Why does everyone fancy Heathcliff?

Chapters 10-13

In first year at university we had a lecture on unreliable narrators. The set text was The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. A story narrated by someone who is listening  to a ghost story at a Christmas party told by another guest else who read an account of the tale. The basis of the lecture was to show us that the further way the reader moves from the action the less reliable the information becomes; the less the reader really knows about the characters. This is why I’m suffering from a slight migraine at the end of Chapter 13 in which the narration moves from Nelly to Isabella through a letter she sent to the former describing her first night at Wuthering Heights as Heathcliff’s wife. I’m now four people removed from the action. I get it, it’s a technique, and it hides the truth because all through the novel we’ll never really know what took place between certain people or what was said – but seriously FOUR PEOPLE REMOVED. I’m closer to being heir to the throne than that!

In these chapters  my primary narrator, the ever useless Lockwood, has become ill and taken to his bed, demanding that Nelly continue her tale of Wuthering Heights to amuse him. She tells him of Catherine and Edgar’s domestic life after their marriage and the subsequent return of Heathcliff. Who chooses to come back under dead of night and lurk around the house for a little while until he sees Nelly and sends her in to Catherine.

Heathcliff’s return sparks an interesting development – Isabella fancies him. The explanation being that she’s never had anyone to interest her before. Cue obscene and inexplicable jealousy on the part of Catherine, who maturely decides to out Isabella in front of Heathcliff and then rant on his negative aspects for quite a while. Seems like odd behaviour for a married woman….

Catherine gets herself into such tizz that she too takes to her bed and refuses to come out for three days. Nelly, being the wonderful and kind-hearted soul that she is, thinks nothing of this, deciding that she’ll emerge when she wants to. Of course, Catherine then goes absolutely mad and does lots of standing at the window breathing in the moor air and pontificating about her imminent demise. Her confusion for her current predicament is explained to Nelly, “I thought, though everybody hated and despised each other, they could not avoid loving me.” She’s bizarrely correct. Even though she’s behaved ridiculously, when her illness becomes serious Edgar “dotes” on her until she recovers. She has the love and adoration of every character in the book at her beck and call – it’s nauseating. Even Nelly cares about her, though she hides it well.

Whilst Catherine has taken to her bed with a severe case of melodrama Isabella, following her sister-in-laws example, has run away and married Heathcliff. I do not understand this at all. How? HOW? Heathcliff basically laughed her out of the room when he found out she liked him, am I really supposed to believe that Isabella is such a pathetic person that she would still run away with him at a minute’s notice?!

At the end of chapter 13, Nelly reads Isabella’s description of Wuthering Heights which, under the combined management of Hindley and Heathcliff, now resembles a circle of Dante’s Inferno. Things are definitely getting worse for everyone.

Now, although Nelly makes a fine narrator, she is guilty of having told us that at the Grange there was, “one sensible soul and that lodged in my body.” I spent a very long time villainizing Nick Carraway (the most overdone unreliable narrator in English Literature – as my long essay marker informed me) for doing a very similar thing, “I am one of the most honest people I have ever met.” I’m starting to question just how honest Nelly is being…

So Cathy's getting married.

Chapters 5-10

The number of ways I do not understand how Catherine went from practically gouging Linton's eyes out to being engaged to him, are fathomless. Obviously they are well on their way to a happy and fruitful marriage as only one could be after the bride has attacked the groom and then revealed that she's marrying him because he loves her and nothing else. #healthy

 I'm having serious problems in not imagining Linton as Andrew Lincoln who played him in an adaptation, especially as then it makes me think of zombie killings.

CATHERINE EARNSHAW gets married to EDGAR LINTON who was played by ANDREW LINCOLN who is famous for being a sheriff in THE WALKING DEAD which is about ZOMBIES which are kinda like GHOSTS and here we are back with Catherine and Kate Bush once more.

 I cannot understand Catherine Earnshaw, she is a complete enigma. But more than that I am really struggling to see any aspect of her character that deserves affection or devotion of the kind that I know Heathcliff will display. My personal vendetta against the narrative style isn't doing Catherine any favours. At the end of Nelly's story and chapter 10 I haven't really seen anything I like about Catherine. The only time she explains herself is when she tries to defend becoming engaged to Edgar instead of Heathcliff. Nelly doesn't take her seriously and neither do I. Her description of her dream, that she went to heaven and cried until the angels threw her back down, just made me a little bit annoyed at her. I don't have a lot of patience for characters who refuse to take responsibility for their actions.

However, I am going to resolve to try to think of Catherine in a slightly more positive light, I’m concerned that if I don’t I’m going to spend the entire novel waiting for her to die – although she does seem more interesting as a ghost.

How old is Nelly?! It seems as though that woman has been around since before the dawn if time!

I forgot there were ghosts.

Chapters 3-5 

The wonderful narrator, having stopped snooping through Catherine's things has been plagued by nightmares at the beginning of chapter 3. Nightmares which obviously mean more than meets the eye. Right now I'm not quite sure about all the numbers, I assume the sevens are deadly sins but who knows.

Then, hello Cathy and hello Kate Bush song which won't stop playing on repeat in my head. Now, Emily, was there any need for a waif Catherine to appear at the window and start attacking the narrator: a bit extreme, no? Of course Catherine's appearance and Heathcliff's plea that she would come back into the house confirms that they had a shared and dramatic past. The narrator did of course put his foot in it AGAIN by demanding why Catherine was trying to get into the house and calling her a witch, good going Lockwood.

In the following chapter I finally get my wish and we switch narrator. I knew the novel was organised like this and I do think it's an interesting way to tell a story; never really allowing the protagonists to speak for themselves.

So the new narrator is Lockwood's housekeeper, who wonderfully can relate the entire history of the families at Wuthering Heights whilst doing some sewing - multi-tasking.

From her I learn Heathcliff's origins; he was plucked out of poverty by Mr Earnshaw, who for an inexplicable reason decided to rescue him from a life of destitution. Our new narrrator explicitly explains that she didn't like him one bit untill he almost died of the measles: nothing like dangerous childhood illnesses to bring people together. She also relates that Hindley, the elder Earnshaw hated Heathcliff, who to be fair did kind of steal a horse off him. I think its strange that the jealousy over Mr Earnshaw's attention is limited to the two boys, Catherine is too "mischievous" to have been a favourite. That hardly seems fair considering her brother uses Heathcliff as a human punching bag. But then again did a girl ever have much of a chance of being the favourite?

I have also been introduced to the plethora of characters with the same first names. I think this might be a little like reading Wolf Hall and spending the entire time flicking backwards to the family tree to work out which Anne or Jane had died this time. 

Reading Wuthering Heights

Having been reprimanded on more than one occasion by learned friends (who all hail from near Yorkshire) for not having read Wuthering Heights and deigning to prefer Austen over the Brontés, I have finally decided to read the accursed novel. My aim is to discover exactly what it is I’ve been missing and remedy a gap in my literary knowledge which really should have prevented me from graduating! 

The issue, of course, is that I already know bits and bobs of the plot, having seen various adaptations and being taught how to recognise a Heathcliff character type at the drop of a hat. This presents several issues, the principal being that I am unlikely to be surprised by much that happens in the novel, and I'll be expecting most of the twists and developments. It’s strange how books like this can make their way into a conscious without every having been opened- I imagine it's the same with Pride and Prejudice, despite never reading it almost everyone knows who Mr Darcy is.

In order to make sure that I actually finish reading Wuthering Heights, and it doesn't become like that time I picked up Bleak House and gave up after a few chapters, I am going to blog every few chapters. I would say every chapter but they're kind of short and it's a long book!


Chapters 1 and 2

Firstly, I am not a fan of the narrator. Your landlord is a grumpy old git with - what seems like - twenty dogs who want to eat you and yet you think nothing of inviting yourself over to his house on more than one occasion. I hope this guy stops being so irritating.

Heathcliff is as expected: intimidating, angry, and appearing in my mind a little like a pre-transformation Beast from Beauty and the Beast. I've never really understood how he became the epitome of dark, brooding romantic characters, but it's early days. All I can say so far is that he's a rubbish host, treats everyone like a dog, except his dogs, and seems to have a sadistic streak.

The sole opinion I have of the other characters thus far is that I’m probably going to struggle with the vernacular speech. I have met Heathcliff's daughter-in-law, a Linton, Joseph and the housekeeper. The narrator - in what seems to be classic tactless style - completely misjudges every relationship permitting the characters to define their connections for themselves. I’m already confused by who is who and imagine my confusion will only increase as the novel develops.

At the end of the second chapter, having invited himself over, been attacked by some dogs and consequently demanded somewhere to stay, the narrator has found himself in a room which once belonged to Catherine Earnshaw. Now if I didn't know the story I wouldn't have thought, "ah ha!" but as I do I did. The narrator has no qualms about rummaging through other people's belongings and so starts to read Catherine's diaries. At the close of the chapter I am now aware that Catherine and Heathcliff were children together, that she had wanted to marry him, (her scored out Catherine Heathcliff on the wall unintentionally creates the image of some tween romcom star) and that she enjoyed writing her diaries within other novels.

My impression after these two chapters is a little mixed. I feel like I’ve been bombarded by characters and character history. It’s rather difficult to match grumpy Heathcliff to the tween heart throb of Catherine's diaries. Bronté has a heavy way of writing. I'm reading a little slower than normal to take it all in.