Though some characteristics are similar, the personalities of the two families seem to match their houses. The Earnshaws are a stormy family and display passion, strong feelings, violence, and manipulation. Their home, Wuthering Heights, is a remote moorland house with ‘stunted firs’, deeply set narrow windows and ‘bare rafters’ suggesting a cold unfriendly atmosphere.
Thrushcross Grange, however, is described as ‘beautiful-a splendid place, carpeted with crimson, crimson covered chairs and a pure white ceiling bordered by gold’. This description reflects the Lintons’ who are a calmer family, civilised but spoiled.
Weather is used in Wuthering Heights to reflect the emotions and moods of the characters,for example if a character is angry the weather is stormy.
At the beginning of Wuthering Heights Mr.Lockwood, who is the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, visits his landlord Heathcliff for the first time and is intrigued by the mysterious, ‘dark-skinned gypsy’.
On a second visit he is forced to stay at Wuthering Heights because a storm prevents him from being able to return home safely. Whilst there he reads some of Catherine's diary and encounters Catherine’s ghost when he dreams.
Nelly’s story begins with Mr. Earnshaw returning home with a ‘dirty ragged’ child whom he named Heathcliff after his dead son. Hindley does not like this new arrival to his family and is jealous of the attention and love Heathcliff receives from his father. Catherine however forms a close friendship with the ‘sullen’ boy which later leads to love between the two.Wuthering Heights is the story of the love between Catherine and Heathcliff and the people around them.
Heathcliff stirs Lockwood’s curiosity so much that he requests his house keeper Nelly Dean to tell him Heathcliff’s story. At this point Nelly takes over the narration.At the end of the novel Mr. Lockwood returns to Wuthering Heights to find his landlord,Heathcliff, has died.
There are many references to violence throughout Wuthering Heights. I’m going to concentrate on chapter 17 because it contains more violence than other chapters and also uses the ideas of both physical and mental violence.
In chapter 17 Isabella’s perspective is shown as she takes over the narration. She turns up at Thrushcross Grange wet, cold, bruised and bleeding. She describes to Nelly what has happened at Wuthering Heights.
After Catherine’s death Heathcliff is overcome with grief and harms himself. Isabella repulsed by Heathcliff’s actions over Catherine, agrees to let Hindley lock Heathcliff out. However in this part of the novel Isabella shows no signs of violent inclinations and seemingly rejects the idea of using violence on Heathcliff ‘you musn’t touch him’ .
Heathcliff becomes violent and angry when he discovers that he has been locked out. He flings his arm through a gap in the door and stabs Hindley with his own weapon. Hindley and Heathcliff proceed to attack each other and use extreme violence to physically harm one another. Although he badly injures Hindley he detains from killing him, though only because he is out of breath.He shows a small sign of regret as he binds Hindley’s wounds but he does this with ‘brutal roughness’.
During this chapter we are shown the violent side of Isabella as she uses words to emotionally hurt Heathcliff. ‘I loved Catherine too’ She also uses physical violence s she throws a kitchen knife at him. She is angry because Heathcliff has treated her cruelly and violently,taking out his frustrations at not being with Catherine on her.Frequently, throughout the novel Heathcliff makes it clear to Isabella that it’s Catherine he loves , not her.
Isabella is bitter at the realisation that Heathcliff never loved her, and only married her to make Catherine jealous and to get back at Edgar for marrying Catherine.
This is the first time that Isabella is violent in Wuthering Heights , before she is portrayed as gentle and calm.
Hindley is violent all through Wuthering Heights in chapter 9 he hangs his son Hareton over the banister and drops him.
Catherine uses mental violence to hurt and manipulate people. Even when she is dying she uses mental violence to hurt Heathcliff. ‘You and Edgar have broken my heart’
Heathcliff is the most violent and fiery character in Wuthering Heights. He becomes violent from an early age and grows up to be bitter and angry probably because of the degrading way he was treated as he got older.
Violence plays a strong role in Wuthering Heights and without it I don’t think the novel would have much impact on those who read it.
Although there is a extensive amount of violence in Wuthering Heights it is not portrayed as anything out of the ordinary. The story is written as though violence is acceptable and is nothing to be shocked at.
Violence is only mentioned as something unusual once in the whole novel by Nelly Dean in chapter in which she comments on the ‘diabolical violence’
Violence is used in Wuthering Heights to convey the emotions of the characters. The characters turn to violence when they feel anger, grief, betrayal, passion and other strong feelings.
The use of violence in Wuthering Heights is not used to shock people. It is an essential theme in the novel and it is vital to the characters personalities that they use violence to express their emotions.
