Wuthering Heights Reading Group

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I find the passage very grim but hopeful at the end. I find social darwinism and misanthropism sad in a way because to me it undermines human ability and intellect. It's like just because those people can't find Joy in anything they assume everyone is like that.
Or they think their perspective and subjective negative feelings are all that matters in life. It's essentially egoistic to me.
Heathcliff might be the "strong" one that survives but he made the choice to spread pain and misery wherever he went. It wasn't inevitable. I'm firmly of the opinion that being a good person in any kind of circumstance is possible. (Like Catherine Heathcliff for example and even Hareton at the end)
So i really liked the ending part, just like how i liked the ending of the book.

The question remains: Did Emily Bronte share this optimism?

I admit: I am one who might see things from a "rose-colored glasses" sort of perspective. I embrace what you say, April.

However, I am aware of people who, for sundry reasons, do not share that faith. And I must acknowledge the existence of these alternative notions, even though my "instinct" tells me that I must counter them.

One wonders what Emily encountered in her life to espouse such a philosophy, and to deny a benign natural order? Were class systems her 'natural order'? Was she traumatised by the deaths of her mother and two sisters, or her brother's near insanity after seeing the smiling corpse of Maria? Was this a comment on the suffering, pollution and poverty within her parish?

Emily was a voracious reader of Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Friedrich Schlegel and F. W. J. Schelling but she writes in a style suggesting original thought.

Note that Le Papillon does conclude with hope, as does Wuthering Heights, five years later. Much criticism is made of Volume II because it lacks the passion of Cathy and Heathcliff's desire, but I find it a beautiful if not necessary statement on creationism, and it is required to resolve and conclude Emily's philosophical canon.

"On an afternoon in October or the beginning of November, a fresh watery afternoon, the turf and paths were rustling with moist, withered leaves, and the cold, blue sky was half hidden by clouds bearing dark grey streamers, rapidly mounting from the west and boding abundant rain".

(Vol. II, Ch. 8 )

Sighhhhh!
I love when the passage matches my day. Perhaps, this is why I read WH at precisely this time of year.

Do you like “half-hidden” with some signs of sun—or complete overcast?

@both Isabella and kortie:

I used to to very bad tempered and depressed as a child and even a teenager. I sort of saw myself in Linton. There wasn't anything wrong in my life, sometimes it's just a person's nature to be more pessimistic. I don't know when or how i gained that optimism either, but i feel a lot happier and more free now. I think probably Emily found a way to be more peaceful too.
I liked the second part of the book much more than the first actually. I liked Heathcliff's childhood with Cathy but the second part, especially the telling of the toxic atmosphere at Wuthering Heights was fascinating to me.

@April: I believe you transcending your pessimism was a tremendous step for you. I believe it will reap benefits, ultimately.

^Thank you so much, it's partly because of the wonderful people i met that i was able to change.Even this forum and interacting with people makes me feel a lot better in tough times and i'm grateful for that.

I agree. I see Volume I as primitive and diabolical, not at all romantic as Hollywood wishes to portray. Heathcliff and Hindley are at best psychotic, and Catherine exhibits characteristics of NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder), if not Borderline personality. Volume I is brilliant for its psychological insight, but Isabella's narrative speaks of violence so deranged that the book cannot conclude with her escape lest every reader 'commit suicide' in shocked despair (as described in early reviews).

I love Volume II as much as you do, April. I see allusions to Edgar, Catherine and Hereton six years later in Charlotte's Villette (exchanges between Polly and her father M. de Bassompierre) and sadly, much of Volume II's imagery also repeats in Emily's own languished death one year after publication in December, 1848. This is especially true when Charlotte roams the fields to find one last remaining sprig of heather for her dying sister as a remembrance of the moors.

Did Emily fashion her own death after the novel by refusing medical help, like Cathy?

"She was torn, conscious, panting, reluctant though resolute, out of a happy life" (Charlotte, on Emily's death)

Was this a defiance of her fate, similar to Heathcliff's?
Was she broken-hearted at Branwell's death three months prior?
Do you believe Emily was ever in love?
Need an artist experience that of which they write?

Sorry to switch gears and think of Emily's death, but the allusions in Volume II are quite striking.

P.S. To April ... XO! I'm so glad to have met you and I'm glad you are evolving as a butterfly, as we all do!
Kortie ... I'm still thinking about Richard III and I will reply when I've given him more thought. Hugs.

I was thinking the same thing about Catherine actually! Heathcliff and Hindley certainly had problems but Catherine also doesn't seem like a emotionally healthy person. What She and Heathcliff had was certainly not a fairy tale romance.

Now i'm curious of Villette, i've been wanting to read Charlotte's work too! I'm also so glad i met you, and thank you again for introducing me to Emily Bronte's world!

Sorry -- double posted.

Last edited by IsabellaLinton on 31 Oct 2018, 12:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Villette is sublime: deeply introspective from an autistic type of narrator whose own credibility can't be trusted at all times, but who is so sensitive and fragile she will break your heart.

It lacks the violence and passion of WH but the story haunts me to this day. It was brilliant (I recommend over Jane Eyre).

Yes, Catherine was a WHACK JOB, to put it bluntly. Lol.

Thanks so much for being part of the group and for all your insight, April! Best wishes!!

My favourite daytime weather is fully overcast or grey, because it doesn't hurt my eyes. I find grey weather very cosy as if I'm wrapped in a blanket and I can relax. At night I like a mix of cloud and clear skies, so I can see the stars.

Volume II, Chapters 13 -15

I never cease to be shocked by the horror of these chapters which mirror Isabella's imprisonment, while depicting brutal and sadistic psychopathy more graphic in detail than Volume I. Edgar's complicity at encouraging young Catherine to wed Linton makes me physically ill.

Nelly Dean ... I can't even articulate what a vile, self-centred and spiteful creature she is. I'm beginning to see her as a personification of Id or wish fulfilment. Her lack of restrained discretion is a catalyst for the destruction of every character in the novel, except for her evil and manipulative self: "I seated myself in a chair, and rocked, to and fro, passing harsh judgment on my many derelictions of duty from which, it struck me then, all the misfortunes of all my employers sprang. It was not the case in reality, I am aware, but it was in my imagination, that dismal night, and I thought Heathcliff himself less guilty than I". (Nelly, Vol. II, Ch. 13).

She's deluded. I have no words for Nelly's role as an accomplice to the rape, torture and imprisonment of a teenaged girl in her care.


Young Catherine Linton escaping from her mother's casement window at Wuthering Heights
Lucien Joseph Fontanarosa, Les Hauts de Hurlevent (1949). French Edition.

Oh boy I am so far behind!! Been too busy this week....

Oh bless! I'm feeling like a failure that I'm not finished! Take your time!