuthering Heights. He meets a man named Heathcliff, who seems absolutely miserable, and he meets a housekeeper named Ellen Dean who will eventually help us figure out why Heathcliff is so miserable. Oh, and when Lockwood goes to sleep that night, he is awoken by a ghost!

He then tells Ellen this, and she promptly throws us back into a flashback, where she becomes the new narrator, and we get to see what went down at Wuthering Heights many years ago. Wuthering Heights , at its black heart, is a story all about abuse, and cycles of abuse, and how abuse can impact so many hearts and so many generations repeatedly.

Abuse and cruelty truly breed violence, and Heathcliff and everyone he has been forced to interact with just showcase that theme over and over.

Heathcliff was orphaned and taken in, but everyone reminds him that he constantly is an outsider. But this story focuses on him and the three young people he grew up alongside of, and they are all shitty in their own ways.

And we eventually get to see their children who you guessed it are shitty, too! Again, cycles of abandonment and abuse is truly heartbreaking in every aspect. Also, the atmosphere was phenomenal, and the Yorkshire moors truly set a beautiful stage for this dark tale.

The things that those sister, and their entire family, had to go through. Seriously, I have so much love and respect in my heart for these three sisters, originally writing their dark tales under male pseudonyms, who will now never be forgotten. Also, I had the biggest giggle while reading about someone throwing hot applesauce at someone else, because like, just imagine that.

View all 15 comments. How to win over a girl??? Wait for both of your spouses to die and then force both of your kids to marry each other as a part of your decade long revenge plan and gain control over everything.

Rest in peace Catherine. View all 51 comments. Cathy and Heathcliff, a love story? At the beginning of our narrative Mr. Lockwood a tenant of Thrushcross Grange, visits his landlord Mr. Heathcliff at Wuthering Heights, four long miles away across the cold, eerie, moors, people back then walked a great distance they had few options without much complaining, troubled Lockwood wants to get away from society he came to the right place.

The setting is northern England , in the Yorkshire Moors a vast, remote, desolate and gloomy grassland beau Cathy and Heathcliff, a love story?

The setting is northern England , in the Yorkshire Moors a vast, remote, desolate and gloomy grassland beautiful and ugly at the same time, a haunting locale. Lockwood is the only person who likes Heathcliff " a capital fellow" in the area, he sees something no one else does on his mournful face, sadness maybe even regret like himself?

Later he learns the story of his landlord's tragic life, through Mrs. Nelly Dean his servant at Thrushcross Grange for three generations , she tells him about the life of Heathcliff found in the streets of Liverpool hungry , crying, dirty all alone without anyone caring there at the tender age of two, but the compassionate Mr. Earnshaw a wealthy man , Catherine's Cathy's father and takes him home. They never discovered the boy's true identity but because of the child's dark complexion, everyone calls him a gypsy.

The two Catherine and Heathcliff, grow up as brother and sister at Wuthering Heights always together Cathy and the unwanted orphan, playing on the lonely moors, they are soulmates.

Resented by Cathy's older brother Hindley, who beats him many times in fact everyone does, still the gentle Mr. Earnshaw loves the boy. In fact, they probably are second only to Romeo and Juliet in this regard. Unlike Shakespeare 's lovers, who are kept apart by the society in which they live, Catherine and Heathcliff are themselves responsible for their failure to fulfill their love for one another. Their own passionate natures make their union impossible. The novel contains a so-called framing device , which is a story that surrounds the primary narrative and sets it up.

Lockwood's visit to Wuthering Heights and the supernatural occurrence he witnesses there frame Nelly's narration of the novel's main story.