Adam Michalak
Mr. O'Brien
Wuthering Heights
04 October 2001
Contrasting Homes
In Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, the two places of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights contrast one another in practically every aspect. The way the houses look, the feeling they give off, and the way the characters inside each home think and act, all have an effect on what each house represents for the characters and the themes in the book. The representation of both places creates a difference between two settings and relates to the theme of good versus evil.
Wuthering Heights is a poorly maintained home set up on the top of a hill that endures the greatest of weather conditions. With violent storms coming in full fury that make thunder sound like it growls in the night. The storms have taken their toll on the grasses with "a few stunted firs at the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns" (10). The structure of Wuthering was built rather edgy having "narrow windows deeply set into the wall, and the corners defending with large jutting stones" (10). The name of the home itself "is a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather" (10). When Lockwood enters, he notices the appearance of the inside of the home. It is not very attractive - boring, dull, dark, and gloomy. He says that the furniture was nothing extraordinary "as belonging to a homely, northern farmer" (11). Lockwood sees that the "floors were of smooth, white stone; the chairs, high-backed, primitive structures, painted green; one or two heavy black ones in the shade" (11). Seems to be a very dismal interior with dismal decor. The dog, too, was not very impressive - just a natural, simple, "olive-coloured bitch pointer" (11). The objects in the house appear drab, like not seeing "any glimmer of copper saucepans and tin cullenders on the walls" (11). Even the way the people act in the house appears to have a negative effect. A very vivid example of this is when Hindley and Heathcliff get into an argument and Hindley tells him to "take my colt, gypsy then! And I pray that he may break your neck; take him and be damned, you beggarly interloper...only afterwards show him what you are, imp of Satan! And take that - I hope he'll kick out your brains!" (43). Isabella even questions Heathcliff's decency when she asks, "is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil?" (134)
Mr. O'Brien
Wuthering Heights
04 October 2001
Contrasting Homes
In Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, the two places of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights contrast one another in practically every aspect. The way the houses look, the feeling they give off, and the way the characters inside each home think and act, all have an effect on what each house represents for the characters and the themes in the book. The representation of both places creates a difference between two settings and relates to the theme of good versus evil.
Wuthering Heights is a poorly maintained home set up on the top of a hill that endures the greatest of weather conditions. With violent storms coming in full fury that make thunder sound like it growls in the night. The storms have taken their toll on the grasses with "a few stunted firs at the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns" (10). The structure of Wuthering was built rather edgy having "narrow windows deeply set into the wall, and the corners defending with large jutting stones" (10). The name of the home itself "is a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather" (10). When Lockwood enters, he notices the appearance of the inside of the home. It is not very attractive - boring, dull, dark, and gloomy. He says that the furniture was nothing extraordinary "as belonging to a homely, northern farmer" (11). Lockwood sees that the "floors were of smooth, white stone; the chairs, high-backed, primitive structures, painted green; one or two heavy black ones in the shade" (11). Seems to be a very dismal interior with dismal decor. The dog, too, was not very impressive - just a natural, simple, "olive-coloured bitch pointer" (11). The objects in the house appear drab, like not seeing "any glimmer of copper saucepans and tin cullenders on the walls" (11). Even the way the people act in the house appears to have a negative effect. A very vivid example of this is when Hindley and Heathcliff get into an argument and Hindley tells him to "take my colt, gypsy then! And I pray that he may break your neck; take him and be damned, you beggarly interloper...only afterwards show him what you are, imp of Satan! And take that - I hope he'll kick out your brains!" (43). Isabella even questions Heathcliff's decency when she asks, "is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil?" (134)
