Sir Laurence Olivier (Heathcliff) and Merle Oberon (Cathy) from the 1939 film adaptation.
Brontė's novel has fascinated generations of readers with its rebellion against Victorian femininity. But does her fiery heroine continued to allure and shock us, asks English Doctoral candidate Sophie Alexandra Frazer. Nothing about the reception of Emily Brontė's first and only published novel, Wuthering Heights , in 1847 suggested that it would grow to achieve its now-cult status. While contemporary critics often admitted its power, even unwillingly responding to the clarity of its psychological realism, the overwhelming response was one of disgust at its brutish and brooding Byronic hero, Heathcliff, and his beloved Catherine, whose rebellion against the norms of Victorian femininity neutered her of any claim to womanly attraction. The characters speak in tongues heavily inflected with expletives, hurling words like weapons of affliction, and indulging throughout in a gleeful schadenfreude as they attempt to exact revenge on each other. It is all rather like a relentless chess game in hell. One of its early reviewers wrote that the novel "strongly shows the brutalising influence of unchecked passion".
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
