Wuthering Heights Introduction

Basic Info Published in 1847, a year before her death. Poorly received, a shock to Victorian culture. Deemed “a strange book” and “savage”. Victorian readers found the book shocking and inappropriate in its depiction of passionate, ungoverned love and cruelty Gothic fiction- combination of horror and romantic elements, intense emotion, elements of the supernatural

Literary Genre: Gothic Elements of Gothic Literature a castle, ruined or intact, haunted or not (the castle plays such a key role that it has been called the main character of the Gothic novel),   ruined buildings which are sinister or which arouse a pleasing melancholy,   dungeons, underground passages, crypts, and catacombs which, in modern houses, become spooky basements or attics,   labyrinths, dark corridors, and winding stairs,   shadows, a beam of moonlight in the blackness, a flickering candle, or the only source of light failing (a candle blown out or, today, an electric failure),   extreme landscapes, like rugged mountains, thick forests, or icy wastes, and extreme weather,   omens and ancestral curses,   magic, supernatural manifestations, or the suggestion of the supernatural,   a passion-driven, willful villain-hero or villain,   a curious heroine with a tendency to faint and a need to be rescued–frequently,   a hero whose true identity is revealed by the end of the novel,   horrifying (or terrifying) events or the threat of such happenings.

Wuthering Heights- A Gothic Novel? As you read, consider the elements of Gothic literature. Is this a gothic novel? Consider passages/elements that support your ideas.

Haworth, Yorkshire

The Brontë Parsonage

Setting: The Moors The moorland that Emily Brontë describes is a combination of areas that she knew such as the moor around Haworth where she spent most of her life Unsettled and windy weather, particularly in winter. Roads over the high moors are notoriously prone to drifting snow due to the exposed nature of the terrain. Sandstones erode slowly and form poor acid soils which are deficient in nutrients. They are less permeable to water, impeding drainage and encouraging the formation of bogs. Sheep are a ubiquitous part of the moorland landscape. Their grazing helps to maintain the open wild landscape that is needed for many other plants and animals to thrive. Large areas of the moors are now covered in heather, bilberries and grasses growing on thick layers of peat. The acid soils and peat bogs are unsuitable for earthworms so species which usually feed on earthworms such as moles and the common shrew are absent on the moors As you read consider the significance of the setting on plot and characters

Tips For Reading Time/Narration Shifts throughout book. Is Nelly or Lockwood the narrator? Where you are in time and space as a reader will depend on who is the narrator Keeping the characters straight. Pay attention to narrator shifts to help you understand who all the characters are. Family trees are available on-line to help.