Emily Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights is often presented as an epic love story, a passionate drama of two soulmates. I disagree with this view. Wuthering Heights is, instead, Emily’s portrayal of a dysfunctional family, generational abuse, and how selfishness destroys people. In her memorable characters and the drama of their lives, she clearly shows us what abuse looks like (in many forms, from physical to psychological) and how redemption and healing can be found.
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The Narrator: Mr. Lockwood
Emily Bronte chooses to tell her story from an outsider’s perspective. Mr. Lockwood rents Thrushcross Grange from Healthcliff and has a first (disturbing) encounter with his landlord. From there, he hears the story of the Earnshaw and Linton families from his housekeeper, Nellie, who has worked for three generations of Earnshaws. Nellie’s role in the story is that of confidante; at various times, each character comes to her to tell her some secret thought or desire. As an often invisible servant in an English household, she observes much that happens and has her own insights and opinions. She is by turns defensive and critical of each.
The Lockwood “wraparound” is one reason some people find it hard to get into Wuthering Heights. The story is not told chronologically, but rather in chunks, as Mr. Lockwood hears it from Nellie. While most novels written today are written from a close point of view (inside one character’s head), the use of a narrator was more common in the 19th century. (Think of Jane Austen’s ironic narrators or George Eliot’s omniscient narrators.) This positions us, like Nellie, as observers of the story, but also as judges. Like her, we are allowed to stand back and criticize or defend the actions of each character, to think carefully about what happens in this story.
The First Generation: abuse begins
The story begins at Wuthering Heights, the home of the Earnshaw family. Nellie grew up with Hindley and Catherine Earnshaw because her mother was their nurse; she played with them but also ran errands and did chores. One day, Mr. Earnshaw takes a trip to Liverpool and asks his children what gifts they want. When he returns, he has with him a “dirty, ragged, black-haired” “gipsy brat” who only speaks gibberish. He found the boy wandering on the streets and adopts him. The children are not impressed by this, especially when they learn the presents they requested have been broken or lost because of this boy.
Hindley is “a boy of fourteen” but “he blubbered aloud” when he finds his gift broken. Catherine is younger and “showed her humour by grinning and spitting at the stupid little thing; earning for her pains a sound blow from her father, to teach her cleaner manners.” From this introduction to the family, we see the trend of physical discipline and spoiled children. While their father seems generous towards a stranger, and Catherine becomes his best friend, Heathcliff remains an outsider in the family:
Hindley hated him: and to say the truth I did the same; and we plagued and went on with him shamefully: for I wasn’t reasonable enough to feel my injustice, and the mistress never put in a word on his behalf when she saw him wronged. He seemed a sullen, patient child: hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment: he would stand Hindley’s blows without winking or shedding a tear, and my pinches moved him only to draw in a breath and open his eyes, as if he had hurt himself by accident, and nobody was to blame.
This endurance made old Earnshaw furious, when he discovered his son persecuting the poor fatherless child, as he called him. He took to Heathcliff strangely, believing all he said (for that matter, he said precious little, and generally the truth), and petting him up far above Cathy, who was too mischievous and wayward for a favourite. So, from the very beginning, he bred bad feeling in the house, and at Mrs. Earnshaw’s death, which happened in less than two years, the young master had learned to regard his father as an oppressor rather than a friend, and Heathcliff as a usurper of his parent’s affected and his privileges, and he grew bitter with brooding over these injuries.
This passage reveals a lot about family dysfunction. Healthcliff is badly treated before coming into the family. Now he receives mixed treatment, being favored by the father and brother but abused by the son and servant girl. Mrs. Earnshaw, unfortunately, enables the abuse and then becomes absent from the story when she passes away. Heathcliff’s response to his abuse is, for the most part, to tolerate it. However, burying childhood trauma is never a healthy way of dealing with it, as we will soon see.
Although both [Mary] Shelley and Emily Brontë base their stories in domestic drama and family life, their most memorable characters are men traumatized and haunted by abuse. An abusive “childhood” results in their thoughtlessly steamrolling nearly everyone unfortunate enough to find themselves in their path… At a profound level, both Shelley’s creature and Brontë’s Heathcliff suffer rejection from those who ought to care for them. At a subterranean level, the books that follow their journeys are domestic dramas about the effects of family on individuals disfigured and disastrously affected by their early experiences. ~ Katherine Montwieler
The Problem with Favoritism
Mr. Earnshaw’s favoritism of the adopted son over the biological son crosses the line into abuse, creating “bad feeling” in the house. Psychology Today explains, “Love is unconditional, whereas favoritism is not. Favoritism depends upon children behaving in ways that gratifies parents.” All the members of the family soon see this dynamic and begin to use it to their own advantages, creating further problems, as the article explains: “When favoritism morphs into abuse, the health of the family and the psychological well being of all its members is jeopardized.”
If Hindley had been assured of his father’s unconditional love for him, he could have accepted a new brother. Instead, Mr. Earnshaw creates a competition for his attention between the two boys, which plays out in disturbing ways in the rest of the story (and even after his death). Emily Bronte was way ahead of modern psychology in knowing that “these dynamics will be reenacted in the subsequent generations of this family tree.” Throughout the novel, Hindley and Heathcliff continue to physically and psychologically abuse each other and those around them.
Other Forms of Abuse
While Hindley and Heathcliff use threats and physical force to get what they want, Catherine’s ways are more subtle. Nellie says “she put all of us past our patience fifty times and oftener in a day: from the hour she came downstairs till the hour she went to bed, we had not a minute’s security that she wouldn’t be in mischief. … A wild, wicked slip she was — but she had the bonniest eye, the sweetest smile, and the lightest foot in the parish: and, after all, I believe she meant no harm; for when once she made you cry in good earnest, it seldom happened that she would not keep you company, and oblige you to be quiet that you might comfort her.”
Nellie is describing emotional abuse, specifically through Catherine’s manipulation and unpredictable behavior. Catherine causes distress repeatedly, creating an environment of insecurity in the home. Those around her are constantly trying to manage her moods and keep the peace. She also manipulates emotions—after causing Nellie pain, she seeks comfort from Nellie, shifting the focus and responsibility back onto Nellie instead of taking responsibility for her own actions and the pain she has caused Nellie. This is a form of emotional control and gaslighting, where Catherine makes others responsible for her emotions.
Most readers are readily able to see Heathcliff and even Hindley for all their faults. We recognize in Heathcliff a man who will use anything, even violence, to get what he wants. Catherine has the same qualities, but uses different methods to get her way. She is often taken as a heroine when she is just as selfish and narcissistic as Heathcliff. Again, Emily Bronte shows her deep perception of human nature and her cautions against both physical and psychological abuse.
The Second Generation: abuse expands
The abuse is worsened by Mr. Earnshaw’s declining health, to the extent that Hindley is sent away to college in an attempt to reduce the tension in the home. He comes home for his father’s funeral three years later with a wife whom Nellie describes as penniless, nameless and half-silly. Frances Earnshaw is afraid of dying and has a bad cough, but her slightest wish is done immediately by Hindley. He puts Nellie and Joseph in their place as servants and kicks Heathcliff out of doors to work with the other farm boys.
Enter the Lintons
At this point, we meet the Lintons of Thrushcross Grange, the Earnshaw’s nearest neighbours. While the Lintons live nearby and the family attends church on Sundays, there seems to be little social interaction with other families. The inhabitants of both Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights live isolated lives, which allows abuse to flourish. The curate does give the children lessons, but otherwise Catherine and Heathcliff spend their spare time rambling on the moors, where their wild personalities are matched by the wild habitat.
On one of these rambles, they see the lights of Thrushcross Grange and decide to snoop. When Catherine is bitten by a guard dog, the teens are discovered by the Linton family, who comment on “Miss Earnshaw scouring the country with a gipsy” and say that Hindley “lets her grow up in absolute heathenism.” Heathcliff is called a “strange acquisition my late neighbour made” who might be “a little Lascar, or an American or Spanish castaway” and a “wicked boy.” He is kicked out for his bad language, while Cathy is invited in and petted.
The Narcissist as Chameleon
Growing up without a mother, with an unreliable father playing favorites, and being a headstrong girl who can boss the servants around, Cathy has done whatever she pleases. Meeting the Lintons gives her a glimpse of another world. The Lintons are refined and polished, and Catherine is more than willing to soak up their attentions. After spending five weeks at Thrushcross Grange while her ankle heals, she returns to Wuthering Heights as a “very dignified person” with her hair done and a new dress. Her brother is delighted, but Heathcliff feels the new distance between himself and his former playmate.
Catherine becomes a chameleon: at the Lintons’, she is careful not to act like the scorned Heathcliff, but “at home she had small inclination to practice politeness that would only be laughed at, and restrain an unruly nature when it would bring her neither credit nor praise.” Nellie explains that “as she had no temptations to show her rough side in [the Lintons’] company, and had the sense to be ashamed of being rude where she experienced such invariable courtesy, she imposed unwittingly on the old lady and gentleman by her ingenious cordiality; gained the admiration of Isabella, and the heart and soul of her brother: acquisitions that flattered her from the first — for she was full of ambition – and led her to adopt a double character.”
However, there are moments when Catherine doesn’t get her own way and her behaviour gets darker. During one of Edgar’s visits, Nellie remains in the room as chaperone, as requested by Hindley. Catherine pushes her verbally to leave; when Nellie doesn’t, Catherine pinches her. Nellie confronts her for this, but Catherine accuses her of lying and then slaps Nellie. When Edgar tries to interpose and calm her, she boxes his ear.
As a reasonable gentleman, Edgar then attempts to set a boundary by leaving: “Can I stay after you have struck me?” Catherine repeatedly blocks him, again resorting to emotional abuse by saying, “Edgar Linton: sit down; you shall not leave me in that temper. I should be miserable all night, and I won’t be miserable for you.” When he still persists in leaving, she says, “Well, go, if you please — get away! And now I’ll cry — I’ll cry myself sick!” She never apologizes for her actions; she never admits to wrong doing; she never considers how he or Nellie feels; all her thought is focused on herself and what she wants. Unfortunately, Edgar misses this red flag, choosing instead to see her for the pretty, charming girl she is most of the time with him.
Soul Mates… or Not?
Edgar soon proposes to Catherine, who confides her emotional struggle to Nellie. Nellie very sensibly “put her through the following catechism” of questions about whether Catherine loved Edgar, and why, but Catherine’s answers are shallow: she loves him because he is handsome, pleasant to be with, young, cheerful, loves her, and will be rich, and Catherine “shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighbourhood.” She admits, “I’ve no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven; and if [Hindley] had not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldn’t have thought of it. It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now.”
Here is my problem with seeing this story as a love story. If Catherine truly loved Heathcliff (rather than just herself), his lack of wealth or position would not have mattered to her. (How many other lovers have persisted in overcoming poverty and other obstacles to their love?) Instead of choosing the man she claims to love, she chooses comfort and pleasure. Since Catherine’s association with the Lintons, Nellie has tried to help Heathcliff better himself and become more agreeable. However, Catherine has only laughed at Heathcliff, failed to defend him to the Lintons, and done nothing to help him overcome the treatment he has received from her older brother. That is not love.
Catherine makes one last attempt to seem unselfish in her love for Edgar: she argues that in marrying Edgar, she can help Heathcliff. Nellie tries to show her the error of this, but Catherine cannot comprehend why either Edgar or Heathcliff would fail to appreciate this plan. (Again, her lack of empathy or ability to think about how others’ feel shows her narcissism.) She wants both her childhood playmate and her young adult crush; she is adamant that both men must bend to her will, agree to her plan, and be what she wants them to be.
The Third Generation: abuse transformed
The story of selfishness and abuse continues for many more chapters in Wuthering Heights. There is a period of time when Catherine seems happy with Edgar (known as the “honeymoon period” of the abuse cycle) but then her dark moods return. Healthcliff uses Edgar’s sister Isabella to get revenge on both Catherine and Edgar, and abuses Isabella cruelly before Isabella escapes.
Heathcliff and Isabella’s marriage is marked by severe domestic and sexual abuse. In Brontë’s novel, Isabella chooses to flee Heathcliff’s tyranny and construct a life for herself independent of him. As the literary scholar Judith E. Pike notes, this was a radical transgression of historical norms, in which Victorian morality would expect her to endure such treatment for love of her husband. ~ Anna Drury, PhD
Most of the characters die young, and the story moves on to the third generation: Hindley and Frances’ son Hareton, Heathcliff and Isabella’s son Linton, and Edgar and Catherine’s daughter Cathy. In these three young people, we see at first the patterns of abuse continuing.
Linton is an unhealthy young man, in both mind and body. He whines and complains, demands unlimited attention for himself, and is never happy. He has not the physical strength to be aggressive and violent like his father Heathcliff, but he makes up for this in his emotional and psychological abuse of those around him — which soon pushes everyone away from him. However, we are left to wonder how Linton’s story would have been different if he could have lived with his uncle Edgar and cousin Cathy, instead of being raised by a single mom and then an abusive father.
Hareton spends the first five years of his life with Nellie. His mother died at his birth and his father gives in to alcoholism, depression, and violent rages before also dying. Heathcliff then kicks Nellie out and Hareton is left to his own devices. When we next meet him, he is an uneducated, unpolished young man. Heathcliff has wrought his revenge on Hindley by treating Hindley’s son as Hindley treated him. However, the kindness and care that Nellie gave Hareton in his youngest years seems to have made an impact upon him, for his life doesn’t follow the trend of most of the other characters.
Cathy loses her mother at birth (like Hareton), but she is raised by a caring, gentle father and by Nellie. She is somewhat spoiled, but not excessively so, and inherits the best of her parents’ qualities. Her father’s only mistake is concealing her extended family from her. Cathy knows nothing of either Linton or Hareton until she is a teenager, and then, like any rebellious teenager, she is deeply interested in these family members her father wishes to keep from her. With her gentle heart, Cathy falls prey first to Linton’s demands. With her refined upbringing, she is put off by Hareton’s rough ways.
However, she comes to see both young men for who they are and not what they look like. While Linton may look like a classic blonde gentleman, he is a narcissist. Hareton looks like a dark farm hand, but he is a gentleman. Cathy shows her own character when, despite how Linton treats her, she patiently remains with him and nurses him until his death. She is then trapped at Wuthering Heights with a father-in-law who hates her, two servant who find her standoffish, and her cousin Hareton, who does seem to care for her.
Redemption Comes Slowly
Healing and redemption do not happen overnight. Trauma doesn’t end simply with the death of the aggressor or with a change of circumstance. Anger, guilt, shame, fear, and other emotions take time to process, and Emily does not rush either her characters or her readers through this season. These are the chapters in which the story seems to hang on a thread, for Cathy and Hareton must choose which of their parents they will emulate. Here again we have the dynamic that played out between Cathy and Heathcliff a generation previous: an educated young woman with an ignorant young man.
Cathy and Hareton’s story is not one of love at first sight. Nor is the passionate, tumultuous “love” that existed between Heathcliff and Catherine. They get to know each other in real, slow steps, each taking turns in reaching out, making mistakes, trying again. They must first accept each other, and then discover what they have in common, and what they can learn from each other. And here is the key to deep, lasting relationships: a willingness to grow. Both must give up their pride and accept the ways that the other can help them. Both must be willing to learn from the other, to do better. And in this, their love blooms.
The cycle of pain and heartbreak is suddenly laced with the cycle of the seasons; almost like Brontë is suggesting that human anguish is as fundamental and natural as the seasons. But the author also gestures to the younger generations, whose friendship in itself is a rejection of Heathcliff’s spite, that there is hope, that the future is ultimately what one makes of it. ~ Sophie Daubigney
A Timeless Classic
Why does this novel remain a classic of English literature and a favourite of many, including myself, despite its dark themes? I have two theories about this.
First, unlike other novels of the time, Emily writes about a family in isolation. Her story has none of the politics or details of the day that mark her sister Charlotte’s novels or George Eliot’s novels, which make them harder to read. Emily’s story is action-driven and therefore reads more like a modern novel than an 19th century novel. She writes instead about human nature, which hasn’t changed in either 200 or 2000 years.
Second, Emily’s novel speaks to readers at many stages of life. As a teenager and young adult, I probably did think it more of a passionate love story. As a post-divorce remarried mom, I have reached my newer interpretation of Emily’s novel. In either case, I have enjoyed reading it.
In the end, what is the moral of Wuthering Heights, the key takeaway that Emily Bronte wanted her readers to see? I agree with Katherine Montweiler: Bronte shows us that “in denying children respect, humanity, and love, in committing crimes against the most vulnerable, humanity runs the risk of creating ‘monsters’ who grow up to traumatize others.”
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