How effectively does Bronte use setting to present ideas about
the spirit world in "Wuthering Heights"?
"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte is a classic example of gothic
literature as it explores both horror and romance that was popularized
in the 18th and 19th century. The novel is often considered a gothicromantic story because it is saturated with many of the typical
aspects of Gothicism. Its great theme is the finite and tragically self
consuming nature of passion. A doomed love and a desolate
landscape, common characteristics that of a gothic novel can also be
found in Wuthering heights. As such the theme of the supernatural is
rather dominant through out the novel as well. The supernatural
theme is a recurrent one in gothic novels; with dreams, ghosts and
gaps between this world and next. It is this paranormal touch that
adds to the eerie feeling and the extreme circumstances that a novel
like "Wuthering heights” portray. Setting is but one of the ways Bronte
uses to bring about ideas about the spirit world and the supernatural,
her use of descriptive language as diction, her portrayal of the
characters also effectively present ideas about the spirit world as
well.
Wuthering Heights is set in the wild and rugged moorland country of
Yorkshire, in the north of England. Bronte limits her setting to two
houses: Wuthering Heights, the home of the Earnshaws, and
Thrushcross Grange, the home of the Lintons. The moors, which lie
between the two houses, is given great importance in terms of the
novel's structure and symbolism. One of the more important aspects
of the novel is that of the spirit world converging with the physical
world. After Heath cliff’s death people around the moors claimed to
have seen his ghost with Catherine’s walking along the moors. The
constant reference of the moors in the novel forces readers to pay
attention on how the moors actually intertwine with many themes
found in the novel. It is human nature to love and to treasure those
that perished, but Heathcliff crosses the boundary of the spirit world
to spend time with Cathy Linton whom he was still madly in love with.
After Cathy's death Heathcliff begs her spirit to haunt him. This action
could be considered as selfish and unnatural; that it goes against
conventional morality.Heathcliff did not wish for her to rest in peace
but to exist only to be with him. The moors were their haven when
they were younger and now that she was dead, he was forced to go
back there to be “close” to her. This depicts the whole of idea of the
living and the dead never really parting. The element in Heathcliff's
failure to bring his revenge full circle is his own perception, which
renders him increasingly indifferent to everything going on around
him. Haunted ever more insistently by the spirit-presence of his
beloved Cathy, he is unable to eat or rest and welcomes death, which
unites him with her. The moors act as their place of haven,
reunification and most importantly their love for one another without
having any disturbances.
Bronte also presents distinct ideas about the spirit world through the
interior setting of Wuthering heights which consists of windows and
thresholds. Objects such as mirrors and the oak paneled bed in
Catherine’s room are also used to present the idea of the
supernatural more clearly. Bronte distinctively uses barriers that
separate the physical world and the spirit world to bring about the
gothic theme of the supernatural in Wuthering Heights. In the third
chapter of the first volume, the ghost of Catherine returns calling in
desperation for Lockwood to allow her to come in through the
window. The window is a critical boundary in the novel that
symbolizes violation and even violence” I pulled its wrist on to the
broken pane, and rubbed it to and fro till the blood ran down and
soaked the bedclothes…’let me in!’” Even though Catherine's name is
scratched on its surface, the window does not provide entry for her
wailing ghost – thanks in large part to Lockwood's lack of sympathy.
The bloodshed from Catherine's wrist "rubbed [. . .] to and fro" on the
pane suggests that there is profound violence involved in crossing
thresholds. Later in the novel it is through the same window Heathcliff
enters the house when Catherine dies which in a way also suggests a
breach as he was not allowed into the house in Edgar’s orders. The
oak paneled bed provides the setting for two of the novel's most
dramatic events. The return of Catherine’s ghost in Lockwood’s
dream and the death of Heathcliff. Before his nightmares, Lockwood
sees the bed as a place where he can feel "secure against the
vigilance of Heathcliff and everyone else". In this sense, it symbolizes
a place of protection, security, and retreat. However as Lockwood
soon finds out, the oak-paneled bed was also a retreat for young
Catherine, whose books became impromptu journals as she hid from
Hindley some twenty-five years before. Lockwood experiences a
haunting series of nightmares in the bed, suggesting that he has
violated a hallowed place. Because the space was Catherine's, it was
sacred to Heathcliff, who was thus furious when he finds Lockwood
sleeping in his "sanctum.” The supernatural powers that surround the
bed become more intense when Heathcliff dies there, transforming
the bed into a kind of symbol of a coffin where Heathcliff is finally
"reunited" with his love. Where Lockwood tried to keep the bed's
window closed, Heathcliff is found dead with the window wide open,
almost as though his spirit has escaped. Therefore Bronte uses
objects, and interior setting within Wuthering heights to present ideas
about life after death. Through them she also suggests that there is
indeed a gateway that separates the physical world from the spirit
world which like a window one can enter or leave through.
To effectively present ideas about the spirit world Bronte also uses
language and diction to further amplify the suspense and the tension.
It is used to foreshadowing important events before they take place.
Lockwood's and Nelly's narration are fraught with description of
everything around them.” one may guess the power of the north
wind,blowing over he edge,by the excessive slant of a few,stunted firs
at the end of the house;and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching
their limbs one way,as if craving alms of the sun.” Lockwood’s
describes Wuthering heights as a place that is cold, deprived of
warmth. This suggests Wuthering heights have an atmosphere and
setting common to that of a haunted house. As how Wuthering
heights look unwelcoming to Lockwood, the same way Heathcliff is to
him. While common gothic novels tend to make a show of
supernatural powers, Bronte chooses subtlety. With the use of
descriptive language she makes the reader comfortable with the idea
of a supernatural presence by making it natural within the text. For
instance, the description of the Wuthering Heights estate alone is so
gloomy and ghastly that it induces a sense of suspense. The dark
and foreboding environment described at the beginning of the novel
foreshadows the gloomy atmosphere that can be found in the
remainder of the book. The characters of the novel are constantly
referring to the supernatural as if it is a shared, common knowledge,
forcing the reader to comply. A typical example of this comfort with
the paranormal is Nelly stating that she had left Heath cliff’s food "on
the table all night, for the fairies" when he had not come down for
dinner. Small details such as this enable the reader to become
accustomed to the presence of the supernatural, making it easier to
believe and comprehend.
Both the main characters of the first generation, Heathcliff and
Catherine are characterized with personalities that may be linked to
the supernatural world. Heathcliff was called so many different names
that are associated to the supernatural world, like “imp of Satan”,
“fiend” and “ghoul”. Heath cliff’s metaphysical love for Catherine was
greatly portrayed by Bronte using the supernatural world where after
each of their deaths, they were reunited in their adolescence at the
moors, their sanctuary. After Catherine’s death he wished that she
may “wake in torment” which shows how different his impression of
love is, where Heathcliff wants Catherine to be suffering as much as
him on earth, even after death which is supposedly a passage to
peace and closure. He requested to Catherine to “Be with me (him)
always- take any form” showing that he is not afraid of the penetration
of her presence into the earthly world from the underworld or heaven
seeing that he was also a ‘devil in disguise’.
Catherine believed that Wuthering Heights was her ‘heaven’ instead
of the real heaven where all the angels came from in her dream. She
had wept for joy knowing that she was thrown back to Wuthering
Heights at the end of her dream. This could signify the that Catherine
was only happy in the earthly bounds where her experiences in her
childhood had been her best periods in her life, being mischievous
and spending all her time with her one true love Heathcliff. The
haunting in her old room experienced by Lockwood was also to
reiterate the happiness that she got as child before the death of Mr.
Earns haw her father and the one who had brought her ‘happiness’
and “soul” to her in the form of Heathcliff.
In conclusion Bronte uses various techniques to present important
concerns about the spirit world to the readers. With the use of exterior
and interior setting Bronte is able to explicitly introduce the theme of
the supernatural, of the gateway that allows spirits to enter and leave
the physical world. Wuthering Heights is well known for its
atmosphere, and for its typical characteristics such as multiple
narration, framework narratives, inhuman characters, and ghosts,
violation of graves, the revenge motif, sadism, doubles and captive
heroines, which explain why the novel is often placed in the Gothic
genre.
Done by:
Priscilla Lydia
09A2