What Gothic tropes can you notice in so far in Wuthering Heights?
This was a little homework task we had to do a few weeks ago - I felt like I unearthed some interesting things. Teacher's comments are at the bottom in italic as usual so if you do use this essay to help you in revision, make sure to see those comments to see what you could improve on!
In the novel ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Brontë, the first strongest Gothic trope is the character of Heathcliff, who, as a dark classic Byronic hero and villain-hero, corresponds to one of the most known characteristics of Gothic Literature. The reader feels a certain appeal towards this dark character whose past is filled with pathos after being miserably domesticated by a hostile middle-class family throughout his childhood. There is a Romantic element to his character; indeed, he represents the outer limit of Romantic individualism with his wild, animal-like nature (he is often described as ‘growling’ instead of speaking), unique swarthy ‘gypsy’ looks, mysterious origins, troubled past, cryptic voyages and walks (we never learn what he did in those three years after which he came back a rich gentleman nor what he does on his long walks on the moors) and the generally lonely life he defiantly leads, isolating himself from everyone through his cruel and hardened nature. His ambition and intellectual sins lead the reader to both admire and dislike him strongly. This image of romantic ‘heroism’ is perceived in him by Isabella Linton who ‘evinced a sudden and irresistible attraction’ towards Heathcliff whereas Catherine sees him for what he truly is – a ‘fierce, pitiless, wolfish man’ – a dark Gothic villain with a raging desire for vengeance. He is also the main romantic interest in the novel. Catherine, the heroine, is pursued by both him, a dangerous suitor, and Edgar Linton, the good, respectable suitor and although Catherine ends up choosing Edgar through her desire for a respectable social position, she is still besotted with Heathcliff and the two share a tumultuous, thrilling, passionate relationship which the reader can’t help but feel is more visceral and exciting than the marriage she has with Edgar, the gentle and almost boringly ‘good’ man. Furthermore, Heathcliff’s passionate love for Catherine shows his human side and when Lockwood overhears him calling out to her ghost ‘bursting into an uncontrollable passion of tears’, there is this chilling moment when we can really perceive the depth of his ‘anguish’ and are impelled to feel compassion for this man, who has a human side buried deep under all his hostility, hardened by years of abuse and rejection from society.
In addition, the presence of the supernatural in ‘Wuthering Heights’ is another notable Gothic element. The words ‘ghost’ and ‘haunted’ are referenced several times throughout the novel, notably after Catherine’s death when Heathcliff, in an outburst of grief and anger, begs her to ‘haunt him’ and ‘not leave him in this abyss where he cannot find her’. This chilling plea turns out to have been granted; the moment when Catherine’s ghost appears at Lockwood’s window is terrifying – an ‘intense horror of nightmare’ – and reveals that Wuthering Heights and the moors are haunted by her ghost who claims to have been lost in the moors and seeks refuge in the house. The moors represent her deep, tumultuous passion and the sinister wilderness that dominates the hearts of the supposed civilised people around her – she has been lost trying to find happiness in such a broken world, which eventually drove her to madness. At the end of the novel, we learn that the ghosts of Heathcliff and Catherine are still roaming but together now, finally reunited in death. This chilling paranormal element adds to the Gothic nature of the novel and deepens the story’s darkness with the idea that Catherine and Heathcliff declined a Christian Heaven and decided to remain on Earth together as ghosts as so to re-live their childhood spent playing on the moors together.
On the subject of the idea of rejection of Christian Heaven present in the book, ‘Wuthering Heights’ deals with taboo subjects and takes a rather brave step in the direction of challenging the idealisation of Heaven as well as bringing up topics such as mental illness and suicide – both things not usually talked about comfortably in the strictly religious Victorian period. Catherine, in particular, is a revolutionary female character. She is portrayed as a ‘femme fatale’, dark-haired and hot-tempered, an element of Gothic presence in Wuthering Heights, a strong-willed woman fuelled with passion. In the Victorian Era, at the time ‘Wuthering Heights’ was written, society was still impregnated with the idea that women were supposed to subservient, gentle creatures under the rule of a patriarchal system. Catherine transgresses this stereotype completely with her ‘bold, saucy’ personality. Full of vivid thoughts and intensely dark emotions, she is a violent character (physically attacking others in fits of rage and threatening violence) and openly admits to her pagan desire to reject Christian Heaven and stay in Wuthering Heights (the symbol of her ‘sinful’ passion for Heathcliff) while describing a dream she had to Nelly. She states ‘heaven did not seem to be my home’ and that she ‘broke her heart with weeping to come back to earth’. There is a blatant dismissal of Christian Heaven here as Wuthering Heights, with all its dark history and weary, grey moors, is depicted as the utopia for Catherine, who prefers to give into her wild, un-lady-like passion for Heathcliff and their adventures together in the moors than live in perfect ethereal peace. Her mental illness, which burgeons after Heathcliff marries Isabella, is also strongly depicted with she herself admitting to suicidal tendencies and desires ‘I’d kill myself directly!’. Nelly describes her fall into deep, painful depression – something which could have potentially shocked Victorian readers at the time as mental illness was rarely discussed and not always believed in. In addition, Heathcliff’s rather mysterious death at the end could be interpreted as a suicide as he refuses food and basically starves himself. Suicide was seen as a sin back then but Emily Bronte nevertheless brings up the topic a lot in Wuthering Heights, through the broken characters of Catherine and Heathcliff, romanticising its tragic role in their reunion after death and challenging us to think of our own perspective on Heaven. Perhaps she is suggesting a perfect heaven is maybe not so perfect after all?
Moreover, the setting of ‘Wuthering Heights’ is undeniably Gothic with the extreme landscape and weather (desolate, windy moors) and the old, decaying family household Wuthering Heights. Within the first opening paragraphs, this dark setting is established with Lockwood describing the ‘atmospheric tumult’, ‘stormy weather’, ‘gaunt’ vegetation and ‘desolation’ dominating the area. It can be argued that there is much symbolic significance to the moors and the old Wuthering Heights house. Both have harboured dark, violent storms, both physical and emotional and add to the supernatural sinister atmosphere and idea of Wuthering Heights being home to broken, hateful people ruined by misery, vengeance and abuse. The crumbling, old estate, ravaged by wilderness, represents darker forces of individual passion, natural energy and the detrimental effect of the social restriction its inhabitants, mainly Heathcliff, have suffered. The wilderness and darkness of the setting is also reflected in the character of Heathcliff with his natural wildness, animal-like mannerism (he is often described to ‘growl’ instead of talk) and temperament the mirror of the hostile and stormy environment he occupies.
Similarly, the Gothic theme of fierce passion appears in this novel. The passion for love, revenge and happiness in ‘Wuthering Heights’ dominates the behaviour and actions of a lot of the characters in this novel. Bronte explores both the joy and danger passion brings. Catherine’s passion for Heathcliff leads her to mental illness, poor health and finally death while his raging desire for her leads him on a desperate quest to prove himself, which ends up making him a dark, evil man bent on revenge. But it can be argued that all of the misfortune and darkness their passion created can be traced to Catherine’s detrimental decision to go against her true passion and pursue her social ambition by marrying Edgar Linton, thus twisting her and Heathcliff’s initial desires, both of them straying from their initial path. Perhaps Bronte is implying following one’s real passion and not vain ambition will lead to happiness. Indeed, in the end, passion seems to trump everything, even death. Young Cathy’s passionate desire to change her dark disposition leads her to finally winning over Hareton’s affections back and eventually marrying him and ultimately reversing the depressing situation Heathcliff had trapped her in. Heathcliff’s passion for Catherine, the real core of his desire - to be with her – is fulfilled after he dies and the two are reunited as phantoms, free to relive their childhood in the moors in the after-life.
In addition, there is another underlying Gothic theme being explored in ‘Wuthering Heights’ – the loss of safety in a perilous world full of passion and heartbreak and the blurring of the line between culture and nature, more specifically, the idea of domestic life being invaded by Nature. This is explored in the contrast between Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. Sheltered from the wild moors with its tidy parks, Thrushcross Grange embodies culture with its sophisticated family history (the Lintons are high-class, distinguished people) while Wuthering Heights is situated deep in the moors and slowly grows more and more dilapidated and overrun with vegetation (‘excessive slant of a few stunted firs at the end of the house’), as the story progresses and Heathcliff’s, the new master of the house, wild nature grows more and more hostile. The dark history and tragedies that have transpired in the Wuthering Heights house as well as the burning passion of its master are reflected in the growth of the physical wilderness, slowly talking over the house. One could suggest Emily Bronte paints this picture to warn the readers of the power of passion. It can take over culture and social life (which the house represents, as a creation of man and social place) and lead to wild, untamed conditions in one’s life. There is the idea of love and passion leading to an untamed and wild invasion of the home and loss of comfortable domestication.
Similarly, in Wuthering Heights, the characters and their desires end up being tempted to or actually transgressing the rules of domesticity and the repressive patriarchal structure that frames the latter. In Victorian culture, home and family were seen as the most important things in one’s lives, symbols of power, social class and privilege. This is why it is interesting that in ‘Wuthering Heights’, the forces of love and passion seem to invade the sheltered home and threaten these social relations which repress primitive desires: Heathcliff and Catherine’s supposedly ‘wrong’ but raw and deep love is restricted by their differing backgrounds but end up being the catalyst of all the tragedies that transpire throughout the book. The brutality of paternal or male authority also interferes with this primitive love at first – Hindley’s domestic tyranny forcing the two apart and abusing the lower-class Heathcliff. There is the idea that these artificial forces – domesticity and patriarchy – are essentially interfering with Nature. It feels almost wrong and unnatural to try and separate the two lovers whose love is so raw and visceral just because it transgresses the rules of these two social constructions. Although the threat of their love is real: their powerful desire for unity disturbs all these social and familial relations. Indeed Catherine’s love for Heathcliff includes a refusal of the ‘niceties of domestic passivity, propriety and duty’ as the extract from ‘Gothic’ by Fred Botting states –their love developed while they roamed freely in the moors together, deep in Nature, untamed and wild. In comparison, the ‘respectable’ proper marriage between Edgar and Catherine is stale and dull with the two’s unrequited interests and desires conflicting. Bronte challenges the idea that social class is the most important and ultimate way to happiness by portraying the properly bourgeois ends of marriage (Frances and Hindley’s marriage, Catherine and Edgar’s marriage) as ending in death and tragedy.
Teacher's comments:
Well done - you are so good at making links back to the text.
- Great link to context and the Gothic
- Try to analyse more some of the specific language used by Brontë - what about a bit more on the effect on the reader?
-Why do you think Bronte chose to write a Gothic novel (she may be influenced by Mary Shelleys' Frankenstein (1818) or Austen's 'Northanger Abbey' (1817) - she would have read these... and her sister's 'Jane Eyre' just a few yrs b4 WH, (1847)... this has Gothic elements.. you are SPOT on with analysis but to BOOST your grade to need to 'think out' of the text ... does that make sense?
There is SO much here - keep revising it to use in essays, well done!