"When we read any literature as “one note”, we miss its full texture of meaning."
Absolutely. I don't think they were ever meant to be read as such, and any story worth its salt is broader, deeper, wiser and more intuitive than the writer who brought it forth. I don't think it's ever our place to tell a story what it is, because it's not really within our ability.
I enjoyed your look through the book beyond its usual off-the-cuff analysis; I always believed there was more to it than what book club blurbs and EngLit essays may have suggested.
Well said! Neither writers nor lit critics have the final say in what a work "means"; if it can be neatly defined, it's probably not a great novel. Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks as always for reading.
Your ability to position Wuthering Heights within its literary influences is masterfully done. I remember despising this book as a teenager because it had been hailed as a romance and it seemed rather a cautionary ghost story. I reread it recently as an adult and found myself marveling at the mood, scene, character development (and lack thereof), and enjoying the redemptive twist more than I did as a young person. I had never considered Cathy/Hareton as the protagonists and thus didn't categorize it as a comedy. Emily is my least favorite of the Bronte sisters but her writing is undeniably powerful. I truly enjoyed your literary analysis and unique perspective on a book I have loved to hate. Thank you!
Yes! It's so multifaceted! I love that you reread it recently and enjoyed those things. I think Jane Eyre is the best Bronte novel probably, but something about Emily's personality and tone is just so compelling to me. I also think--and I didn't talk about this in the essay, bc I thought I'd be pushing the word count a little too much--that Emily is a lot funnier/more satirical than Charlotte, and some of the moments in the book are meant to be morbidly funny. Like the dead rabbits moment between Lockwood and Cathy, or when Nelly Dean is leaving WH at one point and it just offhand mentions that little Hareton is hanging animals on the back of his chair. It's this very Evelyn Waugh-esque moment of just "What is *wrong* with these people??" where it's so awful you almost have to laugh. But I don't think--like you've pointed out--that the novel ends up there; there is a redemptive twist, at least by my reading. Thank you for reading!
Now I need to reread Wuthering with an eye out for the deadpan humor. Actually, I should reread it with a copy of your essay printed out so I can appreciate all the literary influences that I totally missed! Still thinking about this one.
I believe both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre strike right at the heart of the issue regarding romance, that for it to be optimal, it should come from both real emotional passion and responsibility. When that balance is lost, the excesses in either direction can be devastating for both the lovers and everyone associated with them.
Well you've just about convinced me to give Wuthering Heights another go. You've managed to break it free of the usual readings and make it sound like a much more interesting book. I was pleased to like Jane Eyre much much more than I remembered or anticipated on my recent re-read. Maybe it's time to give WH a second chance as well.
There are a number of books that other people don’t care for that I really like, and I can never tell if that’s because I’m picking up on something that other people aren’t so much (like Hareton and Cathy, which I never see talked about)….or if it’s because I just read my own interpretations into a text. Probably both. Would love to hear your thoughts if you do get around to it!
You may have convinced me to read Wuthering Heights. That said, I'm slightly disturbed that teen girl fiction can be characterized so easily as dark romantasy and similar stories. I can understand a fascination with the Gothic, but the dark romance trend kinda goes beyond that. It makes me wonder why this has become such a big thing.
I AGREE. When did Little Women and Anne stop being the exemplar for teen girl reading? I feel like even the YA I read in early high school wasn't as extreme as some of the stuff that gets popular now.
I haven’t yet completed the essay, but reading about the literature influences and imaginary lands of the young Brontë sisters made me a little sad as I realized how pale and flimsy are the imaginary worlds of today’s children. (Try to diagram that sentence!) I’m reading a biography of CS Lewis and loved hearing about the worlds Jack and Warnie created. And look what those worlds led to! No wonder the literature written today seems fluffy and without substance.
Absolutely love this, Olivia. I haven't read Wuthering Heights recently, although I have read it twice before. I'm kind of disappointed in myself that I did not see the parallels between other older literature and WH, but thank you for pointing them out. As you did, I was obsessed with 'whatever stuff our souls'. I read WH during high school, like yourself, and was so entranced by this sort of obsessive love that seemed to be fostered between Heathcliff and Catherine. In the way, I felt seen in this post; at least I'm not the only romantic individual who seemed to misconstrue Emily's intentions with real love vs. 'toxic' love.
As well, the section on 'a prince in disguise'...loved that. Not enough authors take advantage of this idea, spinning stories with men who grow up and become who they are meant to be because of inspirational women in their lives.
On a side note, your mention of romantasy makes me want to ask for a piece on your thoughts of said 'genre' (which is definitely not a genre at all). I have a whole spiel of thoughts, and would love to hear your's.
I do think there are elements of Heathcliff and Catherine's love that appeal to teen girls for sure, but if you read through to the second half, it's hard to find Heathcliff any kind of brooding or swoonworthy. Man was messed up.
The last section was what inspired this whole essay! Everything else was pretty much just set up so I could change the reader's mind at the last minute. I love stories that involve mutual betterment through admiration.
RE romantasy...Unfortunately I don't really have thoughts, beyond the fact that I think most of the genre (at least what gets popular, as far as I can tell) is essentially pornography marketed at children (12-17yos) and I think that's evil, and deliberately teaches a degradation of the human person through the way teen girls are encouraged to think about themselves and others by the kinds of stories involved. I get that it's arguably written for adults, which opens up a whole other conversation about how our modern sexual "ethic" is simultaneously infantilized and anti-human in its extremity, but the protagonist for ACOTAR is 19. That's a YA protagonist. So teenagers are going to pick up the book and read it, and then go looking for other books like that. But that's not necessarily a new problem, either. Idk. I'd have to think about it more. What are your thoughts? Would love to hear them/read an essay!
I go back and forth about how I feel about women who only/primarily consume romance stories (though I *love* a good 90s romcom), because I just don't think that's emotionally healthy. In literature, you get the best love stories, but you also get mother/sister/friend relationships and women who are woven into the tapestry of their community and have a unique selfhood. (Just finished Rumer Godden's "House of Brede", which was SO good, and it's all about nuns, lol.) But I think there are love stories, even modern ones, that can undo some of the damage that the really extreme, graphic, or emotionally unhealthy stories do. And encourage women to be looking for something wholesome or hoping for the ideal of mutual encouragement and respect, rather than assume that love irl is like the romantasy books. That's kind of a rabbit trail...but yeah, I'm so curious to know what you think!
Well you've convinced me, perhaps, to give it another read with fresh eyes, but it may be that these parallels in the broader literary canon distort as much as they clarify. It is at least reasonable to regard Brontë's interest in "stories of strong personalities and destructive passion" as more than a fascination, even perhaps an admiration—the idealization of "doomed souls" linked inseparably by occult powers comes through clearer than any implicit moral censure, at least on a first read. The positioning of Heathcliff as protagonist, etc., heck, even Charlotte's weird romantic pairing for Jane suggests these poor girls really did think there was something enviable about an intensity of self-devouring obsession that united two souls, through horror, and even into death. I'm not sure that is as wrong-headed a notion as you imply.
Well, I disagree a bit with your read on Rochester and Jane, but that’s an essay for another time. 😉 I do think Charlotte and Emily have a particular approach to romantic and family relationships, given their own background—but the extent to which that dominates any other conversation about WH feels like remnant Freudian analysis to me.
Olivia, your essay offers such a rich and compelling case for rereading Wuthering Heights with greater nuance. I especially appreciated your insistence that we resist “one-note” interpretations, not just of Brontë’s novel, but of literature more broadly.
Your piece doesn’t deny the violence or extremity in Wuthering Heights—instead, it makes space for everything else that’s too often overlooked: the spiritual undercurrents, or the way Brontë plays with form and feeling.
Thank you for making the case so beautifully. I’ll be returning to the novel with new eyes.
"When we read any literature as “one note”, we miss its full texture of meaning."
Absolutely. I don't think they were ever meant to be read as such, and any story worth its salt is broader, deeper, wiser and more intuitive than the writer who brought it forth. I don't think it's ever our place to tell a story what it is, because it's not really within our ability.
I enjoyed your look through the book beyond its usual off-the-cuff analysis; I always believed there was more to it than what book club blurbs and EngLit essays may have suggested.
Well said! Neither writers nor lit critics have the final say in what a work "means"; if it can be neatly defined, it's probably not a great novel. Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks as always for reading.
Your ability to position Wuthering Heights within its literary influences is masterfully done. I remember despising this book as a teenager because it had been hailed as a romance and it seemed rather a cautionary ghost story. I reread it recently as an adult and found myself marveling at the mood, scene, character development (and lack thereof), and enjoying the redemptive twist more than I did as a young person. I had never considered Cathy/Hareton as the protagonists and thus didn't categorize it as a comedy. Emily is my least favorite of the Bronte sisters but her writing is undeniably powerful. I truly enjoyed your literary analysis and unique perspective on a book I have loved to hate. Thank you!
Yes! It's so multifaceted! I love that you reread it recently and enjoyed those things. I think Jane Eyre is the best Bronte novel probably, but something about Emily's personality and tone is just so compelling to me. I also think--and I didn't talk about this in the essay, bc I thought I'd be pushing the word count a little too much--that Emily is a lot funnier/more satirical than Charlotte, and some of the moments in the book are meant to be morbidly funny. Like the dead rabbits moment between Lockwood and Cathy, or when Nelly Dean is leaving WH at one point and it just offhand mentions that little Hareton is hanging animals on the back of his chair. It's this very Evelyn Waugh-esque moment of just "What is *wrong* with these people??" where it's so awful you almost have to laugh. But I don't think--like you've pointed out--that the novel ends up there; there is a redemptive twist, at least by my reading. Thank you for reading!
Now I need to reread Wuthering with an eye out for the deadpan humor. Actually, I should reread it with a copy of your essay printed out so I can appreciate all the literary influences that I totally missed! Still thinking about this one.
I believe both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre strike right at the heart of the issue regarding romance, that for it to be optimal, it should come from both real emotional passion and responsibility. When that balance is lost, the excesses in either direction can be devastating for both the lovers and everyone associated with them.
Love this thought. So much of Austen’s work is about that idea too.
Well you've just about convinced me to give Wuthering Heights another go. You've managed to break it free of the usual readings and make it sound like a much more interesting book. I was pleased to like Jane Eyre much much more than I remembered or anticipated on my recent re-read. Maybe it's time to give WH a second chance as well.
There are a number of books that other people don’t care for that I really like, and I can never tell if that’s because I’m picking up on something that other people aren’t so much (like Hareton and Cathy, which I never see talked about)….or if it’s because I just read my own interpretations into a text. Probably both. Would love to hear your thoughts if you do get around to it!
You may have convinced me to read Wuthering Heights. That said, I'm slightly disturbed that teen girl fiction can be characterized so easily as dark romantasy and similar stories. I can understand a fascination with the Gothic, but the dark romance trend kinda goes beyond that. It makes me wonder why this has become such a big thing.
I AGREE. When did Little Women and Anne stop being the exemplar for teen girl reading? I feel like even the YA I read in early high school wasn't as extreme as some of the stuff that gets popular now.
Interesting. Still not convinced (!); but you make a good case...
Well, thank you for reading anyways! There are certainly a number of ways to read the book.
I haven’t yet completed the essay, but reading about the literature influences and imaginary lands of the young Brontë sisters made me a little sad as I realized how pale and flimsy are the imaginary worlds of today’s children. (Try to diagram that sentence!) I’m reading a biography of CS Lewis and loved hearing about the worlds Jack and Warnie created. And look what those worlds led to! No wonder the literature written today seems fluffy and without substance.
Absolutely love this, Olivia. I haven't read Wuthering Heights recently, although I have read it twice before. I'm kind of disappointed in myself that I did not see the parallels between other older literature and WH, but thank you for pointing them out. As you did, I was obsessed with 'whatever stuff our souls'. I read WH during high school, like yourself, and was so entranced by this sort of obsessive love that seemed to be fostered between Heathcliff and Catherine. In the way, I felt seen in this post; at least I'm not the only romantic individual who seemed to misconstrue Emily's intentions with real love vs. 'toxic' love.
As well, the section on 'a prince in disguise'...loved that. Not enough authors take advantage of this idea, spinning stories with men who grow up and become who they are meant to be because of inspirational women in their lives.
On a side note, your mention of romantasy makes me want to ask for a piece on your thoughts of said 'genre' (which is definitely not a genre at all). I have a whole spiel of thoughts, and would love to hear your's.
Wonderful read, Olivia!
I do think there are elements of Heathcliff and Catherine's love that appeal to teen girls for sure, but if you read through to the second half, it's hard to find Heathcliff any kind of brooding or swoonworthy. Man was messed up.
The last section was what inspired this whole essay! Everything else was pretty much just set up so I could change the reader's mind at the last minute. I love stories that involve mutual betterment through admiration.
RE romantasy...Unfortunately I don't really have thoughts, beyond the fact that I think most of the genre (at least what gets popular, as far as I can tell) is essentially pornography marketed at children (12-17yos) and I think that's evil, and deliberately teaches a degradation of the human person through the way teen girls are encouraged to think about themselves and others by the kinds of stories involved. I get that it's arguably written for adults, which opens up a whole other conversation about how our modern sexual "ethic" is simultaneously infantilized and anti-human in its extremity, but the protagonist for ACOTAR is 19. That's a YA protagonist. So teenagers are going to pick up the book and read it, and then go looking for other books like that. But that's not necessarily a new problem, either. Idk. I'd have to think about it more. What are your thoughts? Would love to hear them/read an essay!
Also: this recent essay from Abigail Shrier kind of dovetails: https://www.thetruthfairy.info/p/why-gen-z-needs-rom-coms
I go back and forth about how I feel about women who only/primarily consume romance stories (though I *love* a good 90s romcom), because I just don't think that's emotionally healthy. In literature, you get the best love stories, but you also get mother/sister/friend relationships and women who are woven into the tapestry of their community and have a unique selfhood. (Just finished Rumer Godden's "House of Brede", which was SO good, and it's all about nuns, lol.) But I think there are love stories, even modern ones, that can undo some of the damage that the really extreme, graphic, or emotionally unhealthy stories do. And encourage women to be looking for something wholesome or hoping for the ideal of mutual encouragement and respect, rather than assume that love irl is like the romantasy books. That's kind of a rabbit trail...but yeah, I'm so curious to know what you think!
Well you've convinced me, perhaps, to give it another read with fresh eyes, but it may be that these parallels in the broader literary canon distort as much as they clarify. It is at least reasonable to regard Brontë's interest in "stories of strong personalities and destructive passion" as more than a fascination, even perhaps an admiration—the idealization of "doomed souls" linked inseparably by occult powers comes through clearer than any implicit moral censure, at least on a first read. The positioning of Heathcliff as protagonist, etc., heck, even Charlotte's weird romantic pairing for Jane suggests these poor girls really did think there was something enviable about an intensity of self-devouring obsession that united two souls, through horror, and even into death. I'm not sure that is as wrong-headed a notion as you imply.
Well, I disagree a bit with your read on Rochester and Jane, but that’s an essay for another time. 😉 I do think Charlotte and Emily have a particular approach to romantic and family relationships, given their own background—but the extent to which that dominates any other conversation about WH feels like remnant Freudian analysis to me.
Fair enough. Regardless, you write (as usual) with great intelligence and style. It was a fun read.
Thank you!
Olivia, your essay offers such a rich and compelling case for rereading Wuthering Heights with greater nuance. I especially appreciated your insistence that we resist “one-note” interpretations, not just of Brontë’s novel, but of literature more broadly.
Your piece doesn’t deny the violence or extremity in Wuthering Heights—instead, it makes space for everything else that’s too often overlooked: the spiritual undercurrents, or the way Brontë plays with form and feeling.
Thank you for making the case so beautifully. I’ll be returning to the novel with new eyes.