My Score: 3 stars out of 5
Continuing on from my last literary review (7 months ago, I haven’t been on the greatest form, I know), today I’ll take a look at Emily Bronte’s only ever novel in 1847’s Wuthering Heights. Sadly, unlike her sister Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights fails to create a fully compelling and interesting narrative, failing to address any such political or societal issues that Jane Eyre does. Despite this, Wuthering Heights still remains, at times, a solid and gripping read and it’s strongest elements come from it’s quite unique setting and character analysis.
One thing to note in fairness to Bronte, is that one of the more disappointing elements of the story; the ending, may have been heavily impacted by Emily’s publisher. For instance, Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation of Louisa Alcott’s Little Women novel looks at how the author of the original story will have had to make the conclusion of the story much jollier and more celebratory, presumably to match the expectations of a Victorian audience. As a result, the ending of the film is highly anti-climatic and fails to match the intrigue and complexities of the rest of the picture. Such is the case in Wuthering Heights. Although there is something quite cathartic and heart-warming about Cathy and Hareton’s eventual marriage, Heathcliff’s eventual so-called “redemption”, leaves a lot to be desired. We cannot really buy that because he’s finally decided to let the two marry, that he is somehow forgiven for all his previous crimes and suffering to the two. Indeed, several so-called critics have claimed that towards the finale, sympathy and admiration is supposed to be dealt to Heathcliff, but the feeling is far more pain felt relief that the tyrant has finally gone up above to reunite with his equally dismal Catherine. Although it is always nice to have a happy ending, it does seem heavily out of the place in terms of the pacing and mood of the rest of the book. A much more complex and unorthodox conclusion would surely have had Heathcliff truly redeem himself, or maybe even had him remain a tyrant and subsequently shocking and angering us, but giving an ending that causes a reaction that gives more than a temporary sigh of relief! Indeed, Charlotte’s Jane Eyre also ends in a similar manner with Jane finally marrying Mr Rochester, and becoming his servant, something she declared would never occur. But at least that is explained in a more even manner.
Despite the disappointment of the ending, the tale is full of interesting details and devices. Indeed, the manner in which the novel’s beginning turns out to the end is a brilliant idea, way ahead of its time it seem too, the majority of the story being a recollection of Nelly’s experiences with the Earnshaw family. This structure therefore leaves us with almost an instant desire to go back and revisit Lockwood’s initial residence at the Heights now we know the very history of the place, any book that does that creates such an effect has achieved a great feat. The two halves of the story; the first generation of Heathcliff and Catherine, and the second of a younger Cathy with Linton and Hareton manage both to be of equal quality, and act as a great way to fully examine the character arch of Heathcliff, who, despite the odd ending, is easily the novel’s most intriguing character. His journey from respectable hero, who is betrayed in a manner in which we greatly pity him for, before being turned to the most despicable villain is very craftily done.
One problem I did find to be inescapable was the sudden leaps of time in the story. Admittedly, it is a matter of exceeding difficulty to properly execute a fully logical sense of time in novels, it is not like a show or a movie where exposition can be clearly given, to rely on words alone and not visual aids is a tricky matter. Yet, in Heights, at times not even an effort is made to show how time passes. Perhaps the most crucial event of the novel in the event of Catherine Earnshaw’s death is almost glossed over. If one was to skim over the second sentence of the related chapter, one would both miss that she went into child labour and subsequently perished from this. This sudden leap of time occurs again in the second stage of the novel, at one point during young Cathy’s childhood, the narrative simply tells us five years have passed and she has now become an adult, without even the beginning of a new paragraph, let alone chapter! Ironically, this is also an issue in Charlotte’s Jane Eyre when our protagonist’s adolescence is simply skipped over and her childhood goes straight to maturity.
Despite this, the time issue thankfully does not take away from the novel’s immersion. Both the descriptions of the domestic scenes, as well as the beautiful and vast moors, really makes the story feel like one that could actually happen. That being said, there is a strange presence, as is the case at times with the Bronte works, of a supernatural and mystical mood. Indeed, when Heathcliff begins his demise, he acts as if he has seen the ghost of his late love, and when the villain eventually dies, it is strongly rumoured his ghost prowls the land. Apologies to yet again bring up Jane Eyre, but also in that novel there is an odd occurrence when both Jane and Mr Rochester seem to call each other in their dreams despite being far apart, and the latter recalls this in their reunion. These quite creepy but also oddly comical occurrences actually add quite a strange enjoyment to the story, something with a bit of a mystical edge. What also adds to such immersion in the sense of isolation over the two major houses, the families really are lonely groups, which one can tell from Hareton and Linton’s apparent awkwardness and lack of social skill. These are places that are not in any major way affected by any other societal expectations or cultural norms, there isn’t really a sense of class conflict or divisions as a result, nor the tiresome aspects of “polite society” we see again and again in bores like Pride and Prejudice.
What of course is the biggest criticism of this book is, and the reason so many students and more casual readers lose interest quick is the fact both Heathcliff and Catherine are horrid, irrational and unlikeable. And although this is not my favourite tale, this is not at all why I had issue with it, the two’s portrayal is complex, interesting and a breath of fresh air from the traditional perfect love story. Indeed, the two are clearly flawed, as mentioned before, Heathcliff’s spite and resentment in the later half of the novel is especially hard to take considering his virtues in the first. Even lady Catherine, both in fact, whilst deep down seeming to take sympathies with the lower down boys, often infuriate us with their mischievous and devious ways. Yet again, I must insist this does not in any major way ruin the novel, whilst it maybe would be nice to have a soul we could relate to or at least respect a tad more, this would in all honesty take from the more grim and gothic mood from the novel.
To conclude, whilst Wuthering Heights certainly isn’t making any of my all-time lists, I can appreciate the value of it’s unique setting, tone, structure and character analysis and is certainly a solid book for most students and young literary fans to go into.
Collected Essays 