Thursday, August 23, 2007

Moors and More

Comments about Wuthering Heights...

37 comments:

Caleigh said...

I actually enjoyed reading Wuthering Heights! Emily Bronte was a wonderful writer and I love how she uses different themes and symbolism throughout her novel! One aspect that really stood out to me was how the mood changed with the setting. For example, when the action was taking place at Thrushcross Grange everything was dreary and rainy causing the mood to be "down". However, when the story was taking place at Wuthering Heights the mood seemed to lighten up a little bit!

I am glad that we were assigned to read this novel again over the summer because I understood it a lot better the second time through! I was able to pick up on certain elements of literature that I skipped over last year!

Chairoscuro said...

Um...I really think that The Grange is meant to represent "good" and lighten the mood of the story and that Wuthering Heights brings it down with the "bad". At least for all the characters except Catherine and Heathcliff. They are darker than the other characters. Don't take darker to mean worse, Hindley was horrible and he was just as miserable at Wuthering Heights as he should have been but that was through his stupidity. C and H are stupid when it comes to there emotions but their minds are sharp...they are dark because they know in their minds exactly what they have done to one another but their hearts don't know how to process it.

I don't know if that ramble got where I wanted it to go. I think I am trying to say that the smart (enlightened if you will) amoral characters are more comfortable at Wuthering Heights because they know it is not the house that haunts their lives but the events that took place there and their (C and H) twisted emotions agree that being surrounded by and feeling those painful memories is better than feeling the nothingness they have cultivated in the rest of their lives.

Or

it could just be that is where they were together...happy together.

Renea said...

Until I read it the second time, I never understood how much heathcliff loved catherine. He's gruff, and insensitive, but his love for Catherine outweighs all the bad things in the novel. The fact that he asks for her ghost to come back is unbelievable, and the symbolism with her ghost and the moors is intriguing.

kolacki said...

I have decided that I actually like this novel a lot. I enjoyed reading about the symbolism and imagery that was seen throughout the book. The comparison between the dreary Wuthering Heights and the "unbeat" Thrushcross Grange was interesting and I don't believe an author could do what Bronte did on accident. Wuthering Heights was so negative just like the name of the place sounds like. Nobody would read the word Wuthering and think happy and cheerful things.

I also think it is interesting how a lot of things come back around right when the character thinks that they are getting over the hurt and pain. For example, when Catherine thinks that Heathcliff has left for good, she makes up her mind and decides that she definately wants to marry Edgar. Just as she is getting over the loss of Heathcliff, he comes back and emotionally hurts her again... I don't think he ever knew just how much he truly hurt the one that he loved so much (Catherine).

I am excited to reread this novel at the end of the year, so that I can pick up on more of the sybolism, and other well written ideas that Bronte put in the story.

ashleigh said...

yah i just wanted to add to ambers comment....I thought Heathcliff and Catherines love was amazing (though psychotic). Catherine said that she and Heathcliff were one in the same and they couldn't be separated - i think this forshadows the whole ghost situation. Heathcliff pleaded for her to haunt him because he wasnt complete without her. One couldnt live without the other.

Ultimate CYTer said...

Wuthering Heights is a very well written story. Bronte uses a lot of different devices to portray the theme, for instance, setting. Just the name Thrushcross Grange connotes a land of peace: a quaint farmland with beautiful melodious birds flying overhead. It is a warm and down-to-earth environment, and everything that happens there is full of life and love. On the other hand, Wuthering Heights connotes the antithesis: a cold and lonely manor and few windows on a single hill. Everything that happens there is dark and painful, full of hate and misery. The actions fit their surroundings.

CareBrown11 said...

Wuthering Heights is yet another "classic." I think Ms. Price summed it up pretty well when I heard her say that young people don't appreciate how great of a story it really is. The first time i read this book i hated it. The second time around, while looking for the symbolism, irony, and really trying to get a feel for the book i really ended up loving it. I think it's more of a "chick book" but I also believe many things can be learned and taken from the story on almost every level you'd like to look at it from.

Mrs. Harder said...

Good comments about setting. Can anyone think of more specifics about the physical buildings of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. U.C. talked about few windows. Look back at the descriptions of the exterior and the interior. There's LOTS more...

mollymcd said...

What I really enjoyed about Wuthering Heights was the second part of the story. I believe it really showed that you can have a happy life and find love even if you do experience some misfortune as long as you don't dwell on the misfortune and become morbid. Young Catherine and Hareton were both able to over come horrible circumstances to be together because their hearts remained pure. The book would not have been nearly as resonant if it had not included the second part.

Drew W. said...

Oh, Wuthering Heights...we meet again. In all seriousness, it was considerably more enjoyable this time around. Last year, I wasn't able to appreciate just how well Emily Bronte put together the novel. I guess deep down at the heart of the story, W. H. is meant to be a love story (although not a very happy one). But the whole plan of revenge plotted by Heathcliff is what really impresses me. Bronte was only a teenager when she wrote this, and the details and complexities of it all seems like something I could never do - even years from now. For such a young girl, she had an incredible deep sense of human emotions and thought.

Since we're studying tragedies right now, I started to try and see if it was possible to find a tragic hero in W. H. Naturally I looked towards Heathcliff. The first flaws that came to mind were jealousy, maybe even love. But I finally settled on envy, and not necessarily for material possessions. Although I think envy for wealth played a small part in his plan for revenge to gain W. H. and T. G., I think his envy for Catherine is the biggest part of the flaw. Think about it. The revenge plot shows that he wants everything to be under his control. Then when Catherine dies, his desire to have her is so great that he is haunted by her for the next 20 years or so. It gradually wears him down to a fragile state of mind. Then, I think you can make an argument that the recognition and reversal happens at the same time as well. When Edgar dies, it seems that everything is going Heathcliff's way: he will own everything. But as time goes by, something happens. When Heathcliff spends the whole night out walking, I think he finally recognizes that he can't have Catherine after all. That's when, even though it seems he is finally going to be victorious, everything changes. Heathcliff's health takes a turn for the worse, and Cathy begins to enjoy her life at W. H. There is a complete reversal of action, and it ultimately ends with Heathcliff's death. So in the end, it's more or less an unorthodox kind of tragedy, being that his death isn't really so terrible. But I think it works... maybe...it's a little rough right now, but I think I could smooth it out into a good argument.

Mrs. Harder said...

Great comments, Drew! And yes, Heathcliff may be seen as a tragic hero. Aristotle's elements are there, too. Good points about recognition and reversal. (Gee, do you think she included that stuff on purpose?!?) It is astounding that one so young could show such depth and knowledge of pain in her writing, but remember that the Bronte family had more than its share of tragedy. Good job -- any other thoughts about how the setting affects the overall meaning??

Mrs. Harder said...

Super comments across the board, Chairoscuro! Yes, I think you could support the idea that their love is a battle against ennui (Look it up, everyone -- you'll need it for Existentialism). I suppose a love that goes beyond the grave can do that.

sgrthered said...

Wuthering Heights besides being one of the most boring and interesting books i have read reminds me of a teenage soap opera. I thought the way that Emily Bronte took a story that is familiar to everyone in some aspect and turned into a long, long novel that i actually started to like towards the end was interesting. I have to say that the novel would have impressed me more if the story was actually between adults and not grown up babies that live to seek revenge and hurt other people, and in doing this, hurt themselves. I do have to admit that the amounts of symbolism almost convinces me that Bronte didn't actually know that she was doing, although i regret to admit she probably did. Over all i think that this was a long, somewhat interesting, unique novel.

Ashley C. said...

Emily Bronte does an amazing job not only at creating an intricate piece of literature, but also stirring up many emotions and tying the reader’s heart and soul into her novels. Through out Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte is trying to display the theme that anger and revenge stored in a person’s soul leads to nothing but destruction and misery along with a life of meaningless nothing. One is able to examine this theme closest when looking at the life of Heathcliff. He spends his whole life seeking revenge on Catherine and Linton. This leads to nothing but pain and misery in his life. At his death his tombstone is simply engraved with his name, “Heathcliff.” This symbolizes the nothingness his miserable life has amounted to. Just like there was nothing noteworthy written on his tombstone, there was nothing noteworthy in his life.

Aiken said...

But there were noteworthy occurrences in the tragic life of Heathcliff. What about his eternal love for Catherine? Is that not noteworthy? The fact that he is so in love with the woman that he wishes her to haunt him after death?

UNCdude33 said...

I don't wish to express how i feel about wuthering heights, because it would take way too long to describe. But that aside, i do think Emily Bronte does an excellent job creating a character (Heathcliff) that is a horrible, vile, disguting, grotesque (role model) creature and still find a way to make the reader sympathize or empathize, depending on the reader, with him and somewhat understand his viewpoint.

LizDee said...

Something I find interesting about setting and mood (to add to all the other comments about it) is how when the people connected with one place come into the other, they either change the mood or are changed by it. For example, the happiest times at Thrushcross Grange are when the people there are completely unassociated with those at Wuthering Heights. When Catherine goes there, the mood becomes darker with the conflict she brings with her. On the other hand, when little Cathy knows nothing of the Heights, the setting there is rather idyllic. When (oops I forgot his name) Mrs. Heathcliff leaves the Grange for Wuthering Heights, she becomes just as morose and dreary as the people there. But, once again, Cathy is the opposite. When she has stayed quite some time at the Heights, and Heathcliff has died, Wuthering Heights becomes a pleasant place. Although Cathy does at first act just as bad as her aunt and make Joseph think she's a witch. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's the people as well as the places that set the mood.

Allison said...

Wuthering Heights...well, I know one element I noticed in particular was Bronte's use of irony and its effect on the theme of rejection and revenge. In the book, when Catherine is confiding in Nellie about her struggle between Edgar and Heathcliff, Heathcliff is actually hidden in the room listening to the conversation. Ironically, though, Heathcliff leaves when Catherine says she cannot marry Heathcliff because of his status, right before she confesses that she truly loves Heathcliff more than anyone. The reader is given insight into Catherine's true feelings, but the one person who really needs to hear them (Heathcliff) is not present. Although very early in the book, I think this scene was a major turning point for Heathcliff and for the plot as a whole...it is at this point that Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights for a very long period of time attempting to make himself worthy and capable of getting revenge on Edgar and on Hindley, who had mistreated him as a child. It is during this scene too that the themes of rejection and inferiority are revealed, as Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights to escape his status as a poor, rough, servant boy. The driving force behind this turn of events is the irony in Catherine's confession of her feelings.

alekhya said...

Even though Healthcliff's and Catherine's love is so psychotic and strong, it is weak in many ways. Healthcliff and Catherine could have been united easily, but Catherine's desire for wealth, beauty, and social status and Healthcliff's jealousy and inferiority complex prevented that. This kind of ties in with what Drew said. Maybe Catherine could also be viewed as a tragic hero. That would make Wuthering Heights a tragic love story.

alekhya said...

Drew, I interpreted the ending a little differently from you. I thought that when Edgar died, Heathcliff stopped caring about the outside world because his plot for revenge had been complete and he had better things to think about (Catherine). And I thought that he deliberately put himself in such conditions so that he would die because he knew that he would be reunited with his love in the afterlife. Mrs. Deans refers to how Healthcliff would just randomly smile at himself near the end of his life. She also hears him talking to Catherine. He also seems to be well aware that he is going to die because he wants to write his will and gives Mrs. Dean instructions on how he is to buried. So Heathcliff was happy when he died. But it is still tragic because he just wasted his whole life and we don't know for SURE if he and Catherine are reunited.

alekhya said...

Was Heathcliff born evil or made evil? Basically, what I am asking is if the "blank slate" theory applies in WH.

Dean said...

I think that the "blank slate" theory does apply to Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. When Heathcliff was a boy and just adopted by Mr. Earnshaw, he was slightly roughened due to his previously impoverished and hard life but still exhibited childlike kindness and willingness to grow attached. As he was tortured throughout his life mentally and emotionally he became the disturbing character that he is for the bulk of the work.

Logan P. Kinley said...

I personally think that Wuthering Heights represents the wild rather than evil. There are happy times there for some its just the wild environment seems evil to most people. I think that Catherine was perfectly happy at the Heights, and i dont think that the argument could be made that she only liked the place because she herself was evil. Just a little bit wild...

williamlassiter said...

Wuthering Heights is a well written novel that I suppose can be considered a classic at some level. What I want to know is WHY Emily Bronte wrote this novel. It is almost certainly not meant for entertainment (dark, depressing, unbearably long w/ slow-moving plot) and does not appear to have any clear-cut purpose like the majority of the works that I have read in high school. All that I got from this novel was that there are people in this world who are loopy enough to take revenge to the extreme. Despite the fact that Bronte does a marvelous job in the incorporation of all of the literary elements discussed in the comments above (symbolism, imagery, mood, setting, etc.), the novel itself is for the most part aimless. Neither the first nor the second reading of Wuthering Heights kept me begging for more; on the contrary, I was begging Emily Bronte to put down her writing utensil and do something meaningful for a change.

That's my personal opinion on Wuthering Heights. Even though I HATED this novel, I have to give credit where credit is due and say that Emily Bronte did do a fantastic job with symbolism, however subtle, in the story. Her writing is also extremely descriptive (and at times rambling) and appeals to the senses and the emotions in a way that many novels cannot. She is a true maestro of character development, which is probably a big part of why this novel has gained "classic" status. If only this novel had some semblance of a purpose or message...I may have enjoyed it.

SecksiiPiE said...

The main thing in Wuthering Heights that sticks out to me is the relation between Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights--the whole concept of the Grange representing a paradise and Wuthering Heights being a sort of damnation. The events that happened in both households also suggest that the residents of their respective houses could be associated with either demons or angels. When Catherine becomes sick when she is living at the Grange, it seems she is being punished for her invasion of the paradise. Also, when Mrs. Heathcliff [forgot the name >_<] moved out of the Grange and into WH, the “hell,” she was like a little sweet angel thrown at the mercy of a ruthless demon [Heathcliff]. I am not saying that those who came from the Grange are 100% good and perfect, nor am I saying that those who came from WH are purely evil. The characters just seem to represent the metaphorical interpretation of where they come from in how they act and how the other characters treat them.

alekhya said...

I agree with Will. I don't understand the overall meaning of WH. What's the point of the novel???

Marchin'TarHeel said...

What I thought odd about Wuthering Heights was the anticipitory feeling that it evoked from me without much satisfaction. I was caught up in expecting the climax to be a bit more climactic and the suspense to be empty in the end. I was more caught up in Mr. Lockwood's story than Catherine, Heathcliff, and the younger Catherine's story told by Nelly. Because of this, I reread the novel. Reading through it a second time, I noticed the specific changes between the two settings of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange; how all events at Wuthering Heights are somber or chaotic, while most events at Thrushcross Grange are serene and almost ideal at that time. This is to say that the exception to the peacefulness at the Grange is not so when Heathcliff is present.

I thought it amazing, though, beneath the dense, complicated shell covering the truth of Heathcliff is his intense and obsessive love for Catherine, even after the 'betrayal' of her marriage with Mr. Linton and after death parted them (meaning Heathcliff and Catherine). One can observe insanity in Heathcliff's antics, such as the digging up of graves or belief in ghosts, specifically Catherine's spectre, but one can also observe the most intense and romantic love possible. This of course, may be a major stretch on my part, but I cannot see how many people can actually love a person to that degree, where every whim of every minute of every day reminds that person of his or her love, which is exactly the way Heathcliff stressed himself daily.

swimchicmer said...

I think it is interesting how throughout this novel, the setting seems to illustrate the mood at the time. There are a lot of ups and downs in the story, and the setting always matches how the characters are feeling. For example, Wuthering Heights is described as being a very dreary, gothic style house. It does not have flowers blooming in the front yard or beautiful bushes like the Grange does. This correlates with the mood of the characters in and around the house because it is basically a place of misery. Someone is ALWAYS unhappy at Wuthering Heights, whether it is Heathcliff, Hareton, Hindley, Linton, Little Cathy, or just Joseph (who is constantly in a bad mood). The Grange, however, is always described as either having flowers blooming, or a beautiful snowy lawn. This goes along with the mood of the characters who reside there because basically all of the good and innocent aspects of the story occur at the Grange. The one time that things seem to be looking up at Wuthering Heights (when Cathy and Hareton start getting along) is when the dreary shrubbery is replaced with flowers...a change in setting that, once again, goes along with the mood.

Meggiebaby0312 said...

The More I read Wuthering Heights, the more I like it. I'm not going to lie, this last time I read it, I enjoyed it. I feel so bad for Heathcliff. Yeah, he does bad things but he's suffering so much on the inside. His love for Catherine is not just physical or sexual, but they are "one soul." Heathcliffs love and internal pain, really makes me feel sorry for him. I just want him to be happy and be with Catherine, so everyone else in the book can be happy too. I'll actually look forward to reading it again.
Also, the setting was a huge part in the novel. The Grange, and Wuthering Heights represented opposed forces. The Grange represented a safe haven, and good. The Heights represented Hell, and Evil. The setting really helped me see all the emotions evolving in the book.

ZJRembecky said...

The setting in Wuthering heights affect the rest of the story by contrasting the difference between differences in the story. While Wuthering heights and the people who live there are wild and deranged, and it starts to take this effect on those who move there. Thrushcross Grange on the other hand has a more refined and calming effect on the characters that live there, as shown hen cathrine earnshaw stays there. The moors serve as a divider between the two houses, and the town, which represents civilization.

Anonymous said...

BRAD'S COMMENTS:Wuthering Heights:
On Wuthering Heights it is truly remarkable that Bronte can create such an amazing tragic hero as Heathcliffe. He is utterly horrid and tremendously rude and cruel yet somehow the reader sympathizes with him. I found that I was much more opposed to him then the majority of my friends who read, but at certain times I felt for him. I think this is the essence of Wuthering Heights. Although you find yourself repulsed at certain characters or even places (Wuthering Heights), you still find yourself oddly attracted to them.

Olivia said...

The first time i ever read Wuthering Heights, all i got out of it was that Heathcliff was a sad, sad man and he therefore wanted to bring everyone else down with him. I did enjoy the novel a lot more this time, probably because i understood it a great deal more. I was amazed at how the descriptions Bronte used about the setting created an amazing sense of imagery. I also didn't catch the realationship between the Grange and the Heights until this time around, also. The first time i read the book however, the line that Catherine says about she and Heathcliff being "the same" and her stating that she was Heathcliff did stand out to me, i just didn't realize why. Now that i look at the novel, I realize that i think even if Heathcliff hadn't wished for Catherine to haunt him, there would have been some way for the two to be together. I saw such hate from Heathcliff throughout the novel, but i realized that the love overcame this and other emotions. I believe that the passion between Heathcliff and Catherine was stronger than any type of hate ever shown in the novel and for this reason I believe that the two could never really be apart. As much as i ever may understand this novel, i just don't know why Bronte would write such a story, regardless of the tragedies she faced in her own life.

CarolineSSS said...

Remember when Catherine explains that she has such a strong relationship for Heathcliff to the point of telling Nellie she is Heathcliff?

The first time I read this: What is wrong with her? She sounds like such a teenage GIRL.

The second time I read this, after I know the ending, after I know Heathcliff's everlasting feelings for her, carrying them on into that strange burial plan: Wow. How was so insensitive not to read into the depth of the relationship by these characters' actions? The fact that they don't marry is overwhelmingly more powerful than if they did end up marrying--not to mention, the story would have stopped a quarter into it. It is necessary for them to stay separate for the relationship to mean as much as it does by the end of the story.

Sorry I don't have much specifics to cite... I did read a month ago, and I have read a lot more since.

JourdanP said...

I actually did not enjoy Wuthering Heights at all. Over the summer I didnt really think too in-depth about the work. However since I have had a little more practice in analyzing works, I noticed how huge of an impact the setting has on the work. Thrushcross Grange was the "happy" place. It also is a farm, where things grow, which is esentially where Catherine grew into the person she turned out to be. Wuthering Heights was a more dreary setting. This is where more of the depressing action takes place. We assosciate the bad characters in this work with Wuthering Heights.

Hannah said...

The first time i read Wuthering Heights i hated it so much and didn't understand how such a depressing novel could have become a "classic." I am so glad that i got a chance to read it again, becuase while i still did not enjoy the book as a book, i could appreciate the whole twisted tragic love of Heathcliff for Catherine. I loved how time apart did not lesson Heathcliff's love for Catherine, even death could not do that. Setting played a huge part in this novel, the detailed descriptions of Wuthering Heights and Thruscross Grange set the two places off as opposites, like light and dark. Also the fact that the story is set in the wild, untamed, moors sets a romantic mood for Heathcliff and Catherine's tragic love story.

Joe said...

Alright, but this type of literature is somewhat dated in its overly romantic tone. Not a bad tale, just overly sweetened. This reminds me of why the art world rebelled against romanticism at the last quarter of the 19th century. But if Wagner and Mahler are still listened too, I suppose that this can endure too!

andrewxthorndyke said...

jus any old comment?? heathcliff is a punk


"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Lao-tzu, Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)