The Bronte Quartet Part Two: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

 I initially chose to review Wuthering Heights first because I thought it would be hard to get through and I might just as well get it out of the way but the more I've read about Emily Bronte, the less I feel like I'm trying to get it out of the way and the more I feel like I'm excited to explore the writing style of this gentle, reclusive person. 
Second to the youngest of the Brontes, not a lot was known about Emily Bronte, the most written of her came from her older sister, Charlotte, who is known for being "Emily Bronte's first mythographer." Charlotte not only burned her second manuscript shortly after Emily died but she also took it upon herself to rewrite several of Emily's poems to make them more acceptable to the public. 
The more I learn about Charlotte's desire for revisionist history the less I want to review Jane Eyre. 
Wuthering Heights is the only novel published by Emily Bronte and it was regarded as "clearly being written by a man with a depraved mind."

She's known for being extremely private and hardly ever going outside, having her most intimate relationships reserved for animals, specifically her dog, Keeper, who was written at the being the sole mourner at Emily's funeral and never quite recovered from her loss. She was very shy in nature but it was recorded by Charlotte that although she didn't speak to many people outside of the family, she kept up on them and knew of their lives on a familiar level. 
Emily and Anne were written as being best friends and almost inseparable. The four Bronte children, in their youth, worked on a fantasy realm but eventually, Anne and Emily broke away from this and worked on their own fantasy realm called Gondal. 
It's interesting that Emily and Anne closely worked together on a project they called 'The Gondal Poems' and left Charlotte out of it completely and even when Charlotte found the poems, Emily was very upset at the invasion of privacy. So I really think Charlotte was a bitch. Not looking forward to reading Jane Eyre even more. 
Wuthering Heights is known for it's primal, sexual themes and it's violence and barbarism. It's interesting to think that type of novel would come out as someone written as being timid and shy but others have said that Emily should have been born a man, as she did have confidence and courage and she was extremely bright. If she had been a man she would have been able to discover many things and move the world forward. 

She died of Tuberculosis three months after her brother and her sister Anne followed a year later. 

So onto to WUTHERING HEIGHTS


We open the story to the narration of Mr. Lockwood, he's recently begun renting Thrushwood Grange and wants to meet his landlord who resides in Wuthering Heights. 
Immediately, we meet Mr. Heathcliff who is for lack of a better work, surly. Heathcliff doesn't want visitors but he won't say that outright. He makes every physical effort available to him to show Lockwood as much. Lockwood continues to be polite and pleasant and pushes his own unsociable characteristics on Heathcliff trying to see the man as a capital fellow. 
During their first visit, Lockwood is left alone briefly with Heathcliff's dogs and they attack him. A kitchen maid comes to Lockwood's defense and Heathcliff finds the entire thing amusing. 
It's after this that Heathcliff sort of warms up and Lockwood says he finds Heathcliff intelligent on various subjects. They part ways and Heathcliff invites Lockwood back the next day. 

The next day comes and although Lockwood didn't really want to go to Wuthering Heights, he felt like it was a better alternative to sitting in his study while a servant cleaned the fireplace and had ash everywhere. He goes to Wuthering Heights and finds the front door locked and the servant, Joseph, who he'd met the day before, tells him that Heathcliff isn't there. 
Lockwood asks if anyone will let him in so he can wait and Joseph is like, "nah."
A younger gentleman comes to Lockwood's aid and leads him to a warm apartment where there's a lady there who doesn't speak to him at all. 
Lockwood has polite social expectations that are not met and he starts to view this small family as extremely rude. 
Finally, Heathcliff returns and is equally rude to the young woman and man as he is to Lockwood. Lockwood makes the mental note that he no longer sees Heathcliff as a capital man and wants to leave. But the weather has turned very poor and in the snow, he won't be able to find his way home. 
Heathcliff says he'll have to sleep in someone's bed with them and Lockwood is like, "I can just sleep in a chair." but Heathcliff forbids it. 
So, on an impulse, Lockwood steals a lantern and makes for the gate, intent on escaping and never returning. Heathcliff sets his dogs on Lockwood and although he's not harmed, he does lay in the snow for so long, he starts to feel sick. 
Again, the kitchen maid comes to his aid and the others leave him be. 
She takes him to a room that they're not supposed to use, Lockwood asks why and she doesn't have an answer, she's only been there for about a year so she doesn't know everything but she doesn't think Lockwood's been treated right. 
In the room, alone, Lockwood finds several journals with the same name written over and again. Catherine. First with the last name Earnshaw, then the last name Heathcliff, and finally the last name Linton. 
He reads the journals until he falls asleep and has stressful dreams that involve him fighting with a long ago congregation because he says that listening to a sermon in 491 parts is super long and a waste of time.

Lockwood then has a nightmare where a young girl named Cathy visits his window and begs to be let in, he opens the window and she grabs his hand and won't let go, he screams, believing she's a dream. This scream wakes him and the rest of the household. 
Heathcliff rushes into the room to figure what the matter is and Lockwood is like, "yo, this place is mad haunted. Fuck you. I'm leaving right now."
Heathcliff bids him to leave the room and go have breakfast, as Lockwood is leaving, he hears Heathcliff begging for Cathy to come back to him one more time. 

This piques Lockwood's curiosity and he snuggles up at home, having caught a cold, next to the fireplace and asks his housekeeper, who was once Heathcliff's housekeeper, to tell him the story of Heathcliff and why he sucks so mightily. 
She obliges. 
Heathcliff was an orphan, living on the streets of Liverpool when the first Master Earnshaw found him and brought him home. Earnshaw favorited him over his son, Hindley, and no one else liked Heathcliff because he had dark hair and looked like a gypsy. He was gravely mistreated by everyone except for Earnshaw and Cathy who looked like a darling little girl but was wild and couldn't be controlled. 
When Earnshaw passed away, the house was left to Hindley and he definitely escalated Heathcliff's mistreatment. But Cathy and Heathcliff were bestfriends so he suffered mostly in silence. 
Enter the Lintons. 
The Lintons that I decided to hate the moment they were introduced. Because fuck them. You'll find out why in a moment. 
Cathy and Heathcliff had decided to wander about the moors for the day and came upon Thrushwood Grange in the evening. 
They spied the two Linton children fighting over a small dog, nearly tearing the dog in two when they each wanted to hold it. Cathy and Heathcliff laughed at the behavior and the children yelled for their parents upon hearing the laughter. 
Cathy and Heathcliff attempt to run away but Cathy's caught by their bulldog and they're apprehended. 
The Lintons immediately hate Heathcliff because of his dark features but they recognize Cathy from church and invite her to stay for the night, sending Heathcliff home. 
Cathy ends up staying there for five weeks and comes back home super different. Very ladylike, no longer wild. She likes the Lintons, they seem to have a good effect on her. Great. Dope. Still hate them for almost tearing a dog in half, but whatever. Guess no one else sees that as a bad thing. Just me. 
Maybe Heathcliff will murder them. Probably not. 
But Maybe.
It's Christmas and the housekeeper is like, "Hindley, let Heathcliff eat with everyone, it'll be chill."
But Hindley is the worst and locks Heathcliff upstairs instead. 
Cathy sneaks up there after some time and the friendship is rekindled. 

Time passes by and Hindley's wife has a baby, then dies of what? Tuberculosis. Because the Brontes have trauma and need to have at least one person die of Tuberculosis in each of their novels. 
Due to his wife's passing, Hindley becomes ten times worse and abuses those who dwell in the house. The housekeeper cares for the baby, named Hareton, and keeps it out of Hindley's way. 
A lot happens in a little space of time and the book is quite the enrapturing read so it's hard for me to keep up with making sure I update this review as I go. I just want to keep reading. 

Edgar Linton has decided that he's in love with Cathy. She's very beautiful and she has an extremely duplicitous nature that causes her to hide her faults from him but one day, he witnesses her lying at the housekeeper and then pinching said housekeeper till she's left a large purple welt. The housekeeper's crying makes the baby cry and Cathy shakes the baby and Edgar flies to the baby's aid but Cathy strikes him on the head. First Edgar Linton wants to leave and vows never to return. But then Cathy cries and begs him to stay. 
They decide to get married instead. 
That night, Cathy confides in the housekeeper that although she "loves" Edgar, (Or really, she loves the idea of what marrying Edgar will do for her financially and socially) she does not feel for him the way she feels for Heathcliff and delivers some of the most beautiful prose so far in the book. She says that marrying Heathcliff would degrade her though and she can't have that. 
Heathcliff overhears her and disappears for three years. 
Cathy ends up marrying Edgar Linton and they go to live at Thrushcross Grange. 
Everything is going well, the Lintons love Cathy and indulge in her so as not to catch her temper and the housekeeper, who remains with Cathy thinks they could have had a very happy future together. 
But then fucking Heathcliff comes back. 
He's different. Handsome and more manly. And he's got quite a lot of money now which is a huge plus because Hindley's spent all of his inheritance and allows Heathcliff back at Wuthering Heights. 

Things are good for a few weeks. Heathcliff visits Catherine as an old friend, Linton tolerates him, everything is pretty swell. Then Isabella Linton tells Catherine that she loves Heathcliff and feels like Catherine just wants him all to herself. 
This is entirely true but Cathy is like, "Nah, you're crazy, he's my old friend and you shouldn't want to be with him because he's a bad dude."
This makes Isabella angry with Cathy and thus begins the downward spiral of epic proportions. 

Heathcliff comes over, Cathy and Isabella are in the parlor, hanging out. Cathy is like, "yo, Heathcliff, Isabella loves you."
Heathcliff is like, "what the fuck."
Isabella is mortified and runs from the room. Heathcliff and Catherine share some unkind words with one another and Heathcliff leaves as well. But Catherine is so entirely self absorbed, she thinks the situation has been handled and is over now. 
It's most certainly not over.
The next day Heathcliff comes by again and meets Isabella in the garden and he kisses her. Catherine sees this and loses her mind. I mean really, she loses it. Her and Heathcliff get into it, more so than ever before and Linton comes in. 
He's under the impression that Heathcliff is the worst, which, I can't really hold it against him at this time, from his perspective, Heathcliff is the worst. Heathcliff taunts Linton and ends up getting sucker punched by Linton himself who then leaves the room to get more men to make Heathcliff leave.
Heathcliff is like, "I'm gonna fucking kill this guy."
And Catherine is like, "Just leave, we'll sort this out later."
Heathcliff does leave and Linton comes back in to continue fighting with Catherine, telling her that she has to choose between him and Heathcliff.
Catherine falls into a fit and at first Linton is worried, then the housekeeper is like, "Nah, she's doing it on purpose."
Catherine runs upstairs and locks herself in her room for three days, refusing to eat.

No one's talking to each other now. 
On the third night, Catherine asks the housekeeper. Her name is Nelly btw, Catherine asks NELLY to keep her company and Nelly is worried that Cathy is delusional as she begins to tear apart her mattress and say that she can't remember the last seven years and she has no idea how she's become Mrs. Linton. She's clearly bonkers. 
The doctor comes to see her and tells everyone that she may never recover and they have to do their best not to vex her because she can't emotionally handle it and she may never regain her mental fortitude. 
Time goes on and Catherine recovers slightly but doesn't have the strength to go outside or really do anything. 
Heathcliff gets ahold of Nelly and is like, "I gotta see her."
Nelly is like, "fuck no, you don't! You would surely kill her."
But Heathcliff is adamant and sure enough, one day they do see each other. 
They kiss passionately and Catherine blames Heathcliff for her suffering and he blames her for her suffering. They kiss and embrace and fight all the same. It's very toxic. 
Then Linton comes into the room, Catherine falls into a swoon and never recovers.
Apparently, Catherine was pregnant this entire time and gives birth to a baby girl, then dies two hours later. 
The baby girl is also named Catherine. Catherine 2.0 if you will. 

Heathcliff has still be dwelling at Wuthering Heights and sort of owns the place, later, we find, he also legally owns the place as the whole thing has been mortgaged away to him to pay for Hindley's drinking habits. 
Heathcliff removes all form of education from Hareton and raises him to a dumb brute of a boy who knows nothing except hunting and basic field work. 
This is how Heathcliff exacts his revenge on Hindley. 
Isabella Linton is greatly abused by Heathcliff and finally flees 300 some miles away to get away from him. In this time period she gives birth to a son she names Linton who is a very sickly and fragile child. 
Thirteen years pass by without the two houses speaking to one another. 
Isabella Linton dies of something very vague and non specific and she asks that Edgar raise her son and prays that Heathcliff doesn't get his hands on him.
Surprise, surprise, the moment Linton arrives at Thrushcross Grange, Heathcliff demands the rights to his son. Since this is a legal matter, there's hardly anything anyone can do and they're forced to give Linton over to Heathcliff. 
Heathcliff hates Linton but gives him everything he never had, a good education, he's doted on and his character is described as insufferable and selfish. He cares for no one but himself. 
Hareton is still greatly neglected and unloved in the house but he's too simple to understand this and doesn't complain.

In contrast, down on the grange, Catherine 2.0 is raised lovingly and tenderly by her father, she's doted on, yes, but Nelly also makes sure she has good manners and a good understanding of how her behavior affects other people. 

On her sixteenth birthday, Catherine 2.0 makes her way to Wuthering Heights while exploring and meets the whole lot of them. 
She likes Linton and they get on quite well even though he pities himself a lot and she makes fun of Hareton for not being able to read. 
Her dad forbids her from going there again so she begins sneaking out and forms a romantic attachment to Linton, much to everyone's dismay. 

But then Edgar Linton's health begins to decline and he doesn't want Catherine to be alone in the world, even if it means he has to put away his hatred of Heathcliff and allows Catherine and Linton to meet with one other outside between the two houses. 
During one of these meetings, Catherine accuses Linton of not really liking her because his personality sucks and he cries and wails and begs for her to stay. Catherine is tender hearted and good in spirit so she does stay and Linton tricks her into going into Wuthering Heights where she's kept against her will until she marries Linton.
Then her father dies and all his possessions fall to Linton, who is also dying.
They force Catherine to live at Wuthering Heights and she has not one single friend there. She's emotionally abused Linton and physically abused by Heathcliff and she starts to turn into a rather hardened person.
Then the housekeeper of Wuthering Heights quits and Heathcliff is forced to bring Nelly back into the picture. 
This partially restores Catherine's humanity and Nelly brings a new perspective to the character of Hareton, she tells Catherine that Hareton has been trying to learn to write and read so that he can be seen as more suitable in her eyes and at first Catherine balks at this. 
But then she decides to try to repair that relationship. 
After much work, she tells Hareton that she will teach him to read and write if he wants and he accepts her gesture. The two become very good friends and spend their waking moments together. 

This relationship causes Heathcliff distress at first but then he falls into a mood that disturbs everyone. He refuses to eat for days and can't stop smiling, he walks the moors at night and won't tell anyone where he's gone or what he's doing.

One night he dies, with a smile on his face, and the whole of the properties and his wealth is left to Catherine 2.0
There's a happiness in the houses now that there wasn't before and it all ends on a good note with Heathcliff being buried next to Catherine and Edgar and Catherine and Hareton getting married in the spring. 


First a foremost, this story is NOT a romance novel based on a doomed love. It is a story about generational abuse and how it infects everyone it touches. Heathcliff starts off as a sympathizing character but at the end is wholly the villain. 
He has opportunities to change his behavior and move on, he chooses not to. I have no doubt that his love for Catherine was real and that her love for him was just as real. But Catherine was selfish and only thought of herself when she made decisions. The people around her were play things and she even uttered the sentence, "I never dreamed that anyone could not like me."
She said this in a moment where literally no one liked her because of her selfishness and she still didn't get it. She was so self-absorbed, she only formed attachments based on the adirmation others had for her and she never extended herself beyond this. 
Heathcliff was raised simple and treated poorly and the only things that occupied his mind were revenge on those that wronged him, including his one friend, Catherine. 
He relished in her death and her agony leading up to it. He loved abusing Isabella because he knew it brought Edgar Linton grief. 

The cycle of abuse is set up with Hareton being the new Heathcliff and Catherine 2.0 being Catherine's stand in. 
But Catherine 2.0 isn't selfish as her mother was, she's curious and childish at times but she's not malicious and she was raised tenderly, so she has a tender spirit. 
When she realizes Hareton's faults are not his own and he wants desperately to rise above the degradation placed on him by Heathcliff, she welcomes him and embraces him. Thus breaking the abuse cycle and allowing the future to continue on peacefully. 

It really bothers me that this book has been so poorly represented as a love story. I highly doubt that was its point when Emily Bronte wrote it and the fact that some many people constantly refer to the doomed lovers the main point of the story is upsetting. 
This representation turned me off to reading the story for a long while and really missing out on something beautiful. 
Yes, the first two thirds of the book is hard to emotionally injest. There's so many things that go wrong, it's very hard to get through but the last 100 pages make up for that tenfold and I had to lay in bed for quite awhile just feeling the emotions this novel brought forth. 
It was a fantastic read. Five stars.