Concetti Chiave
- Wuthering Heights contrasts with Thrushcross Grange, reflecting Heathcliff's primitive passions against the Lintons' stability and respectability.
- The novel intertwines Romantic and Gothic themes, using elements like ghosts and a sinister atmosphere to explore love, hate, order, and chaos.
- Its complex narrative structure, employing multiple narrators and non-linear storytelling, enhances verisimilitude and suspense.
- Names in the novel symbolize character traits and themes, such as Heathcliff's wildness and strength, and the eventual restoration of order.
- Windows serve as symbolic elements, marking key narrative moments, such as Catherine's ghostly presence and her connection to the moors.
Contrasts between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange
Wuthering Heights is a very gloomy place, firmly rooted in traditions and customs, it is appropriate for the Heathcliff's life, who leads primitive passions, while Thrushcross Grange reflects the Lintons' conception of life, based on stability and kindness and respectability.
Heathcliff is a Byronic hero, moved by irresistible passion, doomed to despair and a solitary life, and finally tending to a total identity with his soulmate, Cathy. He's also a Gothic villain in his inhuman treatment of his wife and son.
Also Catherine embodies a wild romantic nature: even though she is driven by her social ambitions, she is prompted to violate social conventions.
Romantic and Gothic themes in the novel
Wuthering Heights deals with many themes; passions and feelings are presented in a very Romantic way, they're violent and correspond to the wild natural landscape. Death is also an important theme, which is a moment of liberation of the spirit, and not a moment of forgiveness and end of conflicts, like in other Victorian novels. There are many Gothic elements, such as ghosts, Wuthering Heights' sinister atmosphere, and the dreams and superstitions often mentioned, which are not used to frighten the reader, on the contrary to convey the struggle between two opposites: love and hate, order and chaos.
Complex narrative structure
The narrative mode is a system of Chinese boxes; there are two narrators: Mr Lockwood and Nelly Dean, which represent the outsider and the insider. Mr Lockwood hardly ever narrates, he mostly writes down, in the form of a journal, what Nelly tells him. The story doesn't follow a chronological order and develops a narrative within the narrative, since there are other characters, who narrate to Nelly, and it is made up of many flashbacks, indeed the story starts almost at the end, when Lockwood is hosted by Mr Heathcliff. This complex structure create a sense of verisimilitude and suspence.
Symbolism and order in names
This novel represents a unique achievement in Victorian literature and it is often compared to Shakespeare's tragedies for its portrait of turbulent passions and unnatural crimes. It is regarded as perfect, since the order of the beginning is re-established at the end, at first there are the Earnshaws and the Lintons, then Catherine Earnshaw becomes Catherine Linton, then it appears the name Linton Heathcliff, which is an oxymoron, and as Catherine Linton marries Hareton Earnshaw she becomes Catherine Earnshaw and the order is re-established as Heathcliff's name disappears.
Symbolism of windows
The narration is characterised by three crucial windows, the first is at the beginning, Catherine's ghost knocks at the window as she wants to come in, and as Mr Lockwood tries to close the window pane he feels grasped by an icy cold small hand. The second is the window through which Cathy and Heathcliff are spying on the Lintons before Catherine's leg is bitten by the dog. The third one characterises the time of Catherine's death, before dying she wants Nelly to open the window, so her last look is towards the moors.
Meaning of names
The names in this novel are symbolical. The name Heathcliff is made up by two words: Heath and Cliff, heath is another word for moore and the short for heather, its wild vegetation, which characterises Wuthering Heights' surroundings, this represents wildness and freedom, the heath is uncontaminated, indeed Heathcliff is ignorant and not well mannered. The word cliff stands for a rock facing the sea or the ocean, which gives the idea of something strong, like his love for Cathy, harsh, rough and dangerous, like his revengeful attitude towards the Lintons.
Mr Lockwood on the contrary gives the idea of a locked door, indeed he's an outsider, he doesn't belong to the story.
Domande da interrogazione
- How do Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange contrast in their representation of life and characters?
- What Romantic and Gothic themes are present in Wuthering Heights?
- How is the narrative structure of Wuthering Heights described?
- What role do names play in the symbolism and order within Wuthering Heights?
- How is the symbolism of windows used in the narrative?
Wuthering Heights is depicted as a gloomy place, rooted in traditions and fitting Heathcliff's primitive passions, while Thrushcross Grange reflects the Lintons' stable, kind, and respectable life. Heathcliff embodies a Byronic hero with a solitary, passionate life, contrasting with the Lintons' orderly existence.
The novel presents passions and feelings in a Romantic way, with violent emotions mirroring the wild landscape. Gothic elements include ghosts, a sinister atmosphere, and superstitions, which highlight the struggle between love and hate, order and chaos, rather than frightening the reader.
The narrative structure is complex, resembling Chinese boxes, with two narrators: Mr. Lockwood and Nelly Dean. The story unfolds through flashbacks and narratives within narratives, creating a sense of verisimilitude and suspense, as it starts near the end when Lockwood visits Heathcliff.
Names in the novel symbolize the restoration of order. Initially, the Earnshaws and Lintons are distinct, but through marriages and name changes, such as Catherine Earnshaw becoming Catherine Linton, the order is re-established by the end, with Heathcliff's name disappearing.
Windows symbolize key moments in the story. Catherine's ghost knocks at a window, Cathy and Heathcliff spy through one, and Catherine requests a window be opened before her death, each instance highlighting significant emotional and narrative transitions.
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