Emily Brontë

Linda H. Peterson

Emily Bronte's only novel appeared to mixed reviews in 1847, a year before her death at the age of thirty. In the relationship of Cathy and Heathcliff, and in the wild, bleak Yorkshire Moors of its setting, Wuthering Heights creates a world of its own, conceived with a disregard for convention, an instinct for poetry and for the dark depths of human psychology that make it one of the greatest novels of passion ever written.

Complete, Authoritative Text with Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from Five Contemporary Critical Perspectives

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights is Emily Brontë's only novel. It was first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, and a posthumous second edition was edited by her sister Charlotte. The name of the novel comes from the Yorkshire manor on the moors on which the story centres (as an adjective, wuthering is a Yorkshire word referring to turbulent weather). The narrative tells the tale of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them.

‘He’s not a human being,’ she retorted; ‘and he has no claim on my charity. I gave him my heart, and he took and pinched it to death, and flung it back to me. People feel with their hearts, Ellen: and since he has destroyed mine, I have not power to feel for him: and I would not, though he groaned from this to his dying day, and wept tears of blood for Catherine! No, indeed, indeed, I wouldn’t!’

c🦋

‘Oh, it will be something worse,' she said. And what shall I do when papa and you leave me, and I am by myself? I can't forget your words, Ellen, they are always in my ear. How life will be changed, how dreary the world will be, when papa and you are dead.' 

'None can tell, whether you won't die before us,' I replied.   

My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees - my love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath - a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff - he's always, always in my mind not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself but, as my own being (…)

Remmi Ahmed

at first, I found plenty of entertainment in listening to the larks singing far and near, and enjoying the sweet, warm sunshine; and watching her, my pet and my delight, with her golden ringlets flying loose behind, and her bright cheek, as soft and pure in its bloom as a wild rose, and her eyes radiant with cloudless pleasure. She was a happy creature, and an angel, in those days. It's a pity she could not be content. 

You'll not be surprised, Ellen, at my feeling particularly cheerless, seated in worse than solitude on that inhospitable hearth, and remembering that four miles distant lay my delightful home, containing the only people I loved on earth; and there might as well be the Atlantic to part us, instead of those four miles: I could not overpass them! 

Oh, I'm burning! I wish I were out of doors! I wish I were a girl again, half savage and hardy, and free; and laughing at injuries, not maddening under them! Why am I so changed? 

Don't say anything; but stay with me. I dread sleeping: my dreams appal me

‘What is that apathetic being doing?' she demanded, pushing the thick entangled locks from her wasted face. 'Has he fallen into a lethargy, or is he dead?’

 I've fought through a bitter life since I last heard your voice; and you must forgive me, for I struggled only for you!

He took a seat opposite Catherine, who kept her gaze fixed on him as if she feared he would vanish were she to remove it. He did not raise his to her often: a quick glance now and then sufficed; but it flashed back, each time more confidently, the undisguised delight he drank from hers. They were too much absorbed in their mutual joy to suffer embarrassment. Not so Mr. Edgar: he grew pale with pure annoyance: a feeling that reached its climax when his lady rose, and stepping acrosS the rug, seized Heathcliff's hands again, and laughed like one beside herself.

 I cannot express it; but surely vou and everybody have a notion that there is or should be an existence of yours beyond you. What were the use of my creation, if I were entirely contained here? My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff's miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning: my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it.--My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.

The little souls were comforting each other with better thoughts than I could have hit on: no parson in the world ever pictured heaven so beautifully as they did, in their innocent talk; and, while I sobbed and listened, I could not help wishing we were all there safe together

The business of eating being concluded, and no one uttering a word of sociable conversation, I approached a window to examine the weather. A sorrowful sight I saw: dark night coming down prematurely, and sky and hills mingled in one bitter whirl of wind and suffocating snow.

The passionate love of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff mirrors the powerful moods of the Yorkshire moors.

Julia Rutgers

My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees - my love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath - a source of little visible delight, but necessary.

Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. He discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before: of the intense passion between the foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and her betrayal of him.

I 'never told my love' vocally; still, if looks have languange, the merest idiot might have guessed I was over head and ears.

Alexis Prowell

The entire world is a dreadful collection of memoranda that she did exist, and that I have lost her!

clara

I’m wearying to escape into that glorious world, and to be always there: not seeing it dimly through tears, and yearning for it through the walls of an aching heart: but really with it, and in it.

I have dreamt in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind.

If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.

"Why, she's a liar to the end! Where is she? Not there—not in Heaven-not perished-where? Oh! you said you cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer— I repeat it till my tongue stiffens-Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest, as long as I am living! You said I killed you-haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe—I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always—take any form—drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!"

I’d rather be three months ill, than hear you frame a deliberate lie. 

Liam Collins

And I pray one prayer - I repeat it till my tongue stiffens - Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest, as long as I am living! You said I killed you - haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe - I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!

This book has like 10 killer lines in the beginning and the end and the middle is just a Modern Family style sitcom revolving around an exhausted maid who’s surrounded by sad goth idiots.

Bowie 

Les Hauts de Hurle-Vent sont des terres balayées par les vents du nord. Une famille y vivait, heureuse, quand un jeune bohémien attira le malheur. Mr. Earnshaw avait adopté et aimé Heathcliff. Mais ses enfants l'ont méprisé. Cachant son amour pour Catherine, la fille de son bienfaiteur, Heathcliff prépare une vengeance diabolique. Il s'approprie la fortune de la famille et réduit les héritiers en esclavage. La malédiction pèsera sur toute la descendance jusqu'au jour où la fille de Catherine aimera à son tour un être misérable et fruste. Ce roman anglais, le plus célèbre du XIXe siècle à nos jours, a été écrit par une jeune fille qui vivait avec ses soeurs au milieu des landes de bruyère. Elle ne connut jamais cette passion violente ni cette haine destructrice. Elle imagina tout, même le fantôme de la femme aimée revenant tourmenter l'orgueilleux qui l'a tuée.

Source: https://www.livredepoche.com/livre/les-hauts-de-hurlevent-9782253004752

les Hauts de Hurle-Vent

Camilla

anjali

Gothic wilderness, madness, first loves, betrayals, childhood best friends parting and meeting again, castles, the highlands, wild, unbridled, intoxicating passions. 

Wuthering Heights is phenomenal. Emily Bronte only ever wrote one book during her lifetime, and died not long after this one was published, but as it stands, Wuthering Heights is rightly enough to put her on the list as one of the best writers in the history of English literature.

This book is moody, fierce, brooding, intense, tragic and very, very beautiful. The prose alone is a pleasure to read.

When I first read Wuthering Heights, I spent the first half despising Heathcliff and Cathy. They were whiny bitches for the larger part, and when I was finished with the novel I couldn't figure out just why it was that I put the book down having another perspective to look back at those same characters now. Of course, they still made you want to punch them in the stomach, but you couldn't really avoid liking them as characters. It was the first book that inspired such intense dislike and yet made wonderful reading all the same.

This book is one of my all time favourites.

Patrick Book

Readable enough I suppose but I rarely found it compelling. Perhaps that’s due to the antiquation.

soot

Charlize

3.75

i anticipated how much worse everything would turn out, given that all hell already broke loose early on! emily did not pull herself back (especially during the time she wrote it in)!!!! even with the unlikeable characters too, to the point that i don’t know who to root for… well aside from hareton, which i only did when i was about to finish the book.

i have grown to like the narration style. it was difficult to grasp the multiple narratives at first, but i eventually got the hang of it. love me a good gossip!! the prose is also breathtaking! 

it felt to me that catherine and heathcliff’s romantic relationship was only fully emphasized after her confession and death. i wanted to see more of them together before she had anything to do with edgar, perhaps it would make me feel more strongly about them. regardless, i am convinced enough that they have an affinity for each other. 

“It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him: and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

“Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living. You said I killed you—haunt me then. The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe—I know that ghosts have wandered the earth. Be with me always—take any form—drive me mad. Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!”

insufferable and destructive as they are, i have to admit their fervent love is out of this world.

wuthering heights is a story of passion—a harrowing one at that. the revenge plot of heathcliff was abysmal, to say the least. in my humble opinion, his character is past the point of redemption, for he has evolved to become The Devil incarnate™, even more so than hindley. truly gave satan a run for his money. (edit: i’d also like to add that while his cruelty is not justified, i understand where he’s coming from: heathcliff had suffered abuse for too long: judged and reproached by everyone, enslaved by hindley, and betrayed by catherine. and to think he was just a child when it all began.)

usually not my cup of tea, but i appreciate how this book was able to provoke such intense emotions from me. mostly anger, disgust, and sometimes pity. an opposite of a snoozer read!

i hope to reread this book and get a fresh perspective! who knows i might give this 5 stars by then :]

sani

❝catherine earnshaw, may you not rest, as long as i am living! you said i killed you—haunt me, then!❞

the world can never make me hate this book. from the beginning, heathcliff is shown as a villain, a bad character which in turn makes me want to love him even more. and despite everything, despite every immoral thing that he had committed, his love for his cathy was raw true. 

a match made in hell. neither of them were angels and they deserved each other. although, i feel bad for edgar and isabella because they were two innocent people who got caught in this wild affair. 

and yet, i would always, always, always love heathcliff and catherine. when i say that i want to be a writer, i mean this. i want to be a writer to the likes of the brontë sisters. 

✧ my favourite quotes :

❝because he’s more myself than i am. whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.❞

❝my love for heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath—a source of little visible delight, but necessary. nelly, i am heathcliff—he’s always, always in my mind—not as a pleasure, any more than i am always a pleasure to myself—but, as my own being—so, don’t talk of our separation again.❞

❝if he loved with all the powers of his puny being, he couldn’t love as much in eighty years, as i could in a day.❞

❝be with me always—take any form—drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where i cannot find you! oh, god! it is unutterable! i cannot live without my life! i cannot live without my soul!❞

arwen

changed the trajectory of my life forever

Emily Brontës only novel, Wuthering Heights remains one of literature's most disturbing explorations into the dark side of romantic passion. Heathcliff and Cathy believe they're destined to love each other forever, but when cruelty and snobbery separate them, their untamed emotions literally consume them.

Set amid the wild and stormy Yorkshire moors, Wuthering Heights, an unpolished and devastating epic of childhood playmates who grow into soul mates, is widely regarded as the most original tale of thwarted desire and heartbreak in the English language.
(back cover)

Monicap

Wuthering Heights is difficult for me to talk about because I just don't get it. Like I understand it's capital a About obsession and it's consequences but I just don't buy it.

Like why is Cathy obsessed with Heathcliff? She initially disliked him (because of kind of racist reasons which is always cool) and then got over it because why? And then they were BFF's and in love to the point where his anger over her betrayal of him literally killed her? And also this I Cathy who marries Linton because "he is handsome and pleasant to be with...young and cheerful... because he loves me...he will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman in the neighborhood" but she loves Heathcliff because "whatever souls are made of his and mine are the same"? Like forgive me but that second assertion comes out of nowhere for me.

And I guess I do have a read on why Heathcliff would be obsessed with Cathy... Spurned by his childhood best friend and love (who had initially hated him because she's kind of racist) and her brother basically Cinderella-d him and all that... But that's just not interesting? At all? Like I get this was written a long time ago but I just don't think that's good motivation?

And the second part of the story totally loses me. Is Cathy 2's relationship with Linton 2 meant to be the reconciliation of Cathy and Heathcliff's relationship (and all that entailed) or is Cathy 2's and Hareton's eventual marriage the reconciliation??

Like I just don't get it. And I I'm not particularly interested in digging through the text *to* get it, you know?

I agree with Past Monica's rating of three stars, give me Jane Eyre over this any day

Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange on bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before: of the intense passion between the foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and her betrayal of him.

I was not too keen on the second part since I absolutely adored Cathy (the OG) as a heroine but I actually think that the focus on the second generation was executed incredibly well as a means of exploring trauma (funny that I read this at the same time as Cassandra Clare's "Chain of Thorns").

The enclosed, horribly narrow, world of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange becomes the perfect system within which trauma and abuse, perpetuating the cycle and breaking the cycle, can be explored. The characters are fascinatingly monstrous and cruel but nothing but the product of their environment; this makes all the more important that this vicious cycle cannot end until a whole generation is dead and the newer one chooses kindness and companionship instead.

I was not too keen on the second part since I absolutely adored Cathy (the OG) as a heroine but I actually think that the focus on the second generation was executed incredibly well as a means of exploring trauma (funny that I read this at the same time as Cassandra Clare's "Chain of Thorns").

The enclosed, horribly narrow, world of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange becomes the perfect system within which trauma and abuse, perpetuating the cycle and breaking the cycle, can be explored. The characters are fascinatingly monstrous and cruel but nothing but the product of their environment; this makes all the more important that this vicious cycle cannot end until a whole generation is dead and the newer one chooses kindness and companionship instead.

A solid two stars really. It's nothing special and it's probably because I just didn't like the narrative style of the story where the entire book is narrated as a story, it's really odd and the whole time whilst reading it I was just reflecting about how odd it is to write in such a perspective? The plot...Has no plot. What is the plot? There is no plot. And it's not even character driven either, so what exactly is this book? Literatly nothing because it's got no meaning, no plot, no main character, no nothing. It follows to children who become adults who have kids of their own and then it follows them. This book definatly got the 2 stars because the ending was exactly what I wanted. Hareton and Catherine become very close finally and Heathcliffe the devil dies thank god. Hated this book, do no recommend. 

surtified™

I hated and loved Cathy and Heatcliff at the same time. I wanted the destruction of everyone and at the same time the salvation. I've never seen the line between love and destruction more blurried.

LIMEKI 

D D D 

Loved how much each character was molded by their childhood. I did not enjoy this much, because I felt that it dismantled love, which deeply offended me. 

Maybe i’m not a Bronte fan? I found this difficult to finish. Whenever I feel that way about a classic, I feel sooooo stupid. 

I don’t really like ghost stories.

“Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I can not live without my life! I can not live without my soul!”
----------------------------------

I first read Wuthering Heights more than 10 years ago, and I seem to have retained only flashes of what the story was about. I remember a gloomy mood, awful people, and a weird, tangled family tree where people had to marry each others’ cousins all the time for a lack of any other people around. And I remember being so surprised that this would be so many people’s favorite book; this awful, toxic, heinous group of characters.

Little was I prepared that on my second read, I would particularly enjoy the toxicity of the whole thing. Say what you will about my own personal development.

In all honesty, my second go at Wuthering Heights was much more enjoyable. And November was the perfect time to pick it back up, mirroring the cold outside with the book’s cold atmosphere that infuses into the bones and the howling winds ripping through the moors. Not to mention the ice-cold hearts of every single character in the story. It is shocking to see excessive physical and emotional abuse at every page, each character so unbearably selfish and irredeemable that it is hard to tear yourself away from it all. A sick obsession, all that brutal revenge and anger and wretchedness. AND FOR WHAT? For love? A love that you never confessed or fought for?

It is such a twisted drama, it was a wonder why I wasn’t so engulfed by this before. It feels as a proof that there is such a thing as the right timing when it comes to books.

Erin Darlyn

I went into this book knowing that it is not a love story, that people either love it or hate it, and that the characters would all be despicable. 

I hated it. It was not in the slightest a pleasurable reading experience and it felt like such a drudgery to keep turning pages. 

The story did not draw me in and I did not like the writing style at all (not for a lack of appreciation for classics, because I am very much enjoying reading classics now as an adult; but I truly cannot understand why the people who love this book praise its writing style so much). 

Every character is unlikeable, which I expected, but I also felt that the characters lacked depth and that their mental illnesses, evils, and overall character “arcs” were ill portrayed. 

As for the descriptions of the moors, which seem to be an aspect of the book that some readers find especially awe-inspiring, “I could never see anything extraordinary in them.” 

I shan’t be recommending it to anyone else.

dnf cuz i'm bored but i've read a bit more than half of it so im gonna log it sorry

Catherin Earnshaw's passionate declaration is the focus of a novel in which relations between men and women have never been more powerfully depicted. When young Heathcliff comes to live at Wuthering Heights he forms an intense bond with Catherine, who loves him but cannot tame his rought and uncouth ways. When she seems to spurn him, Heathcliff plans a terrible revenge on Edgar Linton, the man who has usurpted him, and on everyone connected with Linton. Only through the next generation can the promise of redemption be encatcted.

Emily Bronte's extraordinary novel has a haunting intensity forever linked with the grave-defying passion of Catherine and Heathcliff. Its ingenious strucuture, vivid evocation of landscape, and startling depction of men and women at their most depraved and exalted, have given it a unique place in English literature. This edition explores the novel's many interpretations and reproduces the authoritative Clarendon text.
(back cover)

désirée

had to listen to kate bush's wuthering heights because my chest physically fucking hurts

As darkness falls, a man caught in a snowstorm is forced to shelter at the strange, grim house Wuthering Heights. There he will come to learn about Cathy: how she was forced to choose between her well-meaning husband and dangerous Heathcliff, whom she had loved since she was young. And how her choice led to betrayal and terrible revenge.

Vintage Classics Bronte Series

emily brontë looked camp right in the eye

alice

In nineteenth-century Yorkshire, the passionate attachment between a headstrong young girl and a foundling boy brought up by her father causes disaster for them and many others, even in the next generation.

alice browne

so much good! surrounded by so much average!

Degrassi: Next Generation but during the 18th century.

La’Guyia

HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.

‘Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil?’

Set on the bleak moors of Yorkshire, Lockwood is forced to seek shelter at Wuthering Heights, the home of his new landlord, Heathcliff. The intense and wildly passionate Heathcliff tells the story of his life, his all-consuming love for Catherine Earnshaw and the doomed outcome of that relationship, leading to his revenge.

Poetic, complex and grand in its scope, Emily Brontë's masterpiece is considered one of the most unique gothic novels of its time.
Source: https://www.harpercollins.ca/9780007350810/wuthering-heights-collins-classics/#

Kath

𝐈𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫 - 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐌𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

This novel is angsty. It's melodramatic. It should be the literal definition of 𝖊𝖒𝖔 in the dictionary. 

this-isnot-a-lovestory.com

Wuthering Heights is not a romance — unless you want to read it with that particular lens, then you'd grow heartless everytime you flip a page. It started as a narrative of desire and longing and as the story went on, these two themes were left behind and were estranged.

At first, I thought of this as a tale of revenge. But as I read on, I realized that I was very wrong: vengeance was only an element and not the tale itself. The Earnshaws, the Lintons, and the Heathcliffs are skeletons of human frailty and suffering imposed on one's self. They show us how the choices that we make — from how we have derived these decisions to the outcome of our resolves — create ripples. They remind us that a single action, even as small as a seed, can impact the lives of those who are yet to be born. And yet, Wuthering Heights isn't about mindfulness. It isn't about calculating the words from our lips or the gestures from our hands for posterity— it is about how we accept the extent of how we can shape our own destinies - of how we can change the track of our lives, or to at least try.

"𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 - 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒆𝒔." - 𝑪𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝑳𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒏
—
some tea
• i didn't like volume one at all! 🤣
• but fortunately, the second generation came through and i became hooked!
• i think it is a wonderful representation of how we get to learn stories of other people's lives and that is through gossiping 🤣 which was definitely how this story was narrated
• the character that i liked the most is Hareton; the least is Joseph because I DID NOT UNDERSTAND A SINGLE WORD HE SAID!!! 🤡
• if catherine and heathcliff wrote emo songs and formed a band instead in the early 2000s, i think people would've loved them more

Wuthering Heights Complete, Authoritative Text with Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from Five Contemporary Critical Perspectives

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