Emily Bronte, a young 19th century writer of the time, had only written one novel in her lifetime – “Wuthering Heights.” The genre of the book is a work of fiction, with a romantic theme.
Heathcliff, an orphan who was taken to a mansion in the moors of Wuthering Heights, falls in love with young Cathy (Catherine), the protagonist who’s above his class, and eventually fall desperately in love with each other. Heathcliff, the antagonist, is jealous with rage when he comes back after leaving for three years to find the love of his life married to the neighbor boy, Edgar Linton at Thrushcross Grange.
After a dramatic enthrallment for devotion of each other’s love, Cathy dies. Heathcliff vows to wreak havoc on all the lives of her counterparts, such as Cathy’s daughter Catherine, her brother’s son Hareton and his own son Linton.
One of my favorite characters in the book was Nelly, or Mrs. Dean; she mainly narrates the story of her perspective of being a servant to the family. She is the cleaning servant, a mother figure, a confidant and most of all the justice between the characters. The reason I like Mrs. Dean the most because she gives a nonbiased point of view between the main characters and their actions. She is the voice of reason.
Mrs. Dean always had the biblical idea of right and wrong, and although she became frustrated when involved with the characters misgivings and issues, she grew fond of Catherine and Hareton, where she raised them as the nanny or pseudo mother figure. I appreciate the way she always stayed humble and cared for the family, even if they were unappreciative of her kindness and advice.
My favorite thing about the book is toward the end, which I will not spoil. But I will say that it is the only happy part, and makes you go “Awww…”
The thing I appreciate most about the book is how the characters act in terms of being human. It shows the complexities of human emotion from enduring love to anger to spite to grief to enduring love to eventually heartbreak.
Being human, feelings and emotions are very difficult to understand, especially feeling them, and the way Bronte describes these characters and how they speak so vehemently of their feelings, put my mind into perspective of the characters and their true disposition. It shows that we as people can feel an array of difficult emotions that are hard to cope with. How we could be happy for a long time, to then suddenly an event sways one’s emotions so hard that it can negatively affect their health as well as the people around them.
One scene shows an example of one of the complex feelings that was presented in the book.
The scene where Cathy is on her deathbed opened my eyes to seeing how diluted a person can be when they are in love with one person, but be committed and love another. How a person can be delirious to try and find some kind of resolution to keep two people who despise each other in her life, thinking there will be no complications – especially if she makes it a love triangle.
As a reader, I found it difficult to feel bad for the main characters of the book. Specifically, Cathy, Heathcliff and Hindley.
I did not appreciate Heathcliff as a character. I didn’t like how spiteful and surly he is throughout most of the book; to do such unforgivable things to the children Catherine and Hareton, especially to his own child Linton, was extremely abusive and just downright terrible.
I also didn’t appreciate Hindley as a character. He had dangled Hareton, who was only five at the time, over the balcony and drunkenly dropped him from it. Fortunately, he was caught by Heathcliff, but the father had not much care for Hareton, and basically gave up his entire life and shunned God, all because his wife had died. It’s understandable why he was angry, but he was a shut-in alcoholic with a gambling problem all the way up until his death at 27; it is hard to pity him because of his abhorrent misdeeds and behavior.
Cathy was my least favorite character. I did not like her attitude since the beginning of the book when her character was introduced. Cathy was always selfish toward the people that loved her, always trying to get her way and still getting what she wanted.
Her personality irritated me because she was always abrupt and selfish. When she got older her personality was tamed, but she was still very selfish, especially when she wanted both Heathcliff and Edgar, even after she married Edgar.
After Edgar had told her he never wanted to see Heathcliff again, she stuck herself up in her room for several days and made herself go mad, not eating at all. I found it difficult to care about her after that scene, even up until when she died.
Overall, this book felt very real to me. It made me feel like I was actively watching the characters and feeling their chaotic emotions with them. Watching the characters from a nonbiased view makes it more interesting to read.
I would recommend it to any young or older reader who is interested in Gothic themes and romantic tragedies – or people who romanticize tuberculosis (consumption).
I give this book a 7 out of 10.