Of narpay faculty the department of the english language and literature course paper

2.3.Gothic elements in Wuthering Heights
Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847) combines elements from the eighteenth century Gothic novel and the realist mode introduced by Domestic fiction, which was already patent in Ann Radcliffe’s Gothic works. Moreover, its highlight on passions, its usage of the ballad, folk and myths, the fantastic and the supernatural, its melancholy view of childhood and the exploration of selfhood and individualism connect the novel to Romanticism. ¹⁶ The plot of the novel is mostly settled in Wuthering Heights, family Earnshaws’ manor, which is located in the isolated and vast moorland of Yorkshire in the north of England. The wild surroundings of the house and the weather represent a Gothic atmosphere of gloom and terror. The weather in those lands is characterized by strong winds and heavy snow during the winter as the narrator Mr. Lockwood states many times during the beginning of the novel “‘Wuthering’ being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather” yesterday afternoon set in misty and cold” . However, Wuthering Heights, with its isolation and mystery, represents the Gothic element par excellence. Mr. Lockwood describes the architecture of the ancient and ruined house as grotesque “the narrow windows are deeply set in the wall, and the corners defended with large jutting stones” which gives an air of suspense and mystery to the novel. It also pictured the glorious past of the ancestors of the Earnshaw family “Before passing the threshold, I paused to admire a quantity of grotesque carving lavished over the front, and especially about the principal door; above which, among a wilderness of crumbling griffins and shameless little boys, I detected the date ‘1500,’The interior of the house also represents an ambience of darkness and gloom.
Above the chimney were sundry villainous old guns, and a couple of horse-pistols: and, by way of ornament, three gaudily-painted canisters disposed along its ledge. The floor was of smooth, white stone; the chairs, high-backed, primitive structures, painted green: one or two heavy black ones lurking in the shade. In an arch under the dresser reposed a huge, liver-coloured bitch pointer, surrounded by a swarm of squealing puppies; and other dogs haunted other recesses. The Heights could be compared to the desolate gothic castle which contains family secrets, ghosts, appearances and strange events. As the tradition of Female Gothic, it symbolizes a prison for the characters of Isabella, Cathy and even the effeminate Linton Heathcliff. Moreover, the visit of Lockwood, Isabella and Cathy represents the gothic convention of the arrival of a stranger to a desolate house. The gothic atmosphere of the manor intensifies with the cold behavior of the inhabitants. Lockwood’s first encounter with the occupants reveals violent manners among the members of the uncommon family. From the very beginning, the tyrant Heathcliff is described by Lockwood as a cold man of few words. ’Thrushcross Grange is my own, sir,’ he interrupted, wincing. ‘I should not allow anyone to inconvenience me, if I could hinder it - walk in!’ The ‘walk in’ was uttered with closed teeth, and expressed the sentiment, ‘Go to the Deuce:’ even the gate over which he leant manifested no sympathizing movement to the words. Cathy’s youth and beauty dazzles Lockwood, who compares her admirable form, her exquisite little face, her golden ringlets and her irresistible eyes to the aspect of a fairy. At first, he erroneously believes that Cathy must be the spouse of either Heathcliff or Hareton which leads to the conclusion that, from his point of view, she is a fragile damsel in distress who needs the protection of a strong man. However, despite her fairy tale appearance, her personality is cold and depressed: “She looked at me, leaning back in her chair, and remained motionless and mute she never opened her mouth. I stared - she stared also: at any rate, she kept her eyes on me in a cool, regardless manner, exceedingly embarrassing and disagreeable.” . Vinegar faced Joseph, the religious servant, is the character who adds a touch of humour to the plot due to his continual references to the Bible and his regional accent. Finally, Hareton, Cathy’s cousin, is an illiterate and stubborn young man due to Heathcliff’s abusive behaviour in relation to him. The structure of Wuthering Heights reminds very much of earlier gothic novels in which the main narration was introduced by letters or diaries read by the narrator of the plot. Similarly, the innovative narrative frame introduced by Brontë presents us two main narrative levels. The central narrative is introduced by an outsider, Lockwood, who, at the same time, is transmitting Nelly’s narration of the facts. Lockwood’s narrative is very important because the gothic horrors pictured by him are partly 26 corroborated by his own point of view about culture. According to Lyn Pykett, “his own views of marriage and of women, shown in his romantic fantasies about Cathy and from his flirtation with the young lady reveal this genteel commentator to be just as manipulative and selfish as the apparently demonic Heathcliff”. The exaggerated sadism and violence which appears throughout the whole novel is also a nod to earlier Gothic works: Hindley, Catherine’s brother, threats Nelly with a carving-knife, Heathcliff hangs Isabella’s beloved dog, slaps Cathy, throws a knife at Isabella; Hareton hangs a litter of puppies from a chair. However, unlike previous novels, there are no murders.
The use of the supernatural is pictured by the representation of ghosts or apparitions. Brontë’s excellent usage of the supernatural in moments of high tension represents the interior traumas experienced by her characters . Brontë not only borrowed the gothic feature of the supernatural to construct her novel but also developed this aspect through the convincing mixture of supernatural aspects with reality within everyday life common situations. Mr. Lockwood’s nightmare is the best example of the predominance of the supernatural in the novel: little Catherine’s ghost tries to enter into her room through the window and he fights with her in order not to let her in. My fingers closed the fingers of a little, ice-cold hand! The intense horror of nightmare came over me: I tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and a most melancholy voice sobbed, ‘Let me in - let me in!’ ‘Who are you?’ I asked, struggling, meanwhile, to disengage myself. ‘Catherine Linton,’ it replied, shiveringly ‘I’m come home: I’d lost my way on the moor!’ As it spoke, I discerned, obscurely, a child’s face looking through the window. Terror made me cruel; and, finding it useless to attempt shaking the creature off, I pulled itswrist on to the broken pane, and rubbed it to and fro till the blood ran down and soaked the bedclothes…¹⁷
After Mr. Earnsahw’s death, Hindley takes the control of the manor and, as he had always felt antipathy for Heathcliff, he starts to treat him as a servant. Thus, he pretends to separate her sister from him. However, Catherine only realizes the existence of a great difference between them after her arrival from Thruscross Grange, the manor of the Linton family. Therefore, she decides to marry Linton because he is rich, handsome and young and, as she tells Nelly, she loves him. Their marriage provokes Heathcliff’s escape who, mysteriously returns totally transformed in appearance and manners.
When Catherine dies, the wicked Heathcliff develops into a demonic figure. The day after Catherine’s funeral, he opens her tomb to see her face for the last time and assures that he felt her presence by his side. He is now the owner of Wuthering Heights which has turned into a setting of hatred, violence, and depravation. On the contrary, Thrushcross Grange represents the civilized and polite world which he also wants to destroy. The cruelty with which he treats his own son Linton is near the limit of inhumanity. Heahtcliff forces Linton to deceive Cathy to take control of the Grange and when his son’s health deteriorates, he disregards him. The critic James Twitchell suggested that Emily Brontë could have based the character of Heathcliff on the vampire stories. Vampirism became an important subject matter in folklore by the end of the seventeenth century. Vampires were creatures which drank blood by sinking their long teeth in their victims. Moreover, they usually slept in the mornings with their eyes wide open. Heathcliff vampirizes Catherine in the way that neither of them can survive without sustenance form the other. When Catherine dies, Heathcliff goes every night to visit her tomb for nourishment. Brontë gives the readers some clues which can identify Heathcliff with a vampire. One hint is Isabella’s description of him: “His hair and clothes were whitened with snow, and his sharp cannibal teeth gleamed through the dark” . However, as time passes, the dead body of Catherine becomes bloodless and therefore Heathcliff does not have any subsistence. Finally, when Nelly finds his dead body, his eyes are open, and his teeth are gleaming. I tried to close his eyes: to extinguish, if possible, that frightful, life-like gaze of exultation before any one else beheld it. They would not shut: they seemed to sneer at my attempts; and his parted lips and sharp white teeth sneered too! One important innovative contribution of Wuthering Heights is the existence of three gothic heroines: Catherine, Isabella and Cathy who allow Brontë to represent women’s power to decide over their own happiness. As opposed to the virgin-type heroines of previous gothic novels, who always need the help of a brave hero, Brontë’s female characters achieve a happy ending by means of willpower. Catherine is wild and untamed just as Wuthering Heights. She lacks the feature of sensibility which characterized previous gothic heroines. Heathcliff and she become good friends due to their similar personality; she is the only person in the house who seems to comprehend him. Moreover, the presence of Heathcliff turns her wilder. They disappear the whole day playing on the moors, they disobey Hindley and they are always causing some kind of mischief. However, when she returns from her stay in Thrushcross Grange, her behavior is that of a lady. She now prefers the company of Edgar and Isabella rather than the company of Heathcliff, who according to her, knows and says nothing. When Edgar asks for her hand in marriage, she finds herself divided into her two lovers. “My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it… as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I AM Heathcliff!” However, when she decides to marry Edgar, she knows that he is the wrong choice but marrying Heathcliff would degrade her social status. Her confinement in the domestic atmosphere of Thrushcross Grange softens her wild personality but at the same time, it represents a prison for her. When her health starts to deteriorate, her imprisonment restricts itself to her chamber which she describes as a “shattered prison”. She feels misunderstood by society that fails to comprehend her affliction. I’m tired of being enclosed here. I’m wearying to escape into that glorious world, and to be always there: not seeing it dimly through tears, and yearning for it through the walls of an aching heart: but really with it, and in it. She wants to escape to her own glorious world in which social conventions do not exercise power over her and therefore, she can have a quiet life with her true love Heathcliff. However, as she fails in her purpose, the only thing she can do in order to find peace is to die. After her death, she becomes a ghost that wanders on the moors. Isabella is the character who is most linked to the archetypical type of gothic heroine. As opposed to Catherine, she belongs to the domestic atmosphere of the Grange. Her refined manners and her excess of sensibility make Isabella a naïve girl and exclude her from the outer world. When Isabella meets Heathcliff, she immediately falls in love with his apparent gentlemanly manners to the extent that she does not believe Catherine when she tells her that he is a cruel and avaricious man. She believes in a world of fantasy distant from reality and that is the reason why she pictures Heathcliff as a hero of romance.
Both Catherine and Isabella differ from the archetypical figure of gothic heroines who experience a happy ending with her lover. They are tie to the same man in different ways. Whereas Isabella wants to escape from her infernal marriage with the demon Heathcliff, Catherine dies to be spiritually by his side.
Cathy, just as Isabella, is raised by her father in the Grange. However, she is not as innocent as Isabella although she grows up within a domestic atmosphere. Cathy is courageous and curious but as she lives in a genteel environment, she thinks that everyone is pleasant and good natured. Even when Edgar advises her not to go near Wuthering Heights, she disobeys him because she wants to visit the weak Linton. When Heathcliff forces her to marry his son, she is imprisoned in Linton’s room since he is dying and nobody cares about him. However, as she is kind, she takes care of Linton and does not bear a grudge against him. The mental pain which she suffers changes her joyful disposition. “He’s safe, and I’m free,’ she answered: ‘I should feel well - but,’ she continued, with a bitterness she couldn’t conceal, ‘you have left me so long to struggle against death alone, that I feel and see only death! I feel like death!” When her husband dies, she is compelled to remain under Heathcliff’s dominant power in the Heights as he is now the landlord of both houses. In contrast to Isabella, who has to be brave to escape from her prison, Cathy has to learn to soften her temperament to go close to her cousin Hareton and thus, she can find a true happy ending.