Wuthering Heights
Genre:
Gothic
fiction, romance, tragedy
Author: Emily Brontë
Rating:
Disclaimer: This is not a review. Rather consider this a
discussion. Yet, it might contain the storyline because I feel not many have
read Wuthering Heights, merely because it’s not being spoken about much.
I always wanted to read Wuthering Heights because of the contrast
in people’s opinions about this. This mainly tingled my curiosity when I noticed
some people who normally liked romance novels hated this book, in spite of it majorly
being a romantic novel. Initial part of the book, left me wanting more because
this is the first Gothic Classic I read. But after finishing the book, I closed
it and stared at it for a while, saying nothing, thinking nothing.
Lockwood is a new tenant at Thrushcross Grange. He visits his
landlord, Heathcliff, at Wuthering Heights where he meets some unwelcome,
incongruous people. He stays there that night only to be frightened by a
ghostly presence. Subsequently, the story unravels as he learns the history
behind this place, his landlord, and the ghost he encountered, through his
housekeeper Ellen (Nelly).
SPOILER ALERT. IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILER, SKIP THIS PARA.
Ellen was the housekeeper at Wuthering Heights. One day, her master, Earnshaw,
brings home an orphan named Heathcliff. While Earnshaw’s son, Hindley, hates him, Earnshaw’s daughter, Catherine, becomes close with Heathcliff. After,
Earnshaw's death, Hindley is left as the master of the house. Exposed to abuses
by his new master and betrayal of Catherine when she expressed her rejection to the idea of marrying him, Heathcliff turns deaf to the fact that she loves him
and runs away. What happens to him and Catherine and their love, is the rest of
the story. (If I proceed to say any more of the story, it would be a narration rather than a spoiler.)
Wuthering Heights is a story where love and hatred weaves a series
of events and consequences that favors no one. The reason why I loved this book
was because, it was not dreamy. It did not entrap me in a bubble and make me
float in fantasy. Instead, it held me to the ground by expressing to me a harsh
reality. After all, love is not always a happy ending. We know that love could
cause pain. This book depicts a dark side of love where love acts as a
poison that tortures and kills almost everyone who dares to feel it. Also, the
characters of the story are flawed in some way or the other, making them more
realistic. They are filled with selfishness, stubbornness, and hatred. But
somehow, all their characteristics and actions seem justifiable to me. I felt
Heathcliff caused only as much of physical and mental pain as he was indulged
in. I understood Catherine’s choice in marrying Edgar although her love for
Heathcliff was rooted and remorseless.
One could not escape noticing Hareton growing into the shadow of Heathcliff yet being a man different enough to not let hatred and revenge consume him. Love, that mutated Heathcliff into a monstrous villain, healed Hareton from years of mistreatment. Cathy (the daughter), although entangled in a love with an expected torture and tragedy (similar to that of her mother’s), chose better than to be selfish. For some reason, I could sympathize with Heathcliff’s mourning for Catherine more than that of Edgar.
Wuthering Heights is a tragic love story of two people with amassed
love and hatred in the lonely, vast universe stretched between the 4 miles of Thrushcross
Grange and Wuthering Heights, ruining lives of not only themselves but also everyone around. Not a book that everyone could wrap their heads
around. But if you are up for a dark love story, pick this classic.
P.S.: Reading too many classics has made me too soft and now, cheesy dialogues don't sicken me anymore. 😭 This is bad! 😭
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