Introduction to Literature, Spring 1998
Ray's Syllabus           Last Updated May 19, 1998           Kate's Syllabus
Wuthering Heights(1847)
E-Text by chapter (from Bibliomania)

Heathcliff under the tree. 

Contemporary Wood engraving by Fritz Eichenberg for Wuthering Heights.
(from The Booklover's Birthday Book 1984)

Kate Bush's song "Wuthering Heights"

Reading Preparation
Leading Questions
 
chaps 1-9
10-14
15-20
21-26
27-34
The Novel as a Whole
 Yorkshire & the Brontes Sisters 
Relevant Links
Emily Bronte (1818-1848), painted by her brother Branwell.  (Bentley, Phyllis.  The Brontes.  London: Thames and Hudson, 1969: 47.) 
*On-line Journal
for Ray's class
for Kate's class
Reading Preparation: Things to Look for While you Read
Our Textbook: Wuthering Heights.  Ed. Graham Handley.  Macmillan Students' Novels.  Taipei: Bookman, 1993. 
  • "The names are confusing!  And the language!"  Make good use of our textbook: It is helpful to bookmark two places in the textbook: pp. xxv & 283.  On p. xxv there is a Genealogical Table

  • (simplified version as follows: 
    Hindley Earnshaw + Frances
    Hareton Earnshaw
    Catherine E + Edgar Linton
    Catherine Linton
    Heathcliff + Isabell
    Linton
    with the characters' name, date of birth, marriage and death, as well as their relationship clearly drawn out for your reference.  From the table you can understand why Catherine Earnshaw is also Catherine Linton, though she wants to be Catherine Heathcliff, and then why her daughter Catherine Linton is Catherine Heathcliff by marrying her cousin.  Starting from p. 283, the textbook offers notes to the dialects used in the novel--an essential assistance to your reading.  Also, the Time line for Wuthering Heights & Wuthering Heights Map might be helpful. 
  • Narrative perspectives: The narrators (Nelly Dean and Lockwood mostly) are subjective and biased.  It is important to understand their perspectives and later contrast them with the characters'.  (In other words, they are used as a foil for the major characters.)  Also, the multiple narrative frame will take on more meanings whenput together with plot arrangement. 
  • Reasons for Character Development and Conflicts: The novel begins almost toward the end of the story, with the Wuthering Heights characters in sharp conflicts, hatred and loss.   The story then told by Nelly Dean, in a sense, offers reasons for their personalities, conflicts and emotions.  What are the major factors, personality, class, family background, or landscape?

  • Setting: Some argue that the settings (Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange) in this novel are so important that they themselves are characters.  Pay close attention to the description of these settings. 
  • Possible Themes/Approaches: class/race conflicts; the taming of Romantic Passion; the Romantic vs. the (Victorian) Realistic; Nelly the evil or benevolent narrator; love and death, and other possible journal/homepage topics (1)(2).  (The second one has a map attached to it.)

Questions for Group Discussion and Journal

Questions for chapters 1-9
This part of the novel can be further divided into three parts: 
Chaps 1-3: Lockwood's first two visits to Wuthering Heights in 1801.
Chaps 4-7: Nelly's narration: from 1771 (Heathcliff's arrival) to 1777 (Mr. Earnshaw's death)
Chap 8-9: Nelly's narration resumed: from 1778 (the death of Frances) to 1783 (marriage of Catherine and Edgar)

Chaps 1-3Characters: Lockwood and Heathcliff

  1. The novel has a first-person narrator named Lockwood. Describe what you know about the narrator from the first chapters. What is he like? What mistakes in judgment does he make--in terms of the place, his visit to the place,  Heathcliff and the others' identities (e.g. p. 3; 5; 11)?
  2. Why is Lockwood so interested in Heathcliff?  Why does he pay the second visit if he is not welcome in the first (thinking that he himself is "sociable" p. 7)?  He said that Heathcliff "love and hate, equally under cover. . . " and then acknowledge them as his own attributes (p. 5).  Do you find it true, considering, for instance, how he deals with the ghost of Catherine (pp. 21-22)?  (We will compare and contrast Lockwood and Heathcliff more when we talk about the novel as a whole.)
  3. Emily Bronte likes dogs a lot.  How are the dogs presented here and how does Lockwood deal with them?
  4. We get to see Heathcliff first from Lockwood's perspective and then in Catherine's diary (chap 3).  How would you characterize the Heathcliff old and young?  What more do we know about bout the Earnshaw family from Catherine's diary. 
  5. The third aspect of Heathcliff: Heathcliff's call to Catherine (p. 25) gets Lockwood, and us, more curious about their past.  How else does Lockwood respond to Heathcliff's emotional outburst?   And you?  (Isn't it a great contrast to the way he deals with the living Catherine (26)?
  6. The other characters: The second generation Hareton and Catherine will play a more important role later on. 
Chaps 1-3 the Nightmare, the Ghost and the Gothic elements
  1. Has Lockwood's nightmare about 490 sins anything to do with his hearing Catherine's voice?
Chaps 1-3 Settings & the Gothic
  1. The appearance of the ghost is part of what makes Wuthering Heights a gothic novel.  Look in your handbook under the terms "gothic" and "gothic novel." What are the characteristics of gothic literature? Which of those characteristics do you see in the first chapters of the novel?  How does the setting of the novel relate to its gothic quality?  Is the place Wuthering Heights one (p. 4-5; 27)?
Chaps 4-7 Characters Conflicts: Heathcliff, Catherine and Hindley
Starting in chapter four, Lockwood relates the story of his housekeeper, Nelly.
  1. In chap 4, we have the first appearance of Heathcliff at the Earnshaw household.  What is he (or "it") like?  What do we learn about Heathcliff's personality?  Why is he proud, being from such a humble background?  What aspect of him is shown in the horse episode (pp 33-34) ? 
  2. The Earnshaws: How are Hindley and Catherine different?  (e.g. p. 30 the toys they want from their father; the ways they deal with Heathcliff.)   What does Mr. Earnshaw think about Catherine's naughtiness (36)?
  3. Catherine changes a lot in chaps 4-7 in her attitudes toward Heathcliff.  Can you trace and explain the changes?   (Be specific about her attitudes shown: at the first sight, before and after the father's death, before and after her stay at the Grange.)  The two's outing to the Grange can be a major factor in her changes.  It is told from Heathcliff's perspective.  Could it have been told differently if Catherine were to tell it?
Chaps 4-7  Settings & the People: Wuthering Heights vs. Thrushcross Grange
  1. How is Thrushcross Grange (p. 40), the place, the house and its decoration, different from Wuthering Heights
  2. Isabel and Edgar Linton: How are they presented in the views of first Heathcliff and then Nelly?  The brother and sister's first appearance (p. 41), from Heathcliff's perspective, is definitely a negative one.  But then Nelly is not sympathetic with Edgar either.  What about you?  Why do you think that Catherine likes Edgar?  Does Lockwood's description of his portrait offers a more balanced view (p. 56)?
Chap 8-9 
In Chap 8, Nelly resumes her narration, skipping to the summer 1778.
chaps 7-9  Character Conflicts: Catherine in between Heathcliff and Edgar; the narrator, Nelly's viewpoint and role; Hindley
  1. Are you sympathetic with Cathy in her struggle between the two men?  Nelly discounts Cathy's reasons of loving Edgar (that he is handsome, rich and he loves her); how about you?   When Cathy then said to her, "Nelly, I am Heathcliff" (70), Nelly thinks that Cathy is foolish, and you?
  2. Nelly stays sympathetic with Heathcliff when Catherine feel torn between Heathcliff and Edgar.  We can see how she sides with Heathcliff in the series of episodes in chap 7 (e.g. the from how she cleans Heathcliff to the dinner scene) and the pinching episode in chap 8.   What role does she take when Catherine confides to her  in chap 9?  Is Nelly really unaware of Heathcliff's presence?
  3. Hindley is the one to never change in his hatred of Heathcliff.  But why?  Who doe he love?  If the death of his wife is the major turning point in his life (pp. 54-55), how does he treat Hareton afterwards? What does it show about his personality? 
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Questions for chapters 10-14
After a 4-week interval while Lockwood is in bed with "torture, tossing and sickness," Lockwood asks Nelly to resume her narration, which is about Catherine's marriage life, Heathcliff's return and an intensification of their conflicts.
Characters Conflicts: Catherine & Edgar
  1. Different (Narrative) perspectives, again, lead to different interpretations of the characters' conflicts.  Describe the great difference between Nelly's views of Catherine's marriage to Edgar (pp. 77-8) and Catherine's (pp 83-4).  How does Catherine describe her marriage during her madness (p. 106)?  How do you think Edgar views their marriage? 
Characters Conflicts Intensified: Heathcliff vs. Hindley & Edgar; Catherine vs. Isabella, Heathcliff & Edgar; Heathcliff vs. Isabella 
  1. Does the novel explain where Heathcliff had been for three years? Why does he return? Why does he stay at Wuthering Heights? What is his relationship with Hindley Earnshaw like? What is his relationship with Edgar Linton like?
      • Catherine
  2. Another of Catherine's famous speech happens in chap 10 (pp. 84-85).   What do you think is her motivation when saying that she is not going to seek revenge against Hindley, and that she is an angel?   Is she aware of Heathcliff's intention of seeking revenge?   Here for your reference is a detailed analysis of this passage which is sensitive to Nelly's multiple role and her lack of understanding.  You don't need to completely agree with the analysis. 
  3. How does Catherine initially respond when she learns about Isabella's interest in Heathcliff? Does Catherine later change her response? Why? Why does Catherine reveal to Heathcliff Isabella’s infatuation?  When is Catherine aware of Heathcliff's intention to seek revenge?
  4. Why does Catherine lock both men in the kitchen? Is she being fair in her treatment of Edgar? Of Heathcliff? How does she propose to solve the tension between the two men? Nelly feels that it is only natural that the two men do not like hearing the other praised, but Catherine disagrees. What does Catherine think?
  5. Why does Catherine imprison and starve herself when confronted by her husband's ultimatum to chose between himself and Heathcliff?
  6. Describe Catherine's madness.”?Why does she regress to childhood episodes with Heathcliff?  Why does her own face in the mirror frighten her? Why does she think that Nelly has become a witch?
      • Heathcliff vs. Isabella
  7. Describe the relationship between Isabella and Heathcliff.  How does Isabella view Heathcliff? How does he view her (e.g. pp. 126-27)? Why does he kill her dog? What motivates both of them to get married? What is their married life like? Describe the relationships at Wuthering Height when Heathcliff and Isabella return there.  How does their marriage change the relationship between Isabella and Edgar? 
    • In these chapters, we see the characters either locked in bitter, even murderous hatred against one another (Heathcliff, Isabella, Hindley Hareton) or indifference (Edgar towards Isabella and Nelly towards Catherine).  Have you ever had these two kinds of sentiments, or anything close to them?  Can you explain why you do, do not?
The Narrators: Nelly's role
  1. Which side does Nelly take now in between Cathy and Edgar?  Who is her "master"?  (Clue: p. 91)
  2. Nelly's role as an informant and messenger, or her failure to do so, plays a crucial role here in the intensification of conflicts.  Why, first of all, does Nelly tell Edgar about Isabella and Heathcliff? Why does she say to Catherine that Edgar is "tolerably well" (102) when Catherine asks how "that pathetic being" is?  Why does she NOT tell Edgar right away about Catherine's madness and sickness (which she sees as "wicked waywardness"  p108)? What motivates her?  Would things have been different if Nelly told Edgar about Isabella's elopement earlier?  What do you think about her agreeing to send message for Heathcliff to Catherine?
  3. Do you agree with Nelly when she says that after the big fight in chap 11, she is "the only sensible soul" in the household (101)?
Theme: Heathcliff as a Satanic Hero or a Villain?
  1. Images of Hell and Satan: In Isabella's letter to Nelly, she asks, "Is Heathcliff a man?"(115)  What do you think?   When Heathcliff reveals his intention on Isabella on pp. 94-95, he is described as a "black villain" by Nelly (94), and called Satan by Catherine, and then he said he himself is treated "infernally" by Catherine.  What do you think about Heathcliff, his relationship with Catherine and his revenge? Is he immoral, or amoral, or a victim of his environment and personality?  Keep this question in mind.
Image, Settings & the Characters
  1. After the appearance of Catherine as ghost, here in chap 12, window again plays an important role.  Why does opening the window means death to Nelly but life to Catherine (106)?    What could it mean and how is it related to the mirror?  For your reference, here is an essay on Symbolism and Imagery: Windows and Eyes in Wuthering Heights
  2. How does the setting continue to relate to the plot and the characters? Why does Bronte often describe characters in terms of nature (e.g. p. 78)? Does the novel suggest a difference between wilderness and cultivation?
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Questions for chapters 15-20
With the arrival of Dr. Kenneth at the end of Chap 14, Nelly's narration is interrupted for a week, during which Lockwood gets better and expects Spring to arrive.  Nelly then resumes her narration in Chap 15 of one of the climaxes of the novel--the meeting of Heathcliff and Catherine. 
Chaps 16-20  make a transition from the first generation characters (Catherine-Heathcliff-the Lintons) to the second.  Chap 17 skips forward 13 years to when Isabella dies and the issue of Linton's custody comes up.  (See Time line
  • In the transitional chapaters, death, and the characters' (Hindley's, Heathcliff's, Catherine's and Nelly's) responses to it, emerges as a major theme of the novel. 
  • Also, with the transition to the second generation, "the past"--both in the sense of the past events and inheritance, becomes a major influence on the characters' life.  We shouldn't forget that the past has always been important for the characters and the narrator, Nelly (e.g. the whole story is told in retrospect; Catherine goes back to her childhood in her madness), but with the second generation, inheritance becomes another important kind of "the past." 
Characters: the first generation
  1.  Why does Nelly let Heathcliff in the house to see Catherine as she is dying? Why does she let him in after her death? 
  2. As Heathcliff and Catherine are talking, they both make many accusations against the other. What do they accuse each other of doing? What does Heathcliff mean when he says, "I love my murderer, but yours!  How can I" (136)? 
  3. In chapter 16, as Catherine is dying, Edgar is INSIDE the house nursing her, while Heathcliff is waiting in the garden OUTSIDE. Discuss the symbolic importance of Edgar being in the house and Heathcliff outside. 
  4. Another clue to Nelly's,  Edgar's, Heathcliff's, Hindley's and Isabella's different personalities is in their different responses to Catherine's (or, in the case of Hindley, Frances') death in chaps 15 & 16.  Do you understand or agree with Heathcliff's "curse" of Catherine (141), as opposed to Edgar's quieter grief and continual love (pp. 138, 154)?  Edgar is also compared by Nelly with Hindley in their different responses to their child after their wife's death (155). 
  5. Explain why Catherine's burial place, though unconventional, is appropriate for her. 
  6. Do you understand or agree with Nelly's "happiness" during this transitional period (pp. 139, 158)?  Why does Nelly think that even Edgar's love/sorrow for Catherine has a degree of selfishness (139)?
  7. What do you think about Isabella's verbal revenge against Heathcliff before she escapes from him and practically disappears from the novel (143-153)?  Why does she leave him?
Characters: the second generation
  1. The novel does not end with great passion of love and revenge. Instead, the second generation, with their different combination of Linton and Catherine/Heathcliff personalities, succeed the first and move on to the central stage.  How do young Cathy, Hareton, and Linton compare and contrast with Catherine, Heathcliff, and Edgar?   What differences and similarities do you find between these two generations?
  2. To be more specific, how is the young Cathy  Linton  different from and similar to Catherine(e.g. 158)?  And how is Cathylike her father? How unlike him? What more do you learn about her while her father is away?  Does her interest in Penistone Craggs suggest something about her?  What does her first experience of Wuthering Heights suggest about her? What do you think about the recurrent motifs (e.g. Catherine's chair, Penistone Craggs, class conflicts)? 
  3. How about Heathcliff as a child and Hareton
  4. Describe Hareton as an eighteen-year-old boy.  In this novel that keeps mentioning books and reading, can Hareton read and write? Is this significant? How does he compare and contrast with Linton Heathcliff? 
  5. And how about Linton?  (Why does Isabella name him Linton Heathcliff?) 
Images & Symbols: Nature, Hell, Window & Dog
  1. Again, images of Nature (or tree and dog more specifically) and Hell are used to describe different characters: e.g. pp. 130; 134; 135 &157. 
  2. When Heathcliff goes to visit Catherine, Catherine is sitting in a chair by a window (131). Do you see symbolic value in her position? Keep in mind that later, when Catherine is talking to Heathcliff, she refers to  the house as a "prison" and says "I'm tired, tired of being enclosed here” (135). 
  3. Have you noticed a pattern or meaning to the recurring images of the dogs? What do they suggest? Also,  notice that Nelly describes Heathcliff by saying that "he gnashed at me, and foamed like a mad dog" (135). Isabella also later tells Heathcliff to go to Catherine's "grave and die like a faithful dog" (149). 

Questions for chapters 21-26
After Linton is taken to Wuthering Heights, there is a lapse of about three years in Nelly's narration.  The major event in this section is the meetings between Cathy and Linton when they both become teenagers at the age of sixteen.  Their meetings are encouraged by Heathcliff, but discouraged or sometimes stopped by Edgar and Nelly. 

Characters: The Second Generation

  1. Describe Linton Heathcliff as a teenager. In this novel in which the Linton family is often associated with books and reading while Heathcliff and the people at Wuthering Heights are not avid readers, does young Linton read and write?  Does this suggest something about him and his relationship with the residents of Wuthering Heights? How would you describe his relationship with his father, Hareton, and Joseph? 
  2. Cathy in relation to the other characters: What more do you learn about Cathy when she Cathy goes to visit Linton in chapter 21?  What is her response to Linton?  How would you describe her relationship with Hareton?  With Heathcliff? When her father first refuses to let Cathy go see Linton again, what does Cathy do?  How does she maintain her relationship with Linton?
  3. Linton's development: Right at the beginning of chap 21, Nelly reports that Linton becomes "selfish and disagreeable"  (p. 177).  Do you find this account justifiable?   How does Linton behaves in Chap 23, when Cathy resumes her visit, and then in Cathy's confession in chap 24?   Then further in chap 26, where Nelly says that he shows a kind of "apathy" and "self-absorbed moroseness" (218)?
Characters: Heathcliff vs. Edgar
  1. Why does Heathcliff invite Cathy to visit Wuthering Heights and see Linton again? On page 180 what does Heathcliff suggest to Nelly about his reasons?  Why does Heathcliff want Cathy to marry Linton?
  2. In chapter 22 Heathcliff again invites Cathy to Wuthering Heights.  Why does Cathy accept the invitation?  Do you agree with Heathcliff when he tells Cathy that she is to blame for Linton's failing health?
  3. The relations among the second generation is not a mere repetition of that of the first, and Heathcliff plays a major role here.  Although Linton is his biological son, Hareton resembles Heathcliff as a child more.  What does Heathcliff feels about Hareton (pp. 182-83)? 
  4. Why is Edgar  oppposed to Cathy's relationship with Linton, who is his nephew?  Why does he agree at last to let Cathy and Linton meet? What are his major considerations (214-15)? 
Characters: The Two Generations
  1. In what ways does Linton take after his mother, Isabella, but not his father?  In what way is not not like Isabella? 
  2. Hareton resembles Heathcliff a lot, but in what ways are they different (pay attention to his  different attitudes towards "book-larning" p.  184-185; 207-208).
  3. How does Cathy's relationship with Linton and Hareton compare and contrast with Catherine's relationship with Edgar? With Heathcliff
Narrators/Characters: Nelly Dean &  Lockwood
  1. Why does Nelly read Linton's letters to Cathy?  Do you agree with her calling the letters "babyish trash"?  Why does she burn them without telling Edgar about them?  And her intervention into the two's relationship? 
  2. How is Nelly related to Cathy?  Nelly, again, serves as a confidant to Cathy (pp. 204-208).  Even the way she performs her role this time is a repetition of the past.   Do you find her justified in her defending Hareton, and her revealing Cathy's secrets to Edgar?
  3. The beginning of chapter 25 presents another brief exchange between Nelly and Lockwood.  Do you agree with Nelly when she suggests that Cathy and Lockwood might become romantically involved?  Do you think that Lockwood could love Cathy?
Recurrent Motifs: Sickness and Death
  1. Sickness appears frequently in this novel.  Is it significant that Nelly Dean, who is usually healthy and energetic, becomes sick (203)?  What does Cathy do while Nelly is sick? 
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Questions for chapters 27-34
The fear Linton expresses in chaps 26 and 27 is explained as Heathcliff takes action to carry out his plan of keeping Cathy in Wuthering Heights and making her Linton's wife.
There are two parts to this section: 
Chaps 27-31: Cathy's experience of imprisonment, her father's and husband's death, and adjustment.
Chaps 32-34: Lockwood's visit in 1802.

Chaps 27-31: The Characters: Cathy, Linton and Heathcliff

  1. Describe Cathy's second meeting with Linton? Why is Linton so frightened? Why is Cathy impatient to go back to the Grange? Why, instead, do Nelly and Cathy go to the Grange?
  2. Why does Heathcliff lock Cathy and Nelly inside Wuthering Heights?  Describe Heathcliff's behavior to them.   Why is he surprised by her rebellion, and disgusted at her pleading (225; 228)?  Why does he, after Edgar's death, want to have "his children" around him, "to be sure" about what(229)? 
  3. How do Cathy and Nelly respond to Heathcliff's brutality and imprisonment respectively? What do you think of their responses?  (Attention: Cathy responds in more than one ways on pp. 225; 226-27;228) 
  4. What does Heathcliff want Cathy and Linton to do? Do you believe Cathy when she says about Linton, "I love him"(228 and again on 239)?   If she means it, what kind of love is it? 
  5. Describe the relationship between Cathy and Linton after their marriage.  What happens to Cathy while Nelly is locked in a room for four days? In what ways does Linton resemble Heathcliff? In what ways Edgar Linton? What do you think of Linton's response to Nelly when Nelly wants to free Cathy (232-4)? Describe how Cathy changes after her marriage to Linton.
The Narrators: Nelly's and Lockwood's role
  1. Again in chapter 27 Nelly reveals herself as an agent in the development of the plot. Why does she not tell Edgar Linton that Linton Heathcliff is dangerously sick (pp. 220; 221)?  What is the result of her silence?  On page 230 Nelly discusses her role in the events that have happened in the novel.  Do you agree with her evaluation of her own behavior?  Why does she lie again to Edgar when she returns to the Grange (235) and then encourage Cathy to lie (236)?
  2. By chapter 31 we are back to the time period described at the very beginning of the novel. After listening to Nelly's story, what kind of relationship does Lockwood hope for with Cathy?
Chaps 27-31: Themes: Death, Edgar's view, Heathcliff's views of it, and Cathy's adjustment to it 
  1. Describe Edgar Linton's death. How does he envision his life after death? Compare and contrast his view of the afterlife with Catherine's views and with Heathcliff's views.
  2. In chapter 29 we learn more about what Heathcliff did during the night of Catherine's funeral. What did he do? Also, why does he open Catherine's grave a second time?
  3. How does Linton respond to Edgar's death (233)?
  4. How does Cathy  respond to Linton's death?  Describe her adjustment to the death and her relationship with Zillah, Heathcliff, and Hareton. (pp. 245 -46).
  5. Who does Cathy resemble in her response to and survival of emotional and physical ordeals?
Chaps 32-34: The Characters: Cathy, Hareton and Heathcliff
  1. Heathcliff and Nelly claim that Hareton resembles Catherine (e.g. 252.)  Is there any significance in that? If so, explain.  Describe the changes in the relationship between Hareton and Cathy at the end of the novel, which happen gradually, for instance,  on pp. 246-47; 250-252; 259; 262-.  Is there meaning in the fact that they enjoy both reading and walking in the moors?
  2. Describe the changes in Heathcliff's behavior before he dies? Why doesn't he end the relationship between Cathy and Hareton (269)? What do you think has caused those changes we see in him?
  3. These concluding chapters keep returning, again and again, to the images we have seen throughout the novel, including windows, books, eyes, ghosts, and storms. Discuss the meaning of them at the end of the novel. For example, how have books become an element that unites the two families?

  4. Nelly says in chapter 34 that some people claim that Heathcliff's ghost walks the moors. She does not believe it.  Do you believe it or not? Explain your answer. The novel suggests that Cathy and Hareton walk the moors on moonlight nights and Catherine and Heathcliff walk the moors during rainy nights. What significance does this have? 
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The Novel as a Whole
  • There are hundreds of approaches you can take to analyze the novel as a whole; for instance, 
    • you can go over the leading questions, and put related questions together.  And then you can choose to analyze 
      1. the characters (their differences and reasons for their conflicts);
      2. compare the two families and their family traits and then the two generations (see Parallel Characters for example);
      3. Heathcliff as a Satanic Hero or symbol of natural energy;
      4. the narrators (their functions, and their differences from the protagonists),
      5. the use of narrative frames, and the other structural elements such as echoes and repetition;
      6. the major motifs of 
        • sickness and death (& responses to it);
        • the function of the past as memories and inheritance; 
        • books and learning; 
      7. the Gothic elements of ghost, storm, nightmare, etc.;
      8. the nature imagery and the other symbols such as window and mirror, dogs and animals;
      9. the interaction between landscape and characters;
      10. the theme of Romantic Passion, the ideas of oneness and Liebestod (love-death),  and how Romantic Passion gets "domesticated";
      11. the theme of revenge (see a student paper as an example): what does Heathcliff want specifically?  How is his way of revenge different from Hindley's or Isabella's?

      12. the more "Victorian" issues of names (e.g. Catherine II's full name is Catherine Linton Heathcliff Earnshaw), class, property and inheritance.  (See Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights: Romantic or Victorian for example.)
    • In Wuthering Heights scholarship, there are some classical approaches.  You can get a brief introduction to some from Wuthering Heights : a summary of three different interpretations.
    • Also, there are some approaches that involve critical theories; for instance, 
      1. there is one example of psychoanalytic approach here. 
      2. If you want to take a sociological/Marxist approach, the  Wuthering Heights homepage will be very helpful.
      3. Also, it's interesting to talk about your responses as a reader (reader response approach).   See And The Intended Audience Is...(drum role!) for some reflections on the intended audience.
    • From the relevant links section of this page, you can get to read some more papers ( mostly students' work but some very good). 
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    Yorkshire (North-East of England) and the Bronte Sisters

    Yorkshire moors in North-East of England
    larger map of England

    Emily stands between Anne (left) and Charlotte (right). Their lives and works are associated with the Yorkshire moors of  England where they were born. 
    from Emily Bronte page of The Women's Resource Project!

    Wuthering Heights Map, a detailed map of Haworth

    High Withens (or Top Withins), Haworth Moor.  Ellen Nussey believed this was the original of Wuthering Heights.  Its high, stormy situation corresponds exactly with that of the Heights.(Bentley 88)

    Shibden Valley, the landscape visible from the back of Law Hill, where Emily resided as a governess at one time.  Shibden Hall is used as the setting for Thrushcross  Grange. (Bentley 53-54)
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    Wuthering Heights: Relevant Links
    Emily Bronte: Biographies Wuthering Heights: General Introduction and Major Sites
    • The Romantic Fiction and Mystery, & Emily Bronte: a brief introduction to the relation between Romantic fiction and the mystery of identity, E. Brontes and Wuthering Heights, as well as other writers. (brief information page on Bronte in the context of sensation fiction) (Michael E. Grost)
    Wuthering Heights: Academic Papers, Student Work and Discussions¡@ Gothic Novel Sites for Fun and Visual/Audio Resources   Further Studies E-Text Archive
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               Internet-Assisted Course page