Thursday, May 20, 2010

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

This is also a summary of a presentation given by classmates in a 19th century British novel class.

Wuthering Heights is the only novel written by Charlotte Brontë's (the author of Jane Eyre) sister, Emily.

A summary of the novel's characters can be found here.

Family Trees:
                                                                      Wuthering Heights
                                                                  Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw
Hindley m. Frances      Catherine m. Edgar Linton   Heathcliff (adopted) m. Isabella Linton
Hareton Earnshaw       Catherine Linton

                                                                   Thrushcross Grange
                                                                    Mr. and Mrs. Linton
          Edgar m. Catherine Earnshaw           Isabella m. Heathcliff (adopted by Earnshaw)
          Catherine Linton                               Linton Heathcliff    
                            
 Catherine and Linton marry.  After he dies, at the book's end, she is planning on marrying Hareton Earnshaw.

Time-line:
1771: The owner of the manor Wuthering Heights Mr. Earnshaw, adopts an orphan, Heathcliff.
1773: Mrs. Earnshaw dies.
1774: Their son, Hindley, is sent to college.
1777: Hindley Earnshaw marries Frances; Mr. Earnshaw dies.
1778: Hareton is born to Hindley and Frances; Frances dies.
1780: Heathcliff runs away; the owner of the manor Thrushcross Grange Mr. Linton dies.
1783: Edgar Linton and Catherine Earnshaw marry, uniting the two families
1784: Heathcliff and Isabella Linton marry; Edgar and Catherine Earnshaw Linton have a daughter, Catherine; Catherine Earnshaw dies; Heathcliff and Isabella have a son, Linton Heathcliff; Hindley Earnshaw dies.
1797: Isabella dies.
1801: Catherine Linton and Linton Heathcliff marry; Edgar and Linton die.
1802: Heathcliff dies.
1803: Catherine and Hareton are to be married.

Themes:
Love: destructive love, marriages based on social advancement vs. passionate love, weakness and manipulation, successful/hopeful love, familial love.
Social Class: can be seen in the architecture of the manors, within the characters
Revenge
The trailer for the 1992 film:


Buy the book here:

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