Wuthering Heights. The narrative tale tells the story of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them.

Wuthering Heights’ first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell is written by Emily Bronte and it is her only novel. Emily Bronte used the name ‘Ellis Bell’ due to the fact that this book was published in the 1800’s when women hardly had any rights therefore Emily Bronte thought it better to use a male name as both her sister’s did.

The word ‘Wuthering’ means turbulent weather in Yorkshire language; therefore it is used to describe the disastrous weather on the moors where this story is based. This book uses very old and intricate language as it is set way back in the 1800’s.

The haunting intensity of Catherine Earnshaw’s attachment to Heatchcliff is the focus of this novel in which relations between men and women are described with an emotional and imaginative power unparalleled in English fiction. The narrative tale tells the story of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them.

Catherine and Heathcliff had always been very close to each other and were always indivisible. But miserably, they were indeed separated many times due to many various reasons. Catherine and Heathcliff turned into soul mates only a few days after Mr Earnshaw found a ‘black gypsy’ wandering on the silent and violent streets of Liverpool and decided to espouse him, it was Mr Earnshaw himself who gave this black gypsy a Christian name ; Heathcliff. It was fate that Mr Earnshaw randomly found Heathcliff and brought him home.

The first separation between Catherine and Heathcliff was when they were children. They were inseparable and enjoyed spending time together running wild on the moors all the time, as a punishment Heathcliff and Cathy would be sent into separate rooms for a whole day, something they couldn’t bare. This was the biggest punishment they could ever get as Nell Dean had said ‘the greatest punishment we could invent for her was to keep her separate from him’. This showed how close Cathy and Heathcliff were and the family was to blame for their first separation.

The next time that the two were separated was when Hindley returned after Mr Earnshaw’s death, Hindley hated Heathcliff his whole life due to Mr Earnshaw favouring Heathcliff more than his own blood, as a result when Mr Earnshaw died Hindley made himself the master of the house and degraded Heathcliff by making him a servant. This resulted in Cathy and Heathcliff not being able to see each other as often as they had before. When Hindley came to the funeral with a wife called Frances, he became tyrannical as Nelly says ‘ He drove him from their company to the servants, deprived him of the instructions of the curate, and insisted he should labour out of the doors instead, compelling him to do so as hard as any other lad on the farm’. By not letting Heathcliff complete his education and making him work and live like all the other servants he degraded Heathcliff completely and lowered his social class.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Jealousy and revenge both play a big part in this separation of Cathy and Heathcliff. Jealousy due to the fact that Mr Earnshaw would always prefer Heathcliff, a ‘black gypsy’ found on the streets of Liverpool, to Hindley, his own blood. It is comprehensible that Hindley would feel jealous if his own father preferred an adopted boy than Hindley himself just as any other boy would. Hindley’s jealousy towards Heathcliff increased to highest level it could possibly be when Mr Earnshaw sent Hindley to boarding school just so that Heathcliff is safe. Mr Earnshaw made it very evident that he loved and cared for Heathcliff much more than for Hindley. Hindley realised this in time as Nelly narrates ‘The young master had learnt to regard his father as an oppressor rather than a friend, and Heathcliff as an usurper of his parents affection and his privileges, and he grew bitter with brooding over these injuries’. The jealousy Hindley had for Heathcliff also played a big part in the revenge Hindley took against Heathcliif as the jealousy made Hindley hate Heathcliff to the limit and wanted to get back at him in a cruel and tyrannical way. Family also played a big role in this separation as it was Mr Earnshaw’s fault for not treating both his sons equally.

When Catherine and Heathcliff went to Thrushcross Grange she was bitten by a dog. This is an important separation that needs to be discussed as it is apparent that this is a big turning pointing the novel. One Sunday evening, it chanced that they were banished from the sitting-room, for making a noise, and when Nelly went to look for them they were nowhere to be found. It emerged that Cathy and Heathcliff had run away to get a sight of liberty and while they were enjoying their free liberty they got a glimpse of the grange light therefore went to get a clue about how the Linton’s spend their Sunday evenings. While they were their they were having a great time watching Edgar and Isabella but that time didn’t last long as someone from the grange heard the two of them laughing. They sent a dog to catch Cathy and Heathcliff but Heathcliff got away while the dog bit Cathy. As a result Cathy was taken into the grange as Edgar Linton recognised Catherine, Heathcliff on the other hand was told to get lost and was socially discriminated when they called him ‘a wicked gypsy’. Fate also plays a big role here as it has in the whole book; it was destiny that Cathy got bitten by the bulldog not Heathcliff. It was five weeks during which Cathrine stayed at the grange away from Heathcliff. During this time she was introduced to a lot of new things she had never seen before like luxuries and wealth. The Linton’s loved her like their own child and treated her better than everyone in her own family; they groomed her into a fine beautiful young lady. All these luxuries made Cathy a very materialistic person. One more thing is the Lintons were upper class while the Earnshaws were middle class, after the rise in class it was very hard for Cathy to change class again. Everyone in the Earnshaw residence was totally astonished after seeing a fine young lady who was well dressed instead of the old mischievous dirty girl who used to run around the moors everyday. At seeing Cathy, Hindley praised Cathy by saying ‘Why Cathy! You’re quite a beauty.’ Cathy also made a joke out of Heathcliff by saying ‘Why, how very black and cross you look! And how-how funny and grim! But that’s because I m used to Edgar and Isabella Linton’. Heathcliff could not bare this and replied by saying ‘I shall not stand to be laughed at, I shall not bear it’. This started creating problems in Cathy and Heathcliff’s relation.

There was only doom and gloom in Cathy and Heathcliff’s relationship soon after Cathy returned from Thushcross Grange, things weren’t going too well. Catherine started spending much more time with Edgar and this was observable from Heathcliff’s calendar in which he marked off the day’s Cathy spent with him and also the days she spent with Edgar, the ration would have been 5:25, five day’s she had spent with Heathcliff and twenty-five with Edgar. One stormy night, Catherine had just come back from the grange, she seemed very happy but the storm was a sign that something disastrous had to arise.

She asked Nelly if she would keep a secret for her, the secret was Edgar had proposed to Cathy and she had accepted the proposal. Nelly saw someone approaching in the corridor and realised it was Heathcliff who was listening to their conversation in the dark, Catherine on the contrary had no clue whatsoever about his arrival. Nelly then asked Cathy why she wants to marry Edgar; she said she loves everything about him, and that she would be the finest and richest woman in the area. Nelly acknowledged that all these reasons weren’t good enough and that Heathcliff would friend, love, and all that he has. Cathy remembered her dream in which she was miserable in heaven and wanted to return to the heights, and realises ‘I’ve no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven’. Right after that Cathy say’s ‘It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now’. Heathcliff leaves right after listening to this. She goes on comparing Heathcliff to Edgar without knowing Heathcliff had gone forever by saying, ‘Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and Linton’s is as different as moonbeam from lightning or frost from fire’. Social class plays a huge role in this separation, Cathy said it would degrade her to marry Heathcliff because he was a servant and they weren’t on the same level, this also links back to Hindley’s revenge as he was the one who made Heathcliff a servant. Family and destiny also play a major role as Nelly knew Heathcliff was eavesdropping but never told Cathy, also Heathcliff only heard Cathy talking about the degradation not staying to hear her say, ‘I am Heathcliff’. This is where faith interwines in their love.

Catherine becomes very ill after losing her love and waits for Heathcliff for another two and a half years, but with no luck she finally marries Edgar, destiny also plays a role here as Heathcliff returns after three years, 3 months after Cathy gets married to Edgar.

Cathy was flabbergasted when she saw Heathcliff on the door of the grange and invited him in, she also told Edgar to be friends with him as he was now a fine rich gentleman, Edgar wasn’t half as happy as Cathy was upon Heathcliff’s arrival. Cathy discovered Heathcliff was now the owner of Wuthering Heights as Hindley had no money after gambling continuously. Cathy was starting to become selfish as she wanted Heathcliff to be her friend and Edgar to be her husband at the same time, something which neither of the two wanted. Between all this Heathcliff turned into Isabella’s crush, and Isabella soon started to love Heathcliff. He took advantage of this and got his revenge with Edgar by marrying his sister even though Cathy had told her how cruel and wicked Heathcliff is.

Isabella soon realised this when Heathcliff said ‘your wealth is now mine and you are going to wish you never married me’. This separation was due to Heathcliff wanting to get revenge on Edgar. Cathy was soon seriously ill, and in the 1800’s a minor cold could result in a person’s death. After a few days in bed Cathys condition worsened, Heathcliff arrived at the grange right after he received the news that Cathy is ill, they were both in tears and angry with each other, but they both forgave each other, Heathcliff had to go out when Edgar arrived but told Cathy I will see you again. He didn’t know this was their last meeting, Cathy died a few hours after giving birth to a baby girl, Catherine Linton. This was their final separation, a physical one.

Destiny, family, hatred, revenge, social class and death were a few of the main reasons for the soul mates separation along with many people mainly from the family. Wuthering Heights was an amazing story told by Emile Bronte, the two lovers Catherine and Heathcliff finally got together after Heathcilff died in her memories. Alas.

Peer Reviews

Here's what a star student thought of this essay

greeneyedgirl

27th of Mar 2012

Quality of writing

Quite a few of these sentences don't make sense, there needs to be a lot of proof reading in order to bring this up to scratch. Also the tone is very hit and miss, phrases such as "way back in the 1800s" and the final sentence "alas." are just not appropriate in an essay at all. There is also a lack of technical terms such as pathetic fallacy, metaphor and juxtaposition are missing. Using technical terms is very important as it shows the examiner you know what you're talking about and that you fully understand it rather than just discussing plot. Linking phrases need to be used to help the paragraphs flow together and work as an essay rather than a lot of points that are unrelated.

Level of analysis

Although many good points are made the analysis is not complete. The few quotes that are used seem to stand out because they are not linked in with the text. It's important when using a quote to always look at it and talk about WHY it is important, WHAT it shows rather than merely using it to repeat something you've already said. Furthermore, merely listing the plot (as happens when discussing the dog biting Cathy at the Grange) is pointless as the examiner will be well aware of the plot and this then wastes time and words. For each paragraph there should be a point, evidence from the text backing up this point, explanation of this evidence and then a link to the theme or question. This allows the essay to flow together as well as keep a focus on analysis rather than plot. As with the quotes, the small amount of knowledge about the context is merely put at the start of the essay rather than used to help exemplify a point (so their point about the meaning of the word 'wuthering' could be used when discussing the turbulent nature of their love and how it is reflected in the nature and weather).

Response to question

Although good points are made this does not work as an essay on the whole due to it's poor structure and lack of detailed analysis. While there is no obvious question here there is also a lack of a thread running through this essay. The student makes good points but they are disconnected and not fully explored. With no clear introduction or conclusion summing up it feels rather disjointed. It is key when writing an essay to have a focus throughout, something that you refer back to and that keeps your essay from seeming as though it has no point. This essay seems to focus mainly on the love plot of Cathy and Heathcliff and their separation and a better way to tackle this would be to look at different reasons for their separation giving a paragraph on each one with detailed analysis rather than working chronologically through the story as it shows an ability to think thematically which is key in A Level work.

Did you find this review helpful? Join our team of reviewers and help other students learn