Wuthering Heights Book Review + Analysis
In this book review and analysis of March's book choice Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë for The Classics Club - I break down the story structure, discuss multiple themes, and give a final rating of this classic. This is a story about feuding families and revenge.
Disclaimer: This post may include affiliate links. If you purchase through my link, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. See my full disclosure policy, here.
Summary
Wuthering Heights is saturated in both rainfall and vengeance. Mr. Earnshaw brings home an orphan, Heathcliff. His children Catherine and Hindley don't take to this kindly, and when the adopted child wins their father's regard, he is despised even more by Hindley. However, Catherine and the orphan blossom into a strange romance. The two retain a deep passion for one another through adolescence into adulthood; it becomes a twisted obsession. And although they share love, she marries another man. Heathcliff's pain caused by the Earnshaw family molds him into the creature he becomes; he seeks retribution on them and their children. This is a revenge story.
"It was not the thorn bending to the honeysuckles, but the honeysuckles embracing the thorn."
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
A Book Review
290 Pages | Classic Gothic Fiction | Emily Brontë
1993 Barnes & Noble Books Edition
*This book review + analysis reveals spoilers*
Join the conversation at the end where the discussion questions for this 1847 classic novel are held; I hope you enjoy this book review of Wuthering Heights!
Structure & Theme
The novel is written non-linearly and mostly from the perspective of servant Nelly Dean; she describes the details of her life at Wuthering Heights. Through her storytelling, we get a birdseye view of how callous and spiteful these families at Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange are. Although the families intertwine, it's a constant battle between them.
This is where it gets confusing...
Within this story are two narrators: Mr. Lockwood and Nelly Dean. The interchangeable timelines are as follows:
present→ past→ present → story crosses into a different era of the past → present
Nelly retells the past to Mr. Lockwood who is caught in a storm outside Wuthering Heights, forcing him to stay the night. Anytime he is within the diction, it’s the present. The narration isn't particularly clear, especially within the first handful of chapters, causing a frustrating reading experience.
The characters within this story baffle me. It's shocking when one of our main characters dies halfway through the book, and it is a jarring turn of events when we follow the second generation of Earnshaw's, Heathcliff's, and Linton's. I am not a fan of this leap in time because none of the original characters have an arc, causing me to feel that nothing else matters with these people or their families. The torment they undergo falls flat because we don't learn about their internal conflicts.
Since the characters are wicked by nurture, the themes are quite melancholy:
Death
Madness
Identity within love
Revenge
Death
Death is the biggest catalyst for many of the plot points in the story. It's almost an obsession, Brontë's need to understand death and the afterlife force her to kill off many characters to unveil her ideas about spirits.
Catherine's perspectives on life and spirituality are rooted in an obsession for Heathcliff. Her dream reveals her belief:
"...heaven did not seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; and the angels were so angry that they flung me out into the middle of the hearth on the top of Wuthering Heights..."
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
This could be where Brontë foreshadows Catherine's character haunting the estate. These viewpoints would be interesting to explore if she had an arc, but she stays the same throughout the whole story. Selfish and vain.
My interpretation is that she is troubled by mortality. Catherine's death halfway through the story makes for a confusing turn point. Upon its approach, the suppressed emotions of her father's funeral arise. Catherine begs Heathcliff to forgive her and she implores him to never forget her.
This story is known for being haunting and ghostly, but I didn't notice any within the prose. After much research and rereading, they are in there... but the execution is poor. It's honestly too subtle; I didn't notice any of it the first time reading the book and questioned it during the second. Brontë's need for this character to die is only to haunt Heathcliff afterwards, yet that doesn't show up until the end of the book. Heathcliff sees her ghost before his death. It's a symbol for his forthcoming demise; and after he dies, locals roam their graves witnessing their ghosts, revealing their souls found each other in the afterlife.
Madness
In my opinion, the two main characters [the elder] Catherine and Heathcliff ascend into madness. During the final moments up to her death, Catherine hallucinates; she explains to Nelly the memories of being a child at Wuthering Heights that flood through. Her death is diagnosed as brain fever.
"The flash of her eyes had been succeeded by a dreamy and melancholy softness; they no longer gave the impression of looking at the objects around her: they appeared always to gaze beyond, and far beyond - you would have said out of this world."
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
Heathcliff is often referred to as a beast - a demon. Outside near a knotted trunk, he calls out to the elder Catherine after her death wishing she "wake in torment." He prays that she never finds rest until he is dead himself, then begs her to haunt him. He says,
"...only do not leave me in this abyss... I cannot live without life! I cannot live without my soul!"
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
My understanding is he and Catherine claim to have a deeper connection beyond this life that will take them into the afterlife together. The issue I have is that their actions on earth and their spiritual compass' are negative and demonic at times. They torment many people and themselves because they are so unhappy. I can't root for characters that don't evoke a deeper truth whether it's about life, love, grieving, or death. Brontë should not have given these characters their greatest desire - it justifies their revenge, hatred, and cruelty.
Identity within love
The elder Catherine and Heathcliff have a haunting romance. It’s not entirely loving, yet they cannot be separated. From an outsider's perspective, their romantic relationship is strange because they are technically siblings. However, they have an admiration that lasts their lifetime and into the afterlife.
Catherine says,
“My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.”
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
Catherine explains that she and Heathcliff are one and the same; she believes their connection is so strong that they mold into one being. Heathcliff likewise feels the same passion. At the end of the book, he digs up her body, then asks the gravedigger to bury him next to her. (It's all quite melodramatic)
Revenge
Most of this story is about families seeking revenge upon each other because of their upbringing and the ways they are mistreated. It controls Heathcliff most of this story; his physical and emotional abuse from Hindley and the elder Catherine become too much to bear - he runs away. When he returns, he learns his beloved Catherine married another man. Later, Heathcliff marries her husband's sister so he can inherit Thrushcross Grange.
Through all the heartache their love never ceases. Heathcliff and Catherine boast their admiration before their spouses and meet in secret upon her deathbed. Her death causes more tension between Heathcliff and the Linton's, becoming yet another reason Heathcliff torments the children.
Second Generation Wrap Up
Heathcliff takes revenge on Hindley's son Hareton after his father's death. Hareton is forced to labor on the land, much like his father made Heathcliff.
Trapped in a loveless marriage, the young Catherine finds out Linton pretended to love her so his father Heathcliff will inherit the Grange since he owns Wuthering Heights. The story concludes with the second generation inheriting the Grange: young Catherine marries Hareton Earnshaw (her cousin) after Linton's death (her other cousin, first husband, and Heathcliff's son).
It's all very confusing. Too many characters. Too much plot. No emotional relatability.
Afterthoughts & Rating
Reading this book was frustrating, not from the diction nor from the non-linear timeline, but the characters. Nearly everyone in this book is unlikable. The narration is confusing. I was taken aback when the elder Catherine randomly bares a child - a daughter named Catherine. It's hidden and I don't understand why. Tell me your thoughts.
Brontë only pursues the plot in this story: torment, revenge, repeat. None of the characters change; Heathcliff briefly transforms at the end when he doesn't kill young Catherine with his bare hands, but how is that growth?
I got halfway through this book until I decided to download the audio version just to get through it. This is a depressing, confusing, and traumatic story. I would not recommend reading. The second half of the story is about the next generation, and it felt like a completely different book.
While undertaking much research for this book review, I watched the 1992 adaptation of Wuthering Heights, and my opinion remains the same.
My hope is that her sister, Charolette is a better storyteller because we are reading Jane Eyre in November!
Please share your thoughts on this book review + analysis of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, even if you disagree!
Rating:
★
What is your biggest takeaway from this story?
Why do you believe Heathcliff mistreats Hareton so badly? Why couldn't he give Hareton the life he didn't have?
How do you interpret the elder Catherine and Heathcliff's relationship?
If Heathcliff was a likable character, what could have been different? Would there be a story at all?
