My favorite line from that article: “Emily Brontë is the patron saint of difficult women.”
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I mentioned earlier that amongst the cruelty and apostrophes, there was some beautiful language. I didn’t realize Bronte was a poet before she wrote the book but it certainly shows. This is one lovely passage:
One time, however, we were near quarrelling. He said the pleasantest manner of spending a hot July day was lying from morning till evening on a bank of heath in the middle of the moors, with the bees humming dreamily about among the bloom, and the larks singing high up over head, and the blue sky, and bright sun shining steadily and cloudlessly. That was his most perfect idea of heaven’s happiness – mine was rocking in a rustling green tree, with a west wind blowing, and bright, white clouds flitting rapidly above; and not only larks, but throstles, and blackbirds, and linnets, and cuckoos pouring out music on every side, and the moors seen at a distance, broken into cool, dusky dells; but close by great swells of long grass undulating in waves to the breeze; and the woods and sounding water, and the whole world awake and wild with joy. He wanted all to lie in an ecstasy of peace; I wanted all to sparkle, and dance in a glorious jubilee.
And this article touches on the huge variety of symbols and figurative language. There certainly is a wealth of subjects to consider.
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That’s intriguing! If the publisher wanted it cheerier, well, Emily could provide that - but on her own terms!
I don’t think it would have intrigued readers for all these years if it had ended simply with Cathy’s death and Heathcliff’s despair. It was a good artistic/literary decision to keep going.
My last subject relates to the psychological issues with every character. There are so many websites that delve into Freudian and Jungian analyses. But really everyone had issues that might have been addressed with modern medicines and therapy.
One example of attempted diagnoses:
In the end, for a book that I didn’t like reading and skimmed a great deal, it turned out I had a lot to say about it! So great choice. But please make the next book nicer 
.
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The last sentence of the novel is also lovely (and pulls in some of that same nature imagery). Lockwood stands at the three headstones:
I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.
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Thank you for the guardian article, I’m still “processing” this book, and especially Emily, that helped.
It is an excellent choice for book discussion, when it can elicit so much “ passion” on both sides.
I’m reading all the links, and enjoying a deeper dive into this classic. So Thank you all.
I’m in the “ not a fan camp”, even “ I hate this book “ and embarrassed to admit how much I expected Heathcliff to commit suicide or be murdered by Hareton, and or Catharine, and I wouldn’t have been unhappy about it.
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Love that last sentence, Brontes writing, kept reading, stunning wasn’t it.
Thanks. For link so Wuthering Heights is criticized during. Emily’s lifetime, she keeps the reviews in her desk, she dies at 30 years old , and big sister Charlotte, hopes to improve the Brontë brand and legacy and writes an introduction, justifying Emily’s styles and clean up the image,
Agnes Grey, Anne’s book, is published with Wuthering Heights .
I was curious about that book, and read this in the Agnes Grey summary
Animal Cruelty ! Wow, was this a thing back then
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/agnes-grey/summary
. “Agnes gets a job as a governess with the Bloomfield family, acquaintances of her aunt. At the Bloomfield house, Agnes becomes responsible for 7-year-old Tom Bloomfield and his younger sisters She quickly learns that Tom, with the encouragement of his father [Mr. Bloomfield and his [Uncle Robson, likes to torture helpless animals. She tries to teach him that cruelty to animals is wicked, but he refuses to listen. Although the Bloomfield children are lazy and disobedient, Mrs. Bloomfieldgives Agnes no authority to punish them and undermines her attempts to discipline them. Eventually, she fires Agnes, blaming her for the children’s failure to improve.
“
I agree, Wuthering Heights, can be used in Psychology course, to teach various examples of mental and personality disorders.
I’ve watched enough Oprah shows, and learned about the abused become the abuser, and this generational disfuntion is brutally, intimately portrayed by Emily.
Heathcliff was a victim who became a villain ( I read that today )
When he harmed the dog, he clearly became a psychopath, sociopath, sadist, and all the other labels, in my mind,
When Heathcliff abused Catharine, the daughter of the woman he loved and worshipped, I I knew he was evil.
There was so much abuse, violence and mental breakdowns, and unstable characters, I , as the reader, got sucked into the black hole of this story, It became oppressive,.
It is well told, it is beautifully written at times, majestic even, but the overall portrait of Love, makes me nuts.
I hope my kids never read this, and think of this as example of love, of unrequited love? Please no, this is not Romeo and Juliet,
I wouldn’t want any generation of readers to misinterpret these obsessive / sadistic / selfish personalities as examples of romantic love,
And I think Oprah would agree 
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Speaking of love… I thought this was very funny.
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=202
I reread Jane Eyre a few years ago and was shocked at what a jerk Rochester was, so rediscovering Heathcliff did not entirely surprise me.
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I’m not a Jane Eyre fangirl. Regardless, I’m still surprised - dare I admit it - to find I like Wuthering Heights more.
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This book was a difficult read but also, ironically, a compulsive read too, and I couldn’t abandon it. My reading was in spurts, though. It was hard to read continuously; I had to put it down every 50 pages or so. You almost need to take a breath from all the selfish, unsavory characters and the cruelty.
I may come back and put in a few thoughts here as I mull over more, but I found this little snippet from a reddit post that seems to define the characters in a nutshell.
Catherine Earnshaw–
Possibly the only person to ever get medically diagnosed as a drama queen
Hindley Earnshaw–
Boo hoo my wife is dead
Nelly Dean–
Basically the “thank god I’m the only normal person here” meme
Isabella Linton–
A good example to why you should really listen to people when they tell you “you can’t fix him/her”
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I never read Jane Eyre and don’t believe I will if this book is anything like it.
I find it hard to read about trapped people making continuous bad choices. I don’t find that romantic or worthy of romanticizing or emulating.
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Jane Eyre is very different in tone. Jane is more sedate and more inclined to engage in thoughtful, intelligent conversation (and behavior) than any of the characters in Wuthering Heights. But, while Rochester is a man who can love (unlike Heathcliff), he is guilty of something rather horrific. So yeah, no prize in the romantic hero department.
Please, just give me John Thornton. The worst thing he ever did was lease an apartment to Margaret that had ugly wallpaper.
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Thanks but I’m more in the mood for upbeat and happy. I definitely need that now.
Lockwood, the tenant still mystifies me. Why did he choose to rent for a year in such an out of the way place? He didn’t even know about the Landlord, Heathcliff and the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights. He didn’t know of Catherine’s existence and initially thought she was the wife of one of the WH residents, so at the time he made the lease he wasn’t trying to woo her.
I know he was convenient as an observer and narrator and someone to receive narration but his presence is still a mystery to me. Anyone he could have asked could have told him about WH and especially Heathcliff’s reputation.
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Some say that Nellie/Ellen was a villain for knowing Heathcliff was present and hearing Catherine talk about the marriage proposal and how she couldn’t marry Heathcliff without Ellen trying to stop Catherine from saying things to hurt Heathcliff. (When Heathcliff ran off after overhearing Catherine.)
I think Nellie/Ellen was wrong in not alerting her mistress to Heathcliff’s presence as soon as she was aware of it but am not sure she’s a villain for not doing so. Catherine was pretty willful and full of herself so I’m not sure if Nellie could have curbed Catherine anyway—heck Nellie had just been pinched and blamed and then C was miraculously engaged!
What do others think?
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Lockwood says that he is leasing Thrushcross Grange to remove himself from “the stir of society.” It’s isolated and available (Heathcliff happy to make a buck). But in fact, reading between the lines a bit, Lockwood seems to be laying low because of a situation with a young lady a short while earlier: “While enjoying a month of fine weather at the sea-coast, I was thrown into the company of a most fascinating creature: a real goddess in my eyes, as long as she took no notice of me.” The young girl misunderstands his intentions and “overwhelmed with confusion…persuaded her mamma to decamp” (p. 4). He adds:
By this curious turn of disposition I have gained the reputation of deliberate heartlessness, how undeserved, I alone can appreciate.
So I think he’s a bit of a player–or maybe just thinks he’s God’s gift to women–and decides to extricate himself from a potentially sticky situation by temporarily disappearing.
I don’t think he ever had any real intention of pursuing Catherine – he was probably just hoping for yet another harmless flirtation. He soon realizes that Catherine has “issues” and that creepy things happen in the paneled bedroom. It doesn’t take him long to think twice about his original plan, and he departs (returning many months later to find a much happier household at Wuthering Heights). Heathcliff makes sure he pays the full rent for the year though. I thought that little detail was amusing.
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When I first read the book, I thought it was kind of a star-crossed moment – If Heathcliff had only heard Cathy’s full speech, or if Nelly had quickly spoken up, things might have been different. I believe the movie plays up that angle, too.
Later though, I came to realize that what Heathcliff heard or didn’t hear didn’t matter one iota. He could have listened to the entire “I am Heathcliff” monologue, but Cathy would still have married Edgar and Heathcliff would still have run off. Those two were never going to have a peaceful union.
Also, and maybe more importantly, Healthcliff and Cathy had an intense, supernatural connection. He knew exactly how Cathy felt about him, knew that their level of obsession was equal. He did not run off because his feelings were hurt. That would be childish–most unlike him–and would be almost an insult to their mutually unshakeable bond.
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Thank goodness you are a more discerning reader than I, @Mary13 ! Yes, you are right on both points!
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