A theme that is explored by Victorian author, Emily Bronte, is the cyclical nature of abusive relationships. From the moment Heathcliff is first brought to Wuthering Heights, he is mistreated by his older brother, Hindley Earnshaw. Hindley Earnshaw physically and verbally abuses Heathcliff out of pure jealousy. Their father, Mr. Earnhaw, puts Heathcliff on a pedestal much higher than his siblings, a precipitant to Hindley’s jealousy. Since Hindley grows up in a hyper-masculine society, he is compelled to push Heathcliff off the pedestal on which he proudly stands. The rowdy interactions between the brothers were more than a push and shove. Throughout their childhood, Hindley harasses Heathcliff based on a perceived status as an outcast to the family. A memorable quote of Hindley is “And I pray that he may break your neck…only afterwards show him what you are, imp of Satan.” This would explain why Nelly summarizes the young Heathcliff as “a sullen, patient child: hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment.” Heathcliff’s childhood certainly had an impact on the way he later contributes to the cycle of an oppressive society. 

The harassment that Heathcliff receives is damaging to his self-esteem and relationships with others. This trauma becomes a tool in which Heathcliff torments Hareton Earnshaw, Hindley’s son. Hindley’s mother dies when he is very young and his father succumbs to the evils of alcoholism. Hareton’s life becomes dictated by the brute force of Heathcliff’s intolerance towards him. Flashforward to the next generation of the estates’ inhabitants and Nelly provides an account of the brutality faced by Hareton. Heathcliff claims that his parenting of Hareton far exceeds the ability of the drunkard Hindley. To be fair, Hareton gains more attention from Heathcliff as a father, even if it is not tender loving care. However, the ugly side of an oppressed individual (Heathcliff) is demonstrated in his attitudes. Heathcliff boldly claims, “I’ve taught him to scorn everything extra-animal as silly and weak. Don’t you think Hindley would be proud of his son, if he could see him?” Clearly, Heathcliff feels that revenge must be enacted upon Hindley. The best way to do so is to take advantage of his son and validate it as “helping” him. In reality, Hareton is just stuck in a vicious cycle to which he has no control over. Nelly is distraught by these claims and gives the reader her own two cents. She states, “I began to dislike, more than to compassionate Linton, and to excuse his father, in some measure, for holding him cheap.” She is blaming the cycle of a dysfunctional and oppressive family for the life it provided Hareton. Many of the characters are victims of this cycle, but each one has a slightly different story.

I think one of the most underrated characters in Wuthering Heights is Isabella. In these chapters, we see her leave Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights with her child on her own. Although we never really know what happens in her time away, since she took the initiative to move off and be independent, she broke such strict gender roles. Likewise, Harriet Martineau wrote and advocated for women and their freedom. Specifically, this quote stood out to me in relation to Wuthering Heights: “That woman has power to represent her own interests, no one can deny till she has been tried. The modes need not be discussed here: they must vary with circumstances.” I feel this relates to Isabella and her specific situation, because in this instant, she really took her own interests as her priority. She did not embrace the traditional housewife role, she was brought up to be. Rather, she put herself and her child first, and took a leap of faith that nobody could deny her of.

Overall, Isabella embraces the roles Harriet Martineau writes about. Even though we may never get the full scope of how Isabella’s life went on after she left, the readers do understand that she must have made a way for herself and child. She took herself out of the toxic situation, and put her own interests first.

One of the most interesting, overarching aspects of this novel is the point of view. Firstly, it is told third-hand; Lockwood hears the story from Nelly who watched it herself. This already brings about the idea of an unreliable narrator. Stories change as they’re passed along, and Nelly is certainly biased in the telling of this particular story as she was very involved in it and knew the other characters very well. The unreliability of the narration is something I’d like to get into more, but on another note, I’d like to talk about gender in relation to the narrator of Wuthering Heights.

Emily Bronte wrote this novel under the pseudonym Ellis Bell. Many women writers of this time period wrote under a male pseudonym in order to avoid certain critiques and to be taken more seriously, but Bronte does something unique in the way she replicates this within the storyline and point of view of her novel. I found it especially interesting that Bronte chose to make Nelly the real storyteller, but included Lockwood as a vehicle for getting the word out. I found it representative of her own storytelling– she’s the one spinning the story, but she uses the Bell pseudonym to get the word out, for it to be taken seriously. I don’t have any particularly deep insight into this, but it is something that I’ve thought about throughout my reading of the novel. What are her reasons for displaying this? It would definitely interest me to read more about this.

A connection I made was the powerful stance that both Emily Bronte and Harriet Martineau take on. Both women are writing during times when society was male dominated, yet don’t hesitate to voice their opinions and take issues head on. Both of their writings depict strong, passionate women. Catherine a motherless child trying to make the best in a world filled with hate, defying the norms by being free spirited and socially ambitious. Catherine seeks to love whoever she pleases much like Martineau wanted to empower women to do. Martineau writes “I declare that whatever obedience I yield to the laws of the society in which I live is a matter between, not the community and myself, but my judgment and my will.” I think that both women want to represent themselves as individuals and rise above people trying to hold them down, the only difference is that Bronte’s views are depicted through a character, and Martineau’s first hand feelings.

While reading Wuthering Heights, I kept an eye out for connections between the treatment and actions of women in the book as those elements fall into the time period. In my own interpretation of this feminist lens, I kept in mind the Harriet Martineu’s Society in America which breaks down the lack of respect and fundamental rights given to women during this time period both from a governmental and a personal standpoint. For example, in Wuthering Heights, Catherine’s personal arc and decisions are largely based upon the fact that she cannot fully build her own wealth; she is indebted to the society of men around her. In Society in America, the question is raised of where the government gets the power to decide the level of ownership women maintain in a marriage: some women are forced to give all rights to their property to their husbands while others are allowed to keep only a small portion. Catherine decides to not marry Heathcliff despite her affections for him solely based on a strategic move to ensure that she has a comfortable life–which can be given to her by the well-off Edgar. This demonstrates the personal sacrifices women made in order to create any space for themselves within society. Since she cannot secure her own stability due to the condemnation of law and society, she is forced to further surrender her right of choice.

After reading the first half of Wuthering Heights, I came to realize that it was very gloomy and mysterious. The first couples chapters are kind of confusing and there are many different odd characters that the readers have to get to know. It has a somewhat depressing beginning with Mr. Earnshaw and Catherine dying. Usually authors wait until further in the story to kill off characters, but Bronte decides to put them in the first few chapters. Then Bronte adds in the mystery when Lockwood sees the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw. At first, I didn’t get the sense that it was going to be a book on mystery so I was sort of surprised when I read that in Chapter 3. Finally, the first half of the novel ended with doom and despair with Heathcliff’s gradual descent into evil.

Although the first half of Wuthering Heights had a rough start, the second half does seem to turn a corner. Bronte spends most of it supplying chronological information and laying out the differences between the two generations. However, the novel as a whole is starting to end on a note of hope, peace, and joy, with young Catherine’s proposed marriage to Hareton. This aspect of the novel reminds me of Carlyle’s The Everlasting No. In this book, Carlyle states “Man is, properly speaking, based upon Hope, he has no other possession but Hope; this world of his is emphatically the Place of Hope.” Yes, most of the characters seem to have constant conflict in the beginning of the novel and even into the second half, they seem to still be holding onto hope, especially Catherine. After all she has been through, she is still able to stay headstrong, hold onto the possession of hope like Carlyle said, and have a happy ending.