A Historical Approach to Wuthering Heights and the Notions of Victorian Suicide
Prior to the year 1823 and the passing of an amendment to the laws governing suicides, it
was customary at the onset of the Victorian era to employ the tradition of burying the bloody
body of a suicide victim at the intersection of a crossroad. Suicides had been buried at crossroads
due to the resemblance they bore to the cross, because steady traffic over the suicide's grave
would assist in keeping the victim’s ghost down, and because ancient sacrificial victims had been
slain at such sites. Since those who committed suicide were considered to have committed the
gravest of all sins, they had been staked to prevent the restless wandering of the lost souls.
Essentially, if life was a gift from God, the taking of it was God's prerogative only. There were
two particularly sensationalized cases which captured the imagination of the Victorian public. On
the afternoon of the 13th of August 1822 the body of Lord Londonderry, Foreign Secretary, and
leader of the House of Commons, was discovered after slitting his own throat. What the juryman
had to decide was whether Lord Londonderry had a grasp of his full mental faculties at the time,
or was suffering from insanity. In the former case he would have been dubbed a felo-de-se, or
self-murderer. Both outcomes proved problematic in that to determine a member of the House of
Commons insane would undermine the entire political establishment, and to determine him as a
felo-de-se would prove an equally terrible fate. Nevertheless, after a period of deliberation, a
verdict was realized, and public outrage was swift; “placards were raised insisting that no suicide
could be buried in the great Abbey,” and Lord Byron ventured to neatly summarize the radical
sentiments felt by the English public in his preface to cantos VI-VIII of Don Juan:
Of the manner of his death little need be said, except that if a poor radical had cut
his throat, he would have been buried in a cross-road, with the usual
appurtenances of the stake and mallet. But the minister was an elegant lunatic —
a sentimental suicide — he merely cut the "carotid artery" (Byron 198).
For many, Lord Londonderry represented an emblem of the old Europe and the symbols of
privilege and conservatism, and the glaring inequality afforded to the affluent was
irreprehensible to the public. Less than a year later, Abel Griffiths, a twenty two year old law
student wearing only pants, socks, and a sheet, was buried at the crossroads. Wrapped in a piece
of Russian matting, his bloodied, unwashed body was placed in a hole roughly five feet deep,
covered in lime, and a stake was driven through his heart. A friend of the felo-de-se attested to
him having suffered from depression, and despite this, a jury found him of sound mind and
commenced with the crossroads burial. The inequities made apparent in the Londonderry and
Griffiths case, and massive public outcry, led to the passing of 4 George IV.c 52 which made it
illegal to bury a suicide victim at the crossroads of a public highway, furthermore, within twenty
four hours of a verdict, the suicide victim was to be buried in a churchyard or public burial place.
Subsequently, it was concluded that in the case of a suicide the entire sum of the victims wealth
would still, as was custom, be forfeited to the English crown.
Perceptions of superstition regarding suicides remained prevalent in the English cultural
psyche and naturally permeated literary works of the period in haunting British fiction. The
fictional works of the period deviated away from referring to suicide in a Gothic sense, partly in
response to the English being stigmatized as being the beau-ideal of suicide, and preferred to
liken it to “laying aside the claims of human identity…to belong to mountains and sea;” a more
symbolic intellectual gesture. Nevertheless, more unvarnished references can be found. Emily
Bronte’s canonical Gothic novel Wuthering Heights (1847), set between 1771 and 1803, alludes
to both pre and post 1823 suicide burial customs in a far more literal sense than some of her
contemporaries. In this regard, Bronte’s work lends itself more to a historical analysis of suicidal
perceptions, customs, and hypocrisies than some. As such, a contextual analysis of the role that
Victorian perceptions of suicide plays in Wuthering Heights would prove valuable, including the
variance in customs practiced, the ambiguity of the alleged suicides, the hypocrisies involving
said suicides, and their relevance to the time period the novel is set.
Hindley Earnshaw, brother to Catherine, and Mr. Earnshaw’s son, is resentful of
Heathcliff’s adoption by his father, which drives much of the plot. Subsequently, after Mr.
Earnshaw dies, Hindley begins to abuse Heathcliff mercilessly; terminating his education and
relegating him to field work. When Hindley’s wife Frances dies shortly after giving birth to their
son Hereton, he lapses into alcoholism and a chronic gambling addiction. In 1784 Hindley is
found dead in his home. Although the exact cause of Hindley’s death is never determined, the
general consensus is that he died of alcohol poisoning. Mr. Kenneth, who tells Nelly about the
death, proclaims that “he died true to his character, drunk as a lord” (153). Heathcliff, when
asked if they may proceed with suitable funeral arrangements, retorts that “correctly…that fool’s
body should be buried at the cross-roads, without ceremony of any kind. I happened to leave him
ten minutes, yesterday afternoon; and, in that interval, he fastened the two doors of the house
against me, and he has spent the night drinking himself to death deliberately!” (153).
The precise circumstances of Hindley’s death, reported in great detail, have important
implications for the course Bronte’s novel takes. That is, if Hindley did take his own life in a fit
of drunkenness he would, as per 18th century Victorian custom, be buried at the crossroads with a
stake driven through his heart. Furthermore, in the case that it is deemed a suicide, Hindley’s
property would be legally forfeited to the crown, and Heathcliff would be unable to exact his
revenge in taking control of the Earnshaw household. It is in this regard that Heathcliff likely
relinquishes his more immediate revenge and allows Hindley to be given a proper burial.
Catherine Earnshaw’s death, preceding her brother’s by half a year, is not explicitly
suicidal, but is commonly considered as such. In the 2nd chapter, Catherine embarks on a fast
with the intent of inducing ill health, but not suicide. At this point in the novel Catherine
considers breaking her own body “a deed to be reserved for a forlorn hope” (101). As Gates
points out, Catherine’s body only partially cooperates with her will, and Nelly’s assumption that
Catherine is in control proves to be a “tragic miscalculation.” Subsequently, Catherine is past
saving, and when she realizes neither Linton nor Heathcliff are alarmed at her physical state and
chooses not to die, it is too late to reverse her descent into destruction.
In Q.D Leavis’ A Fresh Approach to Wuthering Heights she points out the “fatal
immaturity” of Catherine Earnshaw, and the scene that takes place before the mirror that spells
doom for Catherine. Catherine is disturbed when she sees her own weakened form reflected in
the mirror because she seems to understand, and which Bronte was undoubtedly exposed to, the
Yorkshire folklore that dictates “their souls may take flight from their weak bodies by being
projected into the mirror, and this can cause their death” (146). In accordance with this belief,
immediately after Catherine sees her own reflection in the mirror she becomes convinced of her
own fate. Leavis suggests that this realization replaces Catherine’s fear of ghosts, expressed
when she laments “I hope it will not come out when you are gone! Oh! Nelly, the room is
haunted (106). Catherine seems to consider herself to be the ghost once she recognizes the
reflection as her own; “Myself” she proclaims, “and the clock is strike twelve! It’s true then;
that’s dreadful!” (106). Catherine’s horror is congruent with the Victorian belief that suicides
become restless ghosts, and in being sure of herself as a suicide, Catherine commences with her
subsequent ravings about ghosts in Gimmerton Kirkyard.
After this scene there is only one more meeting between Heathcliff and Catherine before
her death. Their dialogue is filled with allusions to Catherine’s suicide and her haunting of
Heathcliff. Catherine laments that she will never be at peace, and Heathcliff expresses his regret
over what he views as Catherine’s imminent self-murder and his relationship to it. Heathcliff
emphasizes that he can forgive Catherine for her murder of him, but not the murder of herself,
which she in turn blames on Heathcliff. This scene is significant in its relation to Victorian
suicide law which stated that any individual partaking in helping another commit suicide was
legally responsible for their death as their murderer. As such, any individual accused by another
to be the reason for the taking of their own life, could be held accountable under the full extent of
the law. Heathcliff makes his sentiments apparent when he proclaims “Catherine Earnshaw, may
you not rest as long as I am living! You said I killed you--haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt
their murderers. I believe--I know that ghosts have wandered on earth” (176)
However, Catherine is not buried as per pre-1823 suicide customs. Nelly wonders “after
the wayward and impatient existence she had led, whether she merited a haven of peace at last”
(137-8). Catherine is buried in the corner of Kirkyard under the wall, “to the surprise of the
villagers” (140) who did not know the means of Catherine’s death and would have expected a
more fitting burial. Subsequently, in the passing of 4 George IV.c 52 in 1823, after it became
legal to lay suicides to rest in a churchyard, it became customary in parts of Northern Britain to
bury an individual under a wall as to prevent the chance of someone walking over their grave.
The place of Catherine’s burial would therefore have had particular significance for the residence
of Gimmerton who would be able to infer the nature of her death from where she was laid to rest.
Catherine’s place of burial determines Heathcliff’s own choice of a burial site and his
own need to not become discovered as a suicide. It is far less likely that he would be extended
the same degree of pity that allowed for the churchyard burials of Catherine and Hindley, not
unlike the inequalities of the Londonderry/Griffiths cases. Additionally, he would be full aware
of the possibility of a crossroad burial, as he explicitly mentions it earlier, and is therefore
adamant about not appearing as a suicide. Unfortunately, Linton dies before Heathcliff does and
is the one to be laid to rest, as per his final wish, in the grave by Catherine. Less than a year
elapses between Linton and Heathcliff’s death, and by this point, Wuthering Heights is
hopelessly haunted by Catherine. Nelly observes the growing isolation and melancholy of
Heathcliff and warns him against taking his own life. Nelly becomes particularly concerned
when Heathcliff is “out on the hills by himself” and “his gun burst” (246). Nevertheless,
Heathcliff survives his “accident” despite a heavy loss of blood. Heathcliff becomes affected by
“the strange tedium vitae that was considered the cause of so many nineteenth century suicides”
(Gates). Heathcliff laments “I cannot continue in this condition” to Nelly, “I have to remind
myself to breathe – almost to remind my heart to beat!” and continues “It is not my fault, that I
cannot eat or rest. I assure you it is through no settled design” (262). This “settled design” of not
eating that Heathcliff speaks of is likely mirroring the manner in which Catherine met her
demise.
As Heathcliff’s body begins to fail him, what is foremost on his mind is the place of his
burial. To Nelly he gives detailed instructions as to how it must be carried out, “you remind me
of the manner that I desire to be buried in. It is to be carried to the churchyard, in the evening, no
minister need come; nor need anything be said over me” (263). Each of Heathcliff’s requests are
“in [accordance] with the 1823 state governing the burial of suicides, the hour, the place, and the
lack of a Christian burial service” (Gates). Nelly seems to be fully aware of the implications in
Heathcliff’s request and posits “and supposing you persevered in your obstinate fast, and died by
that means, and they refused to bury in the precinct of the Kirk? (263). Heathcliff’s only option
available to him now is to charge Nelly with moving his body by Catherine in promising to haunt
her mercilessly if she does not comply.
The next morning, when Heathcliff does finally die, Nelly conceals her suspicion about
his death to Kenneth in stating that “Kenneth was perplexed to pronounce of what disorder the
master died, I concealed the fact of his having swallowed nothing for four days, fearing it might
lead to trouble, and then, I am persuaded he did not abstain on purpose; it was the consequence
of his strange illness, not the cause” (264). Finally, “to the scandal of the whole neighborhood”
(265) who were shocked by Heathcliff’s burial by the side of the married Linton’s and aware of
what the lack of Christian rights implies, were sure of the untimely death of the trio. Sometime
afterward, Nab the local shepherd boy sees the ghosts of what he must now consider as two
suicides, Heathcliff and Catherine.
The legal and moral implications of felo-de-se that took hold in Victorian Britain, even as
late as 1886, could be seen in the fictional works pertaining to suicide and crossroad burials. The
controversy over the question of temporary insanity did not end in 1823, but rather intensified.
Physicians were increasingly be called on to define insanity in cases of suicide, and these
definitions became the focus of increasing debate throughout the Victorian era. A type of moral
insanity became a popular phenomenon in the period around the publication of Wuthering
Heights. Ultimately, any reader aware of Victorian suicide law might perceive the characters
quite differently than a more contemporary and uniformed reading. In this regard, a glimpse into
the lives of Catherine, Hindley, and Heathcliff, and the subsequent taking of them by their own
hands, offers the informed reader a view into Victorian era suicide burial customs, controversy,
and hypocrisy. In the end, Lockwood’s last word takes on a particular irony for any reader
familiar with Victorian suicide law in wondering “how anyone could ever imagine and unquiet
slumber for the sleepers in that quiet earth” (266).
Works Cited
Brontë, Emily, and Pauline Nestor. Wuthering Heights. London: Penguin, 2003. Print.
Gates, Barbara. "Chapter One: Verdicts." Chapter One: Verdicts. N.p., 25 Sept. 2009. Web. 16
Nov. 2012
Leavis, Q. D. Q. D. Leavis: Collected Essays. [S.l.]: Cambridge Univ, 1969. Print.
Lolme, J. L., LL.D. "The Rise and Progress of the English Constitution:" Google Books. Bayer
Staatsbibliothek, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2012.
Parker, Robert Dale. "Historicim and Cultural Studies." How to Interpret Literature: Critical
Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. 244-67. Print.
Richter, David H. The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. New York: St.
Martin's, 1989. Print.