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In the novel ?Wuthering Heights?, there is a feeling that the characters do not live completely free lives, and don?t have as much control over their lives as they should. It seems that instead of the houses and scenery being changed to fit the characters personalities, the scenery is in control of their lives and they are moulded and changed to fit it. This makes the majority of the novel very bitter and gloomy because of the large amounts of bad weather, and the fact that the main house (Wuthering Heights, where most of the story takes place) is generally a grim place. Because of this there is some thought that whenever the characters do anything ?bad?, that they are not acting on their own accord, so it would be unfair to judge them on those things. i.e. its not Heathcliff?s fault that he lusts for revenge, because the settings are affecting his actions and making him do so.
Because of the anger and rivalry that surrounds the characters in the book, Emily Bronte uses the characters who are the most un-biased so they are perfect narrators and can be in the right places at the right time to tell the story. She does this through the diary of Mr. Lockwood, (who is very un-biased because he is not familiar with the characters) as Nelly Dean tells him the story. Nelly is in the best position as a narrator because she is a very truth full and thought full person whom is trusted by everyone, so she can here different accounts of the events and tell them to Mr. Lockwood. Also, being the maid at Wuthering Heights means that she can overhear conversations purposefully or accidentally to find out what is happening.
From the settings side Mr. Lockwood is again in a very good place to describe what the area looks like as he is used to the city so he is not familiar with these strange buildings. If it was Heathcliff who was to describe Wuthering Heights he would say that there was nothing wrong with it, but from Mr.Lockwood?s un-biased view we can picture what the houses in the novel were really like. The two houses in ?Wuthering Heights? (Wuthering Heights and Thrush cross Grange) are very different, and the houses and areas that surround them seem to mould the people that live in them to suit the environment.
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Wuthering Heights is described by Emily Bronte as subject to stormy weather (?Wuthering? being a significant provincial adjective) and being a very grey and grim, large brick building defended by large jutting stones. It has very thin windows and thorns that twist and turn around the house (described in chapter 1 as ?craving for the sun?) that gives the impression that Wuthering Heights is like a prison. The only plants that are in the garden are grown for practical uses and not pleasure (Joseph sells some of them,) and all of the gateways and fences that surround the house are securely fastened which makes it look like visitors are not welcome. The great, wooden, padlocked door at the front of the house adds to the thought of Wuthering Heights being like a prison and a ?no-one gets in, no-one gets out? kind of place. Because of this, many of the characters that live in Wuthering Heights are starved of love and friendship, as they cannot go out and meet other people. They are all kept inside by Heathcliff who goes out of his way to make them bitter towards each other so that their lives remain unhappy. The house also represents the characters personalities; the hard stone and spiky thorns show that the people that live there are quite tough, (Heathcliff, Hareton, and Joseph physically, Cathy mentally) and the locked doors and thin windows could be to show that they are very private and personal, and don?t want people poking their noses in, (hence the thin windows).
The house at Thrushcross Grange on the other hand is the complete opposite to this.
It is a very nice building, quite posh but very inviting to the on looking eye (we know this from descriptions in the novel by various people). It is easy to tell from Catherine and Heathcliff?s visit as children that the Linton?s are quite well off as they pay maids to keep the house very clean, and they have a guard dog (etc?.) To young Catherine and Heathcliff this (for the first time) shows them the world of the civilised, the richer life, softer and more gentle, yet admirable and attractive. To Catherine this is a grand new life, but Heathcliff feels contempt towards this as he thinks that he has been betrayed.
Again, the house and area surrounding it influences the people, and in just the same way that the houses are opposites, so are the people. The lifestyle and nature of Edgar and Isabella is much more gentle and civilised, but they are also very spoilt and lack the courage and determination of the tough ?rocks? at Wuthering Heights. This is symbolic of ?getting away from it all? as it is the chosen house for Cathy and Hareton to live at the end of the book, far from the rugged prison of Wuthering Heights. But like Wuthering Heights, Thrushcross Grange also has precautions around the house, not huge doors and vicious thorns, but a wall around the acres of land, taming it, enclosing it, but at the same time acting as a safety cage. For a wealthy family this means that the men can be paid to build the perfect environment and none of the animals can escape. These settings continue to keep moulding the characters when young Cathy is forced to live in the rough world of Wuthering Heights, and only when she and Hareton have overcome that, can they choose to go and live back at the Grange.
Both of these houses seem to influence the characters that live in them very strongly as their personalities are represented by the buildings and the surrounding areas. As can be seen from the comparison between Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights, the characters feelings towards different people can also be expressed by the buildings around them, and later, the weather. Heathcliff as a child is a very energetic boy, and from an early age it is clear that he has the power to endure any physical pain or torture. This is represented in Wuthering Heights by its huge brick walls (built to last and endurance) and the tough, craggy rocks and thorns on the outside of the house, (physical defence) and also the flowers in the garden that are purely for practicality. The windows (very thin) do not let anyone in which is also a defence.
Catherine (also brought up in this environment) is again a tough character, but not in the same way as Heathcliff. She has very strong character and personality but also has a softer side and more lady-like side that is brought out of her at the Grange.
Edgar and Isabella are very ?proper? in their way of life, and they are much softer and subtler people, who seem to be stronger more mentally than physically. This is represented by their house; the golden interior, large, inviting windows, and the flowers outside show that they are much more gentle people. You can see the difference between these two families as Heathcliff is symbolized by a rock, and Edgar a flower - the Grange being weak.
This is shown by the ease in which Heathcliff breaks into the house to see his love Catherine, and how Isabella gets out to see her husband (Heathcliff) even with the restriction of the fences.
From these two houses come different types of people, some which are better than others, and generally, as the generations move on, the characters lives and personalities improve. There are positive sides to Heathcliff and Catherine?s lives, things that we admire in human beings, such as Heathcliff and Hareton?s strength and power to endure, Catherine and Cathy?s wildness and high spiritedness, and possibly even Joseph?s power to endure life throughout the whole novel. But these characteristics have many flaws in them Heathcliff?s cruelness and brutishness, (which he forces onto Hareton) Catherine?s selfishness, (which goes to Cathy in some ways) and Joseph?s sheer grumpiness. As the story goes on, these personalities get passed through the generations, gradually changing for the better
When young Cathy and Linton Heathcliff discuss their ideal paradise in chapter 4, they find that they are have very different personalities, and we can see whom they got their personalities from. Cathy talks about wishing to round around on the rocks, the wind in her hair, challenging the terrain. This is ironic as it is easy to see the relationship between Cathy?s dream, and Catherine?s life, as they are almost identical. This is a shame because Cathy was brought up in (at first) Thrushcross Grange, which restricted he from anything more than riding the pony. This shows that Cathy will always be a wild person at heart, but as she grows older, she becomes more mature and less selfish than her mother was. Just as the Heights is the opposite of the Grange, so is the difference between Cathy and Linton his ideal paradise is of him lying on his back on the soft green grass, on a warm summers day, birds chirping in the trees, butterfly?s flying around, and all is peaceful and calm. This brings disagreements between them, just like that between the two houses and the rivalry between Edgar and Heathcliff. After time Cathy learns to tolerate the weak Linton, and she does her best to get along with him. This selfless side of Cathy makes up for her mother?s faults, as she helps Linton and teaches Hareton to read. This is the gradual failing of Heathcliff?s ?plan for revenge? and brings the two families back together and closer than ever before (the marriage of Hareton and Cathy). Similarly, and maybe even ironically, Cathy ends up trying out and living up to all of the names (and marriages) that her mother was scratching onto the wall in the small room near the start of the book, which is much the opposite to Catherine living up to Cathy?s dreams.
Both the weather and the elements (earth, fire, water, air) in this novel help to describe the areas and houses, whilst setting the scene for different emotions at different times and places in the book. The weather represents the personalities of the main characters, expresses their emotions (much like in some films) and separates them into completely different people.
When Mr.Lockwood first comes to Wuthering Heights, the ghost of Catherine, who roams the moors and the house, haunts him. At this time the weather is very stormy. The wind is very strong and the rain is chucking it down. This shows the anger of the ghost and the tension between her and Heathcliff, who is forbidden to see her.
Similarly, when Heathcliff and Catherine are children, they are very close, and love to be out on the moors whatever the weather. Obviously they are not against nice weather, but the cold and wind doesn?t bother them. It actually makes them more excited and ready for anything they were often out all day until late at night, running around the moors and this gave them freedom from restriction. The same weather is also present when they part from each other after Heathcliff hears Catherine say ?it would degrade me to marry Heathcliff? (meant literally as Catherine would lose her status) which he gets the wrong end of the stick of, and storms out into the wild night. This is symbolic of the anger, betrayal and misunderstanding between the two of them. Keeping with bad weather, as the seasons change in ?Wuthering Heights?, so do the characters emotions, but winter always seems to last the longest, hence the cold and bleak emotions that are around most of the time. This is part of the thought that generally the novel ?Wuthering Heights? and the place Wuthering Heights are very sad and gloomy a lot of the time and the only happy times are right at the start and end of the book. The windows of both the houses in ?Wuthering Heights? are very symbolic of the personalities, and, as mentioned earlier, the windows at the Heights are very slim to discourage visitors and to stop people being nosy (as can be told at the start of the book when Mr. Lockwood comes to call).
This comes to have disadvantage when Heathcliff gets locked out in (again) stormy weather as there is no way that he can get back in (possibly symbolizing that his shutting people out has left them to do the same to him). The windows at the Grange (large and inviting) are what draw Catherine and Heathcliff their in the first place and (eventually driving them apart) when Catherine is on the edge of death, she asks for the windows to be pulled wide open so she can ?feel the wind of the moors one last time? and in the end that is what kills her. At this time (again winter) the water is frozen in the pond and lakes, which symbolizes the death of the animals in the pond i.e. life not being able to continue. The same applies to the death of Heathcliff. When he is found dead he seems to be frozen (winter) as he just stopped moving completely. Again the window is open, which symbolizes that he has gone to Catherine, (on the moors) and that he has stopped trying for revenge, as the windows are wide open.
This brings us to the elements, which also play an important part in the settings.
The earth (mud and ground) is very important here, obviously, the planet Earth is where the story takes place, but it is the actual earth that makes the area surrounding Wuthering Heights so special. The young Catherine and Heathcliff used to spend hours on end running around the moors, and it seems that Catherine passed on some of that wild nature onto her daughter Catherine who is unfortunate to be cooped up in the Grange, not being able to run free in the fresh air from the moors. The earth is also very important when it comes to the death of Catherine and Heathcliff as Heathcliff pays the gravedigger to smash open their coffins, hoping for their bones to gradually reach towards each other until they are mingled together as one person. This coincides with Catherine earlier in the novel when she says, ?I am Heathcliff? and talks about them sharing the same soul. Then there is fire right at the end of the novel, there is a great fire burning in the fireplace? which symbolizes warmth, security, and passion between the two lovers Cathy and Hareton.
This is a new beginning from the old life at Wuthering Heights, hard, stony, and cold. This represents the rebirth of the social status of the house and makes it a safer place to live. Water in the story is symbolic of the life and death of the characters. At Gimmerton Beck, Edgar hears the soft rippling of water, and this is close to the time of his death. When Edgar does die, it is again winter, and so the water is very low in the ponds and lakes, and so, much like the death of Catherine, this means that life in those waters cannot continue and this symbolizes the loss of vitality. The last element- air, is also significant. The air around the Heights symbolizes the freedom to run around, not having to be claustrophobic, and letting the elements in. There is obvious examples of this from the deaths mentioned earlier when the windows were found open, which represents giving in to the elements and not letting yourself, become enclosed in your own little world. In other words, letting the weather and other people into your life (the time around the death of Heathcliff when he isn?t bothered about the revenge any longer). Also when Catherine dies, it is because of consumption, (the lack of air) and claustrophobia.
At the very end of the novel, Mr.Lockwood returns to the scene to see two lovers, playing happily outside in the garden. The weather is golden, its spring time (birth of new life) and the windows are wide open. This is when we know that the generations have solved their differences, and they will live happily thereafter.
In conclusion I think that the weather and the settings play a very important part in ?Wuthering Heights?, maybe more than they should. I think that as the story progresses, people learn from their mistakes, making up for previous generations, and changing for better, with the weather. This makes the novel a lot more deep in context than most, and sometimes you have to dig to find what things symbolize and represent, but this makes it more purposeful and interesting. It seems that a lot of the story is already decided on by the settings, and this does help to reflect the personalities and feelings of the characters.
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