Lesson 1: Sample : Wuthering Heights
From the outset, Bronte depicts the estate of Wuthering Heights as a hostile and grim place that owes its name to the “atmospheric tumult” that occurs during “stormy weather”. The tumultuous weather also symbolises the “surly” Heathcliff who wreaks havoc and captures the anarchic spirit of the place. During this initial description, Bronte draws attention to the force of the “north wind” which makes it almost impossible for trees to grow and for shrubs to flourish. The “excessive slant of a few stunted firs” testifies to the wind-swept plains. As Bronte describes, it is fortuitous that the architect had the “foresight” to inset the “narrow windows” deep into the walls and to use “jutting stones” to reinforce the corners of the building. Likewise, there is an evident lack of warmth that penetrates the surroundings, and the “alms” become distorted as they reach for the sun. This harshness also symbolically foreshadows the dysfunctional family relationships that begin to fester and the violence of their relationships.
The narrator, Mr Lockwood, draws attention to the “surly” and impatient owner, Heathcliff, who ushers him into the kitchen, which is evident for its lack of hospitality. Lockwood observed “no signs of roasting, boiling, or baking, about the huge fire-place”. As J Hillis Miller points out (in “The Disappearance of God”, 1963), the storm which blows at the exterior of the house and gives it its name is echoed by the storm within the house, a tempest whose ultimate source, it may be, is the people living there”. Lockwood finds that “everyone at the Heights hates everyone else with a violence of unrestrained rage”. “Anarchy prevails”. A force akin to “universal selfishness” prevails. Ultimately this first storm is one of many that suggest the occupants are at the mercy of the raging aggression of natural forces and are threatened by extreme danger. Other storms include the night that Mr Earnshaw dies; the night Heathcliff leaves the Heights and there is a rainstorm on the night that Heathcliff dies.
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