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Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte's only novel, is one of the pinnacles of 19th century English literature. It's the story of Heathcliff, an orphan who falls inlove with a girl above his class, loses her, and devotes the rest of his life to wreaking revenge on her family.
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Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte's only novel, is one of the pinnacles of 19th century English literature. It's the story of Heathcliff, an orphan who falls inlove with a girl above his class, loses her, and devotes the rest of his life to wreaking revenge on her family.
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Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights
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Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights

Overview

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte's only novel, is one of the pinnacles of 19th century English literature. It's the story of Heathcliff, an orphan who falls inlove with a girl above his class, loses her, and devotes the rest of his life to wreaking revenge on her family.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781667209807
Publisher: Canterbury Classics
Publication date: 07/01/2025
Series: Word Cloud Classics
Edition description: 2nd Edition
Pages: 304
Product dimensions: 5.25(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.98(d)

About the Author

Alison Booth, Professor of English at the University of Virginia with a Ph.D. from Princeton (1986), specializes in Victorian studies, the novel, and women writers, while her teaching and research also range broadly—across the Atlantic and up to contemporary cultural studies—to encompass narrative theory, biography and autobiography, and celebrity. Her numerous articles and essays have appeared in distinguished journals and collections. She is the author of two acclaimed critical books: the prize-winning How to Make It as a Woman: Collective Biographical History from Victoria to the Present (2004), and Greatness Engendered: George Eliot and Virginia Woolf (1992), and co-editor of the Norton Introduction to Literature (now in its ninth edition). Her current research, reflected in the Longman Cultural Edition of Wuthering Heights, involves the popular genre of "homes and haunts" of famous people, literary tourism, and the character of famous writers' houses.

Read an Excerpt

1801

I have just returned from a visit to my landlord--the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with. This is certainly a beautiful country! In all England I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of society. A perfect misanthropist's heaven; and Mr. Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us. A capital fellow! He little imagined how my heart warmed towards him when I beheld his black eyes withdraw so suspiciously under their brows, as I rode up, and when his fingers sheltered themselves, with a jealous resolution, still further in his waistcoat, as I announced my name.

"Mr. Heathcliff?" I said.

A nod was the answer.

"Mr. Lockwood, your new tenant, sir. I do myself the honour of calling as soon as possible after my arrival, to express the hope that I have not inconvenienced you by my perseverance in soliciting the occupation of Thrushcross Grange: I heard yesterday you had had some thoughts--"

"Thrushcross Grange is my own, sir," he interrupted, wincing. "I should not allow any one to inconvenience me, if I could hinder it--walk in!"

The "walk in" was uttered with closed teeth, and expressed the sentiment, "Go to the deuce": even the gate over which he leant manifested no sympathizing movement to the words; and I think that circumstance determined me to accept the invitation: I felt interested in a man who seemed more exaggeratedly reserved than myself.

When he saw my horse's breast fairly pushing the barrier, he did put out his hand to unchain it, and then sullenly preceded me up the causeway, calling, as we entered thecourt--"Joseph, take Mr. Lockwood's horse; and bring up some wine."

"Here we have the whole establishment of domestics, I suppose," was the reflection suggested by this compound order. "No wonder the grass grows up between the flags, and cattle are the only hedge-cutters."

Joseph was an elderly, nay, an old man: very old, perhaps, though hale and sinewy. "The Lord help us!" he soliloquised in an undertone of peevish displeasure, while relieving me of my horse: looking, meantime, in my face so sourly that I charitably conjectured he must have need of divine aid to digest his dinner, and his pious ejaculation had no reference to my unexpected advent.

Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff's dwelling. "Wuthering" being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather. Pure, bracing ventilation they must have up there at all times, indeed: one may guess the power of the north wind blowing over the edge, by the excessive slant of a few stunted firs at the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the sun. Happily the architect had foresight to build it strong: the narrow windows are deeply set in the wall, and the corners defended with large jutting stones.

Before passing the threshold, I paused to admire a quantity of grotesque carving lavished over the front, and especially about the principal door; above which, among a wilderness of crumbling griffins and shameless little boys, I detected the date "1500," and the name "Hareton Earnshaw." I would have made a few comments, and requested a short history of the place from the surly owner; but his attitude at the door appeared to demand my speedy entrance, or complete departure, and I had no desire to aggravate his impatience previous to inspecting the penetralium.

One step brought us into the family sitting-room, without any introductory lobby or passage. They call it here "the house" pre-eminently. It includes kitchen and parlour, generally; but I believe at Wuthering Heights the kitchen is forced to retreat altogether into another quarter: at least I distinguished a chatter of tongues, and a clatter of culinary utensils, deep within; and I observed no signs of roasting, boiling, or baking, about the huge fireplace; nor any glitter of copper saucepans and tin cullenders on the walls. One end, indeed, reflected splendidly both light and heat from ranks of immense pewter dishes, interspersed with silver jugs and tankards, towering row after row, on a vast oak dresser, to the very roof. The latter had never been underdrawn: its entire anatomy lay bare to an inquiring eye, except where a frame of wood laden with oatcakes and clusters of legs of beef, mutton, and ham concealed it. Above the chimney were sundry villainous old guns and a couple of horse-pistols: and, by way of ornament, three gaudily painted canisters disposed along its ledge. The floor was of smooth, white stone; the chairs, high-backed, primitive structures, painted green: one or two heavy black ones lurking in the shade. In an arch under the dresser reposed a huge liver-coloured bitch pointer, surrounded by a swarm of squealing puppies; and other dogs haunted other recesses.

The apartment and furniture would have been nothing extraordinary as belonging to a homely, northern farmer, with a stubborn countenance and stalwart limbs set out to advantage in knee-breeches and gaiters. Such an individual seated in his armchair, his mug of ale frothing on the round table before him, is to be seen in any circuit of five or six miles among these hills, if you go at the right time after dinner. But Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast to his abode and style of living. He is a dark-skinned gipsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman: that is, as much a gentleman as many a country squire: rather slovenly, perhaps, yet not looking amiss with his negligence, because he has an erect and handsome figure; and rather morose. Possibly, some people might suspect him of a degree of underbred pride; I have a sympathetic chord within that tells me it is nothing of the sort: I know, by instinct, his reserve springs from an aversion to showy displays of feeling--to manifestations of mutual kindliness. He'll love and hate equally under cover, and esteem it a species of impertinence to be loved or hated again. No, I'm running on too fast: I bestow my own attributes over liberally on him. Mr. Heathcliff may have entirely dissimilar reasons for keeping his hand out of the way when he meets a would-be acquaintance, to those which actuate me. Let me hope my constitution is almost peculiar: my dear mother used to say I should never have a comfortable home; and only last summer I proved myself perfectly unworthy of one.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations     viii
About Longman Cultural Editions     ix
About This Edition     xi
Introduction     xv
Table of Dates: The Life of Emily Bronte     xxvi
The Chronology of Wuthering Heights     xxx
Wuthering Heights     1
Volume 1     3
Volume 2     141
Contexts     299
Biographical     303
Biographical Sketch     303
Emily Bronte in Elizabeth Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Bronte (1857)     308
Writings   Emily Bronte     313
from "Diary Papers" (1834-1845)     313
"The Cat" (translation) (1842)     319
Charlotte Bronte's Selection of Poems by Ellis Bell (1850)     320
Charlotte Bronte on Ellis Bell     329
from "Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell" (1850)     330
from "Editor's Preface" (1850)     335
Historical, Social, and Legal     339
Heathcliff and the Unsettled Classes     339
Nomads of City and Country     341
Henry Mayhew, from London Labour and the London Poor (1861)     341
Self-Made Men and Luddites     343
Samuel Smiles, from Self-Help (1859)     343
Women's Rights and Roles     348
Ellis Bell and Sarah Stickney Ellis     348
Sarah Stickney Ellis, from The Women of England, Their Social Duties and Domestic Habits (1839)     349
Harriet Martineau, from "On Female Education" (1823)     352
Wills, Women, and Property     355
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, from A Brief Summary, in Plain Language, of the Most Important Laws Concerning Women (1854)     355
A Tale of Two Houses: Interiors and Servants     357
Interiors     358
John Ruskin, from "The Nature of Gothic," The Stones of Venice (1851-1853)     359
Domestic Servants     361
Isabella Beeton, from The Book of Household Management (1861)     362
Regional and Popular     366
Where Are the Brontes From?     366
Ireland, Heathcliff, and the Brontes     367
William Wright, from The Brontes in Ireland (1893)     368
Yorkshire: Regionalism, Dialect, and Ballads     374
Regionalism     374
Elizabeth Gaskell, from The Life of Charlotte Bronte (1857)     375
Dialect     377
Richard Blakeborough, from Wit, Character, Folklore and Customs of the North Riding of Yorkshire (1898)     377
Ballads      380
Anonymous, "The Ghaist's Warning" (1812)     382
Pilgrims to Haworth     387
Matthew Arnold, from "Haworth Churchyard, April 1855" (1877)     387
Claude Meeker, from "Haworth; Home of the Brontes" (1895)     390
Virginia Woolf, from "Haworth, November 1904" (1904)     393
Shifting Literary Honors and the Beaten Track     395
Critical and Artful     398
Reviews of Wuthering Heights, 1848-1851     399
from Douglas Jerrold's Weekly Newspaper (January 1848)     399
from Atlas (January 1848)     400
G. W. P[eck], from "Wuthering Heights," The American Review (June 1848)     401
[E. P. Whipple], from "Novels of the Season," North American Review (October 1848)     403
[George Henry Lewes], from The Leader (December 1850)     404
[Sydney Dobell], from Eclectic Review (February 1851)     405
Early Criticism     406
Algernon Charles Swinburne, from "Emily Bronte" (1883)     406
Angus M. MacKay, from The Brontes: Fact and Fiction (1897)     407
Mary A. Ward [Mrs. Humphry Ward], from "Introduction," Wuthering Heights, Haworth Edition (1900)     409
May Sinclair, from The Three Brontes (1912)     410
Virginia Woolf, from "Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights" (1916)      412
Sites and Resources on the Brontes     413
Exhibits     413
Selected Web sites     415
Adaptations and Translations     415
Performances     415
Film/Television Adaptations     417
Some Translations     418
Some Sequels, Pendants, and Biographical Fiction     422
Further Reading     425
General Resources and Biographical Studies     425
Popular Reception and Travels to Bronte Country     430
Selected Criticism Since 1995     430

What People are Saying About This

Charlotte Bronte

Wuthering Heights was hewn in a wild workshop, with simple tools, out of homely materials... And there it stands colossal, dark, and frowning, half statue, half rock; in the former sense, terrible and goblin-like; in the latter, almost beautiful, for its colouring is of mellow grey, and moorland moss clothes it; and heath, with its blooming bells and balmy fragrance, grows faithfully close to the giant's foot.

Reading Group Guide

1. To what extent do you think the setting of the novel contributes to, or informs, what takes place? Do you think the moors are a character in their own right? How do you interpret Bronte's view of nature and the landscape?

2. Discuss Emily Bronte's careful attention to a rigid timeline and the role of the novel as a sober historical document. How is this significant, particularly in light of the turbulent action within? What other contrasts within the novel strike you, and why? How are these contrasts important, and how do they play out in the novel?

3. Do you think the novel is a tale of redemption, despair, or both? Discuss the novel's meaning to you. Do you think the novel's moral content dictates one choice over the other?

4. Do you think Bronte succeeds in creating three-dimensional figures in
Heathcliff and Cathy, particularly given their larger-than-life metaphysical passion? Why or why not?

5. Discuss Bronte's use of twos: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange; two families, each with two children; two couples (Catherine and Edgar, and Heathcliff and Isabella); two narrators; the doubling-up of names. What is Bronte's intention here? Discuss.

6. How do Mr. Lockwood and Nelly Dean influence the story as narrators? Do you think they are completely reliable observers? What does Bronte want us to believe?

7. Discuss the role of women in Wuthering Heights. Is their depiction typical of Bronte's time, or not? Do you think Bronte's characterizations of women mark her as a pioneer ahead of her time or not?

8. Who or what does Heathcliff represent in the novel? Is he a force of evil or a victim of it?How important is the role of class in the novel, particularly as it relates to Heathcliff and his life?

Foreword

1. To what extent do you think the setting of the novel contributes to, or informs, what takes place? Do you think the moors are a character in their own right? How do you interpret Bronte's view of nature and the landscape?

2. Discuss Emily Bronte's careful attention to a rigid timeline and the role of the novel as a sober historical document. How is this significant, particularly in light of the turbulent action within? What other contrasts within the novel strike you, and why? How are these contrasts important, and how do they play out in the novel?

3. Do you think the novel is a tale of redemption, despair, or both? Discuss the novel's meaning to you. Do you think the novel's moral content dictates one choice over the other?

4. Do you think Bronte succeeds in creating three-dimensional figures in
Heathcliff and Cathy, particularly given their larger-than-life metaphysical passion? Why or why not?

5. Discuss Bronte's use of twos: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange; two families, each with two children; two couples (Catherine and Edgar, and Heathcliff and Isabella); two narrators; the doubling-up of names. What is Bronte's intention here? Discuss.

6. How do Mr. Lockwood and Nelly Dean influence the story as narrators? Do you think they are completely reliable observers? What does Bronte want us to believe?

7. Discuss the role of women in Wuthering Heights. Is their depiction typical of Bronte's time, or not? Do you think Bronte's characterizations of women mark her as a pioneer ahead of her time or not?

8. Who or what does Heathcliff represent in the novel? Is he a force of evil or a victimof it? How important is the role of class in the novel, particularly as it relates to Heathcliff and his life?

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