Wuthering Heights Study Questions
Wuthering Heights Study Questions
Wuthering Heights Study Questions
1. Many of the names in Wuthering Heights are strikingly similar. For example, besides
the two Catherines, there are a number of Lintons, Earnshaws, and Heathcliffs whose
names vary only slightly. What role do specific names play in Wuthering Heights?
Names have a thematic significance in Wuthering Heights. As the second generation of
characters gradually exhibits certain characteristics of the first generation, names come to
represent particular attributes. The Earnshaws are wild and passionate, the Lintons tame and
civilized; therefore, young Catherine Linton displays a milder disposition than her mother,
Catherine Earnshaw. Linton Heathcliff becomes a mixture of the worst of both his parents. In
other words, he possesses Heathcliff’s arrogance and imperiousness, combined with the
Lintons’ cowardice and frailty. Names in Wuthering Heights also serve to emphasize the
cyclic nature of the story. Just as the novel begins and ends with a Catherine Earnshaw, the
name of Hareton Earnshaw also bookends an era; the final master of Wuthering Heights
shares his name with a distant ancestor, whose name was inscribed above the main door in
1500.
2. In many ways, Wuthering Heights structures itself around matched, contrasting pairs
of themes and of characters. What are some of these pairs, and what role do they play
in the book?
Matched and contrasting pairs form the apparatus through which the book’s thematic
conflicts play out, as the differences between opposed characters and themes force their way
into action and development. Some of the pairs include: the two manor houses, Wuthering
Heights and Thrushcross Grange; the two loves in Catherine’s life, Heathcliff and Edgar; the
two Catherines in the novel, mother and daughter; the two halves of the novel, separated by
Catherine’s death; the two generations of main characters, each of which occupies one half of
the novel; the two families, Earnshaw and Linton, whose family trees are almost exactly
symmetrical; and the two great themes of the novel, love and revenge. By placing these
elements into pairs, the novel both compares and contrasts them to each other. The device of
pairing serves to emphasize the book’s themes, as well as to develop the characters.
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a woman whom he loves but whose passions he cannot understand, Edgar is a highly
sympathetic figure after Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights. The man finds himself in an
almost impossible position, seeing his wife obviously in love with another man but unable to
do anything to rectify the situation. Still, he proves weak and ineffectual when compared to
the strong-willed Heathcliff, and thus can exercise almost no claim on Catherine’s mind and
heart.
While the reader may pity Edgar and feel that morality may be on his side, it is hard not to
sympathize with the charismatic Catherine and Heathcliff in their passionate love. It is
impossible to think that Catherine does not really love Edgar with some part of herself.
Although she marries him largely because of her desire for his social status, she seems
genuinely drawn to his good looks, polished manners, and kind demeanor. But it is also
impossible to think that her feelings for Edgar equal her feelings for Heathcliff—compared
with her wild, elemental passion for Heathcliff, her love for her husband seems frail and
somewhat proper, like Edgar himself.
Discussion Questions:
1. To what extent do you think the setting of the novel contributes to, or informs, what takes
place? Do you think the moors are a character in their own right? How do you interpret
Bronte's view of nature and the landscape?
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2. Discuss Emily Bronte's careful attention to a rigid timeline and the role of the novel as a
sober historical document. How is this significant, particularly in light of the turbulent action
within? What other contrasts within the novel strike you, and why? How are these contrasts
important, and how do they play out in the novel?
3. Do you think the novel is a tale of redemption, despair, or both? Discuss the novel's
meaning to you. Do you think the novel's moral content dictates one choice over the other?
4. Do you think Bronte succeeds in creating three-dimensional figures in
Heathcliff and Cathy, particularly given their larger-than-life metaphysical passion? Why or
why not?
5. Discuss Bronte's use of twos: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange; two families,
each with two children; two couples (Catherine and Edgar, and Heathcliff and Isabella); two
narrators; the doubling-up of names. What is Bronte's intention here? Discuss.
6. How do Mr. Lockwood and Nelly Dean influence the story as narrators? Do you think they
are completely reliable observers? What does Bronte want us to believe?
7. Discuss the role of women in Wuthering Heights. Is their depiction typical of Bronte's
time, or not? Do you think Bronte's characterizations of women mark her as a pioneer ahead
of her time or not?
8. Who or what does Heathcliff represent in the novel? Is he a force of evil or a victim of it?
How important is the role of class in the novel, particularly as it relates to Heathcliff and his
life?
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the extremes of passion
The gothic is often described as the dark side of Romantic fiction.
Heathcliff is a strong gothic character: his action in usurping the rightful heir to Wuthering
Heights and Thrushcross Grange is typical of a gothic plot.
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How to plan an essay on the question of whether Heathcliff should be seen as the villain of
Wuthering Heights, including a sample answer.
Question: Is Heathcliff a villain?
Preparation:
show evidence from the text for any opinion or comment you make
provide short quotations or precise references to the text to support your opinion or
comment
discuss those textual details, making clear their relevance to your argument
if you wish to reach a high grade, include comments on how the book is written –
style – as well as what is said
conclude your essay strongly
For this question you may wish to refer to the following:
There are two ways to handle this essay:
make a case one way or the other and argue for it very strongly throughout your essay
present both sides - yes and no - and then weigh up at the end
In either case you need to refer to the evidence to back up your opinion. Even if you choose
the first way, you need to show you are not ignoring the counter-evidence.
In the same way you can structure your essay either with alternating points of view, or give
all the points for and all the points against (or the other way around). In this kind of question
your conclusion can be quite personal, providing that you give the evidence.
For:
the imagery associated with Heathclilff sets the scene for him to be cast as a villain
he desires revenge: what he does to Hindley might be fair, but his treatment of
Hareton is unfair
he shows cruelty to Isabella, his wife
his treatment of his own son is villainous
Wuthering Heights is a dark and unhappy place under his control
Against:
Heathcliff is also a victim
he has an instinct to save Hareton as a child
he is determined to be 'decent' and good, but Catherine's decision to marry Edgar tips
the balance
he loves Catherine passionately (which could be viewed sympathetically)
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he doesn't complete his vengeful destruction
he gets his 'happy' ending - to wander the earth with Catherine (as spirits)
You will know that when writing literature essays it is important to include supporting
evidence from the text in the form of quotations. When writing about novels, you can also
give evidence that draws on the structure of the novel or events that take place, without
directly quoting from the text, but you need to give enough detail to back up your point.
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regards himself in the villain's role. He seems to think that Isabella's infatuation with him is
justification enough for his bad treatment. Similarly, he uses their son as an instrument of
revenge, by marrying him to the younger Catherine.
In general, the atmosphere at Wuthering Heights and the unhappiness of the
occupants under Heathcliff's mastership is a measure of his villainy. Brontë uses the narrative
point of view of an outsider, Lockwood, to bring a fresh eye to the setting. Lockwood clearly
describes the terrible situation at the Heights and its "wretched inmates" (as if it were a
prison). Heathcliff has taken revenge on everyone in the book, and put himself in a position
of power that creates everyone’s unhappiness, including his own.
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Nor does Heathcliff complete his cycle of vengeful destruction: he makes sure that after his
death Hareton and Catherine can be happy by leaving the family land to them. He argues that
this is because Hareton and they younger Catherine remind him of his own love. He is so
taken up with his perception of Catherine's spirit, that he can no longer concentrate on
revenge.
Being haunted by Catherine's ghost makes him happy, and by the end of the book, he
finds his version of "heaven", in which their spirits can walk the moors together. In
contemporary Victorian fiction characters would be rewarded according to their morals, so a
happy ending would suggest reward for an essentially positive character. But whether Brontë
was following this tradition is ambiguous: Wuthering Heights was considered radical in its
vigour and unusual plot.
Despite the mitigating circumstances of Heathcliff's life, I do not think that his actions
can be forgiven. His behaviour throughout the novel brings misery and destruction to others.
It may be triggered by bad treatment at the hands of Hindley, and by Catherine's cruel
choices, but in the end Heathcliff is responsible for his own actions and should therefore be
judged accordingly as a villain.