Wuthering Heights
(The Emergence and Culmination of the Catherine-Heathcliff Relationship)
First published in 1847, Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights” ranks high on the list of major works in English literature. It is a brooding tale of passion and revenge set in the Yorkshire moors. It initially did not gain as much popularity as it later did, with people criticizing that it was coarse and excessively passionate. A second edition was published in 1850, two years after the author’s death. Sympathetically prefaced by her sister Charlotte, it met with greater success, and the novel has continued to grow in stature ever since.
The novel uses two narrators, Nelly Dean and Mr. Lockwood, to relate the story of Heathcliff’s arrival at Wuthering Heights (brought in by Mr. Earnshaw, the master of the Heights) and the powerful close-knit bond that he forms with his benefactor’s daughter, Catherine Earnshaw. One in spirit, they are nonetheless social unequals and the saga of the frustrated yearning and destruction that is the love of Heathcliff and Catherine remains inimitable in English literature.
Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights” is loved by readers and critics alike the world over, not just for the gripping story but also for the myriad of enigmas and inexplicable events and actions which have forever been the cause of much debate in literary circles. The open-endedness of literature means that the novel has invited numerous theories, each attempting to explain and clarify the meaning behind several mysteries. For instance, the existence of the second pair of lovers (Catherine and Hareton) makes us wonder as to which pair the author meant to have our approval—which pair of lovers deserves our approval or admiration. That is a question that has never been answered concretely, nor will it likely be answered, for as long as it exists the book will appeal to different people in different ways.
Although the novel presents us with many issues, yet it is the tempestuous...