Wuthering Heights, Bronte Emilia Jane. Wuthering Heights

Plot

The novel takes place on the moors of Yorkshire, which thanks to this novel became one of the tourist attractions in England.

The owners did not express any particular desire to welcome the guest again, but Lockwood still ends up in the house. Here he discovers the other residents of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff's daughter-in-law, the widow of his son and Hareton Earnshaw. The relationships between the residents were not friendly either towards each other or towards Lockwood. Due to bad weather and the absence of a guide, Lockwood spent the night at Heathcliff's house. Having settled in an abandoned bedroom, Lockwood finds the diary of a certain Catherine Earnshaw, which tells the story of two children: Catherine herself and Heathcliff. At night, Lockwood has a terrible dream in which he is haunted by the ghost of Catherine. The next morning he returns to Skvortsov Manor.

Interested in the history of the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights, Mr. Lockwood asks housekeeper Ellen (Nelly) Dean if she knows any gossip about the inhabitants of the Wuthering Heights estate, and finds out that Nelly Dean herself raised that young girl from the estate. Nelly told tragic story Heathcliff.

Many years ago, Mr. Earnshaw, the owner of Wuthering Heights, picked up a dying child and adopted him as his own son. The boy was named Heathcliff. Heathcliff, at first brought up together with the master's children, became very friendly with Catherine, Earnshaw's daughter, but Earnshaw's son, Hindley, hated the boy, beat and mocked him. Hindley was sent to college, and three years later the elder Earnshaw died.

Hindley returned to his father's funeral with his wife, he became the new master of the house. Hindley sent Heathcliff to work as a simple farmhand and abandoned all worries about his sister, spending all his time with his wife. Heathcliff and Catherine were inseparable until Catherine came to the Lintons, who at that time owned Starling Manor. . There she was taught good manners, and she met the Linton children Edgar and Isabella Linton. Catherine's friendship with the Lintons became a bone of contention with Heathcliff, who by that time had become even more wild. Hindley Earnshaw had a son named Hareton, but immediately after giving birth, Hindley's wife died. Having lost the most precious thing he had, he started drinking, became violent and turned into a “gloomy, fierce man.” In contrast to Heathcliff, Edgar was distinguished by his noble upbringing, gentleness, kindness and excellent manners, which attracted Catherine. She began to openly mock Heathcliff and reproach him for his ignorance, which unwittingly turned him against the Lintons. Knowing deep down her love for Heathcliff, Catherine decided to marry Edgar Linton. Heathcliff heard her talking about this with Nellie Dean, and immediately, without saying goodbye to anyone, he left Wuthering Heights. Katherine took this very hard, but having recovered, she nevertheless married Edgar and left Wuthering Heights, moving to Skvortsov Manor. She took Nelly with her, leaving little Hareton alone in the care of his father.

Three years later, Heathcliff returned and disrupted the peaceful course of life of Edgar and Catherine, who was distraught with happiness at the sight of her old friend. It is clear that Heathcliff and Catherine loved and still love each other. Heathcliff settled in Wuthering Heights and visited Starling Manor very often, irritating Edgar with his rude behavior and promises of revenge. His mad love and thirst for revenge found a way out when Isabella Linton fell in love with Heathcliff, representing him as a romantic hero. Catherine, who knew her friend’s embittered soul well, tried to dissuade Isabela (“He is a fierce, ruthless man, a man of a wolfish disposition”), but all in vain. Edgar Linton, not wanting to put up with Heathcliff's company, tries to expel him from his home forever. As a result of an argument between him, Heathcliff and Catherine, Catherine has a nervous breakdown. Nellie hides Catherine's illness from Edgar, thinking that it is just the mistress's cunning tricks, but the illness intensifies, and when Edgar finds out about Catherine's illness, her mental and physical health find themselves in a deplorable state. Meanwhile, Isabela elopes with Heathcliff. She agreed to marry Heathcliff. After the wedding, his true motives were revealed, and the pampered Isabella faced humiliation, cruelty, and the coldness of her husband. Edgar refuses to help his sister, citing the fact that she made her own choice. To convey this news to Isabella, Nelly comes to Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff learns from her about Catherine's illness. Disregarding all precautions, he makes his way to his beloved, who, in a frantic riot of feelings, loses her last strength. That same night, Katherine gives birth to a daughter and dies two hours later. Heathcliff is beside himself with grief. Isabela soon ran away from Heathcliff. She lived the rest of her life in the area around London. She had a son, whom she named Linton Heathcliff. When he was just over twelve, thirteen years after Catherine's death, Isabella died. Six months after Catherine's death, her brother Hindley Earnshaw also died. Addicted to the game, he pledged all his property to Heathcliff, and he got Wuthering Heights along with Earnshaw's son, Hareton.

12 years have passed, Catherine Linton has grown into a sweet and kind young girl. She lived quietly on the Skvortsov Manor with her father until Isabella's death became known. Isabella's son, the nervous and sickly Linton, arrived at Starlings and was immediately claimed by Heathcliff. Nellie was forced to take the boy to Wuthering Heights. When Catherine was 16 years old, during a walk with Nelly in the summer, they met Heathcliff and Hareton, who, under the strict guidance of Heathcliff, turned into an uncouth, illiterate hillbilly. Heathcliff lured Catherine and her nanny to Wuthering Heights, where she met the grown-up Linton. Heathcliff told Nelly that he planned to marry his son to Catherine in order to secure his rights to Starling Manor and take revenge on the Linton family, which he so hated. A secret, loving correspondence began between Catherine and Linton, which she had to stop under pressure from her father and Nellie Dean. Autumn has come. Edgar Linton's health began to slowly deteriorate, causing concern for his daughter. Meanwhile, Heathcliff does not abandon his insidious plans. Imbued with pity for Linton Heathcliff, who was seriously ill, Catherine, in secret from her loved ones, began to visit him regularly, taking care of the extremely capricious young man. Hareton began to learn to read in order to please Catherine, but she still mocked him, causing his anger. The father eventually agrees to Catherine meeting Linton on neutral territory. Linton is completely weakened, he is standing on the edge of the grave, he doesn’t even have the strength to stand when meeting with Catherine. Intimidated by his father, he begs her to continue meeting. During one of these meetings, Heathcliff lures Nelly and Catherine to Wuthering Heights, locks them up, not allowing them to see the dying Edgar. Katherine is in insane despair, she is ready to do anything just to say goodbye to the person she loves most - her father. She marries Linton Heathcliff. Despite the fact that even after marriage, Heathcliff does not let them go, they still manage to get out of Wuthering Heights and catch the last hours of Edgar Linton. Catherine lost not only the Skvortsov Manor, which already belonged to Linton, but also all her means of livelihood. She found herself at the complete mercy of Heathcliff. However, the grief of his enemies did not calm Heathcliff’s soul; he was still tormented by insane feelings for the deceased Catherine Earnshaw. Linton died soon after. Struck by adversity, Catherine became embittered with all the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights. She is also disgusted by Hareton, who did not give up trying to master grammar, and Catherine still does not appreciate these efforts. This was the end of Nellie's story to Lockwood. He leaves the Skvortsov Manor.

One of the productions of the novel, 1943

Characters

Heathcliff(English) Heathcliff) is the central male character of the novel. Catherine Earnshaw's father picked him up on the street and saved him from starvation. Heathcliff and Catherine were best friends as children and then fell in love. Heathcliff is obsessed with Catherine, embittered and vengeful, and revenge extends not only to enemies, but also to their heirs. He is a Byronic hero. The image of Heathcliff in the novel is shrouded in some mystery until the end of the novel. Heathcliff's wife Isabella wonders if he is even human?
Catherine Earnshaw(English) Catherine Earnshaw) is a freedom-loving, selfish and slightly spoiled young girl who loves Heathcliff as much as he loves her. However, she considered that he was not suitable for her husband, since he was not well educated and poor. Instead, Catherine marries her friend Edgar Linton, secretly hoping that this will help Heathcliff make his way in life. However, Edgar and Heathcliff hate each other to such an extent that Catherine becomes physically and mentally ill, goes crazy and eventually dies.
Edgar Linton(English) Edgar Linton) - husband of Catherine Earnshaw; a handsome, gentle, well-mannered young man. He patiently endured Catherine's whims, although at first he was shocked by her rude behavior.
Isabella Linton(English) Isabella Linton) - Edgar's younger sister, just as sophisticated and graceful. At eighteen, she fell in love with Heathcliff and went with him to Wuthering Heights, and then, when she realized what kind of life awaited her (“I hate him... I’m unhappy beyond measure... I was a fool!”), she fled to London. Some time later she died giving birth to her son Linton Heathcliff.
Hindley Earnshaw(English) Hindley Earnshaw) - Catherine's brother, who was always jealous of his father for Heathcliff. Hindley believed that the father was overly favorable to the foundling, and did not pay any attention to his own son. Hindley hated Heathcliff and after his father's death forbade him to receive an education, which subsequently separated Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw. Hindley got married and was very happy in his marriage, which smoothed out the negative traits of his character. After his wife fell ill with consumption and died, he became an alcoholic and lost Wuthering Heights to Heathcliff at cards.
Ellen Dean(English) Ellen Dean) or Nellie - the housekeeper in Starlings, who was an eyewitness to the whole story and who tells it to Lockwood.
Linton Heathcliff(English) Linton Heathcliff) - the spoiled and sickly son of Isabella and Heathcliff. His cowardice and selfish nature only worsened after living with his father.
Catherine Linton(English) Catherine Linton) is the sweet and sympathetic daughter of Catherine and Edgar Linton. Heathcliff forced her to marry his son Linton in order to become master of the Starlings.
Hareton Earnshaw(English) Hareton Earnshaw) - son of Hindley, raised by Heathcliff. Hareton is infinitely devoted to Heathcliff, but this did not prevent him from developing a deep feeling for Catherine Linton. Their union broke the family curse.
Joseph(English) Joseph) - an old pious and grumpy servant in Wuthering Heights. He served when Cathy and Hindley Earnshaw were children and remained with Heathcliff.
Lockwood(English) Lockwood) - Heathcliff's lodger, renting Starlings. From his perspective the narrative begins, continuing with Nellie’s story, which was told to him during his illness in Skvortsy.
Francis Earnshaw(English) Frances Earnshaw) - thin and sickly wife of Hindley. The birth of her son undermines her poor health and Francis dies of consumption.
Mr Kenneth(English) Mr. Kenneth) - local doctor. Examined and treated all members of the Linton and Earnshaw families.
Zilla(English) Zillah) - housekeeper in Wuthering Heights. She took Lockwood to the room where Cathy and Heathcliff spent a lot of time as children.

Chronology of events

:	born Hindley Earnshaw (summer); Nellie (Ellen Dean) born
:	Edgar Linton born
:	Heathcliff is born
:	born Catherine Earnshaw (summer); born Isabella Linton (late 1765)
:	Mr. Earnshaw brought Heathcliff to Wuthering Heights (late summer)
:	Mrs Earnshaw died (spring)
:	Hindley went to college
:	Hindley married Frances; Mr. Earnshaw dies and Hindley returns home (October); Heathcliff and Catherine visited the Starlings for the first time; Catherine stayed at Starlings (November), and returned to Wuthering Heights on Christmas Eve
:	Hareton born (June); Frances died
:	Heathcliff escaped from Wuthering Heights; Mr and Mrs Linton died
:	Catherine married Edgar Linton (March); Heathcliff is back (September)
:	Heathcliff married Isabella Linton (February); Catherine died and her daughter Katie was born (March 20); Hindley died; Linton born (September)
:	Isabella died; Cathy visited Wuthering Heights and met Hareton; Linton brought to Starlings and then transported to Wuthering Heights
:	Cathy met Heathcliff and saw Linton again (March 20)
1801:	Katie and Linton married (August); Edgar died (August); Linton died (September); Mr. Lockwood came to Starlings and visited Wuthering Heights, the beginning of his story
:	Mr. Lockwood went to London (January); Heathcliff died (April); Mr Lockwood returned to Starlings (September)
:	Katie and Hareton plan to get married (January 1)

Literary merits

The gloomy moors of North Yorkshire with trees bent by hurricane winds serve as the backdrop for the unfolding of a genuine tragedy in the ancient Greek sense of the word. The tension in the novel inexorably increases as the tragic denouement approaches. The uncontrollable passions and disastrous actions of the heroes seem to be the result not only and not so much of their conscious decisions, but of the actions of the evil fate that has taken up arms against them. As is customary in a classic English novel, the twists and turns of the plot end with a not very plausible happy ending.

Emily Brontë's contemporary, poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, spoke of this novel in this way.

...this is a diabolical book, an unimaginable monster that unites all the strongest female inclinations..

Much later, the spirit of romanticism found a much more true embodiment among the Yorkshire moors in the work of a young girl, Emily Brontë, the most romantic novel Wuthering Heights. Hareton Earnshaw, Catherine Linton and Heathcliff, who digs up Catherine's grave and breaks out the side of her coffin in order to truly rest in death next to her - these figures, filled with such passions, but woven against the backdrop of the discreet beauty of the heather expanses, are typical examples of the spirit of romanticism .

It is this idea that at the heart of the manifestations of human nature there are forces that elevate it and raise it to the foot of greatness, and puts Emily Brontë's novel in a special, outstanding place among similar novels.

Film adaptations

Wuthering Heights (film, 1920)
Wuthering Heights (film, 1939) - Oscar winner for cinematography
Wuthering Heights (film, 1953)
Wuthering Heights (film, 1954)
Wuthering Heights (film, 1970)
Wuthering Heights (2003 film)
Wuthering Heights (2009 film)
Wuthering Heights (film, 2010) - announced

Notes

Bleak Brontës get the comic treatment
The first edition of Wuthering Heights sold for £114,000. Lenta.ru. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
Emily Brontë Chapter I // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter II // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter III // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter IV // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter V // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter VI // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter VII // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter VIII // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter IX // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter X // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XI // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XII // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XIII // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XIV // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XV // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XVI // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XVII // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XVIII // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XIX // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XX // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXI // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXII // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXIII // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXIV // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXV // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXVI // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXVII // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXVIII // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXIX // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXX // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXXI // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXXII // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXXIII // Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë Chapter XXXIV // Wuthering Heights.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti This devilish book // Emily Bronte. Wuthering Heights. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house "Azbuka-classics", 2008. - 384 p. - ISBN 978-5-91181-646-9
Walter Pater The most romantic novel ( from essay
Virginia Woolf"Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" ( from essay) // Emily Bronte. Wuthering Heights. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house "Azbuka-classics", 2008. - 384 p. - ISBN 978-5-91181-646-9
Wuthering Heights. All films (1920-2010) // FilmoPoisk.ru.
Flood A. Vampire endorsement turns Brontë into bestseller // The Guardian. 28 August 2009. (English) - 08/31/2009.
The British called Wuthering Heights the most romantic book. Lenta.ru. Retrieved May 15, 2009.

"Wuthering Heights"

The Earnshaws, Mrs. Dean said, had lived at Wuthering Heights since ancient times, and the Lintons at Skvortsov Manor. Old Mr. Earnshaw had two children—a son, Hindley, the eldest, and a daughter, Catherine. One day, returning from the city, Mr. Earnshaw picked up a ragged gypsy child dying of hunger on the road and brought him into the house. The boy came out and was christened Heathcliff (later no one could say for sure whether it was a first name, a surname, or both at once), and soon it became obvious to everyone that Mr. Earnshaw was attached to the foundling much more than to his own son. Heathcliff, whose character was not dominated by the most noble traits, shamelessly took advantage of this, childishly tyrannizing Hindley in every possible way. Heathcliff, oddly enough, struck up a strong friendship with Catherine.

When old Earnshaw died, Hindley, who had by then lived in the city for several years, came to the funeral not alone, but with his wife. Together they quickly established their own order at Wuthering Heights, and the young master did not fail to cruelly recoup the humiliation that he had once suffered from his father’s favorite: he now lived in the position of almost a simple worker, Catherine also had a hard time in the care of the narrow-minded, evil bigot Joseph ; Perhaps her only joy was her friendship with Heathcliff, which little by little grew into a love that was still unconscious to young people.

Meanwhile, two teenagers also lived at Skvortsov Manor - the master's children Edgar and Isabella Linton. Unlike the savages of their neighbors, these were real noble gentlemen - well-mannered, educated, perhaps overly nervous and arrogant. An acquaintance could not fail between the neighbors, but Heathcliff, a rootless plebeian, was not accepted into the Linton company. This would be nothing, but from some point on, Katherine began to spend time in Edgar’s company with undisguised great pleasure, neglecting her old friend, and sometimes even mocking him. Heathcliff swore terrible revenge on young Linton, and it was not in the nature of this man to throw words to the wind.

Time passed. Hindley Earnshaw had a son, Hareton; The boy's mother fell ill after giving birth and never got up again. Having lost the most precious thing he had in life, Hindley gave up and went downhill before his eyes: he disappeared in the village for days on end, returning drunk and terrifying his family with his irrepressible violence.

The relationship between Catherine and Edgar gradually became more and more serious, and then one fine day the young people decided to get married. This decision was not easy for Katherine: in her soul and heart she knew that she was doing the wrong thing; Heathcliff was the focus of her greatest thoughts, the one without whom the world was unthinkable for her. However, if she could liken Heathcliff to underground rock layers on which everything rests, but whose existence does not bring hourly pleasure, she compared her love for Edgar to spring foliage - you know that winter will not leave a trace of it, and yet you cannot don't enjoy it.

Heathcliff, barely learning about the upcoming event, disappeared from Wuthering Heights, and nothing was heard about him for a long time.

Soon the wedding took place; Leading Catherine to the altar, Edgar Linton considered himself the happiest of people. The young couple lived at Starling Manor, and anyone who saw them at that time could not help but recognize Edgar and Catherine as an exemplary loving couple.

Who knows how long the serene existence of this family would continue, but one fine day a stranger knocked on the Skvortsov gate. They did not immediately recognize him as Heathcliff, for the former uncouth youth now appeared as a grown man with military bearing and the habits of a gentleman. Where he was and what he was doing in the years that had passed since his disappearance remained a mystery to everyone.

Catherine and Heathcliff met like good old friends, but Edgar, who had previously disliked Heathcliff, was displeased and alarmed by his return. And not in vain. His wife suddenly lost the peace of mind that he had so carefully preserved. It turned out that all this time Catherine had been executing herself as the culprit of Heathcliff’s possible death somewhere in a foreign land, and now his return reconciled her with God and humanity. Her childhood friend became even more dear to her than before.

Despite Edgar's dissatisfaction, Heathcliff was received at Skvortsov Manor and became a frequent guest there. At the same time, he did not bother himself at all with observing conventions and decency: he was harsh, rude and straightforward. Heathcliff did not hide the fact that he returned only to take revenge - and not only on Hindley Earnshaw, but also on Edgar Linton, who took his life with all its meaning. He bitterly blamed Katherine for the fact that she preferred a weak-willed, nervous slobber to him, a man with a capital M; Heathcliff's words painfully stirred her soul.

To everyone's bewilderment, Heathcliff settled at Wuthering Heights, which had long ago turned from a landowner's house into a den of drunkards and gamblers. The latter worked to his advantage: Hindley, who had lost all the money, gave Heathcliff a mortgage on the house and estate. Thus, he became the owner of all the property of the Earnshaw family, and Hindley’s legal heir, Hareton, was left penniless.

Heathcliff's frequent visits to Starling Manor had one unexpected consequence - Isabella Linton, Edgar's sister, fell madly in love with him. Everyone around tried to turn the girl away from this almost unnatural attachment to a man with the soul of a wolf, but she remained deaf to the persuasion, Heathcliff was indifferent to her, because he did not care about everyone and everything except Catherine and his revenge; So he decided to make Isabella the instrument of this revenge, to whom her father, bypassing Edgar, bequeathed Skvortsov Manor. One fine night, Isabella ran away with Heathcliff, and as time passed, they showed up at Wuthering Heights as husband and wife. There are no words to describe all the humiliations to which Heathcliff subjected his young wife, and who did not think of hiding the true motives of his actions from her. Isabella endured in silence, wondering in her heart who her husband really was - a man or a devil?

Heathcliff had not seen Catherine since the day of his escape from Isabella. But one day, having learned that she was seriously ill, he, in spite of everything, came to Skvortsy. A painful conversation for both, in which the nature of the feelings that Catherine and Heathcliff had for each other was fully revealed, turned out to be their last: that same night Catherine died, giving birth to a girl. The girl (who, as an adult, was seen by Mr. Lockwood at Wuthering Heights) was named after her mother.

Catherine's brother, robbed by Heathcliff Hindley Earnshaw, soon also died - he literally drank himself to death. Even earlier, Isabella’s reserve of patience had been exhausted, and she finally ran away from her husband and settled somewhere near London. There she had a son, Linton Heathcliff.

Twelve or thirteen years passed, during which nothing disturbed the peaceful life of Edgar and Cathy Linton. But then news of Isabella’s death came to Skvortsov Manor. Edgar immediately went to London and brought her son from there. She was a spoiled creature, inheriting sickness and nervousness from her mother, and cruelty and devilish arrogance from her father.

Cathy, much like her mother, immediately became attached to her new cousin, but the very next day Heathcliff appeared at the Grange and demanded to give up her son. Edgar Linton, of course, could not object to him.

The next three years passed quietly, for all relations between Wuthering Heights and Skvortsov Manor were prohibited. When Cathy turned sixteen, she finally made it to the Pass, where she found her two cousins, Linton Heathcliff and Hareton Earnshaw; the second, however, was difficult to recognize as a relative - he was too rude and uncouth. As for Linton, just like her mother once did, Katie convinced herself that she loved him. And although the insensitive egoist Linton was not able to respond to her love, Heathcliff intervened in the fate of the young people.

He did not have feelings for Linton that were anything like his father's, but in Katie he saw a reflection of the traits of the one who had possessed his thoughts all his life, the one whose ghost haunted him now. Therefore, he decided to make sure that both Wuthering Heights and Skvortsov Manor, after the death of Edgar Linton and Linton Heathcliff (and both of them were already dying) would come into the possession of Cathy. And for this the children had to be married.

And Heathcliff, against the wishes of Cathy's dying father, arranged their marriage. A few days later, Edgar Linton died, and Linton Heathcliff soon followed.

So there are three of them left: the obsessed Heathcliff, who despises Hareton and has no control over Cathy; the infinitely arrogant and wayward young widow Cathy Heathcliff; and Hareton Earnshaw, the last of the beggars ancient family, naively in love with Katie, who mercilessly bullied her illiterate hillbilly cousin.

This is the story old Mrs. Dean told Mr. Lockwood. The time came, and Mr. Lockwood finally decided to part with the solitude of the village, as he thought, forever. But a year later, he was passing through those places again and could not help but visit Mrs. Dean.

Over the course of a year, it turns out that a lot has changed in the lives of our heroes. Heathcliff died; Before his death, he completely lost his mind, could neither eat nor sleep, and kept wandering the hills, calling on the ghost of Catherine. As for Katie and Hareton, the girl gradually abandoned her contempt for her cousin, warmed up to him and finally reciprocated his feelings; the wedding was supposed to take place on New Year's Day.

In the rural cemetery, where Mr. Lockwood went before leaving, everything told him that, no matter what trials befell the people buried here, now they are all sleeping peacefully.

Heathcliff returned to take revenge on all the Earnshaws at once. Hindley, being drunk, gave him a mortgage on the estate, and with it the right to dispose of its residents. Hindley's son, Hareton, was left with nothing. An unexpected turn This complicated story begins with Edgar's sister Isabella falling in love with Heathcliff. It was impossible to reason with her. Together with Heathcliff, she fled from her father's house, returning there as Heathcliff's legal wife. Thus, Skvortsov Manor now belonged to Heathcliff.

Essays

The plot of the novel "Wuthering Heights" by Emilia Brontë The system of images in the novel “Wuthering Heights” Philosophical views of Emilia Brontë in the novel Wuthering Heights

Heroes of Wuthering Heights

"Wuthering Heights": heroes of the first generation

Heathcliff is a gypsy adopted by Mr. Earnshaw into his family and raised as his son. Vengeful, embittered, cruel and stubborn. Was best friend Katherine and her lovers. Didn't get along with Hindley Earnshaw. He was married to Isabella Linton, in which he had a son, Linton.

Catherine Earnshaw is Mr. Earnshaw's daughter and Hindley's sister. A spoiled and selfish girl, initially wild, and later quite refined. She loved Heathcliff, but married Edgar Linton. She became insane and died giving birth to her daughter Katherine.

Hindley Earnshaw is Catherine's brother by blood and Heathcliff's at the insistence of his father. He hated the second and, after the death of his parent, “demoted” him to a worker in Wuthering Heights, not allowing him to receive an education. He was happily married to Frances, who died after giving birth to his son Hareton. After the death of his wife, he drank himself to death and later lost his estate to Heathcliff. A jealous, vindictive, aggressive person. By the end of his life he is miserable and dejected.

Frances Earnshaw - Hindley's wife. Soft in nature, fragile. She died of consumption after childbirth.

Edgar Linton - friend and then husband of Catherine Earnshaw, father of Catherine Linton. A patient young man, kind, gallant, well-mannered, sometimes stubborn.

Isabella Linton is the sister of Edgar Linton and the wife of Heathcliff, the mother of the latter Linton's son. Educated, well-mannered, naive (before marriage). She married for love, found herself unhappy in this relationship and ran away from her husband.

"Wuthering Heights": heroes of the second generation

The heroes of Wuthering Heights Catherine Linton is the daughter of Catherine and Edgar Linton. Well-mannered, kind, responsive. She was forced to marry Linton, whom she did not love. She lost Skvortsov Manor because of Heathcliff, but after his death she returned it. In the end, she found happiness with Hareton.

Hareton Earnshaw is Hindley's son, raised by Heathcliff after his father's death. Devoted, grateful. Like Heathcliff in his youth, uneducated and rude. He fell in love with the widowed Catherine Linton.

Linton Heathcliff is the son of Isabella Linton and Heathcliff. Before his mother's death he lived with her, then he went to his father. Under pressure from Heathcliff, he married Catherine Linton. Weak character, cowardly. Sick - died shortly after his wedding.

Other Wuthering Heights Characters

Nellie (Ellen Dean) - according to the plot of "Wuthering Heights", a former servant in Wuthering Heights, later a housekeeper in Skvortsov Manor. Forced keeper of the secrets of the Earnshaw and Linton families, participant in many events. IN different time was on relatively friendly terms with the two Catherines and Heathcliff.

Joseph is a servant at Wuthering Heights. Served under Earnshaw and Heathcliff. Grumpy, pious, stupid.

Zila is the housekeeper at Heathcliff's estate.

Lockwood is a Londoner who rents Starling Grange from Heathcliff. Visited the owner of the estate and once spent the night in Wuthering Heights.

Mr Kenneth is a doctor. Treated Catherine, Edgar, Francis.

Feeling an urgent need to take a break from the bustle of London society and fashionable resorts, Mr. Lockwood decided to settle for a while in the wilderness of the village. He chose an old landowner's house, Skvortsov Manor, as the place of his voluntary seclusion, which stood among the hilly heathers and swamps of northern England. Having settled in a new place, Mr. Lockwood considered it necessary to pay a visit to the owner of the Starlings and his only neighbor - Squire Heathcliff, who lived about four miles away, in an estate called Wuthering Heights. The owner and his home made a somewhat strange impression on the guest: a gentleman in clothes and manners, Heathcliff’s appearance was a pure gypsy; his house resembled more the harsh abode of a simple farmer than the estate of a landowner. In addition to the owner, the old grumpy servant Joseph lived at Wuthering Heights; young, charming, but somehow overly harsh and full of undisguised contempt for everyone, Catherine Heathcliff, the owner’s daughter-in-law; and Hareton Earnshaw (Lockwood saw this name engraved next to the date “1500” above the entrance to the estate) - a rustic-looking fellow, not much older than Catherine, looking at whom one could only say with confidence that he was neither a servant nor a master here son. Intrigued, Mr. Lockwood asked the housekeeper, Mrs. Dean, to satisfy his curiosity and tell the story of the strange people who lived at Wuthering Heights. The request could not have been addressed to the right address, for Mrs. Dean turned out to be not only an excellent storyteller, but also a direct witness to the dramatic events that made up the history of the Earnshaw and Linton families and their evil genius, Heathcliff. The Earnshaws, Mrs. Dean said, had lived at Wuthering Heights since ancient times, and the Lintons at Skvortsov Manor. Old Mr. Earnshaw had two children - a son, Hindley, the eldest, and a daughter, Catherine. One day, returning from the city, Mr. Earnshaw picked up a ragged gypsy child dying of hunger on the road and brought him into the house. The boy came out and was christened Heathcliff (later no one could say for sure whether it was a first name, a surname, or both at once), and soon it became obvious to everyone that Mr. Earnshaw was attached to the foundling much more than to his own son. Heathcliff, whose character was not dominated by the most noble traits, shamelessly took advantage of this, childishly tyrannizing Hindley in every possible way. Heathcliff, oddly enough, struck up a strong friendship with Catherine. When old Earnshaw died, Hindley, who had by then lived in the city for several years, came to the funeral not alone, but with his wife. Together they quickly established their own order at Wuthering Heights, and the young master did not fail to cruelly recoup the humiliation that he had once suffered from his father’s favorite: he now lived in the position of almost a simple worker, Catherine also had a hard time in the care of the narrow-minded, evil bigot Joseph ; Perhaps her only joy was her friendship with Heathcliff, which little by little grew into a love that was still unconscious to young people. Meanwhile, two teenagers also lived at Skvortsov Manor - the master's children Edgar and Isabella Linton. Unlike the savages of their neighbors, these were real noble gentlemen - well-mannered, educated, perhaps overly nervous and arrogant. An acquaintance could not fail between the neighbors, but Heathcliff, a rootless plebeian, was not accepted into the Linton company. This would be nothing, but from some point on, Katherine began to spend time in Edgar’s company with undisguised great pleasure, neglecting her old friend, and sometimes even mocking him. Heathcliff swore terrible revenge on young Linton, and it was not in the nature of this man to throw words to the wind. Time passed. Hindley Earnshaw had a son, Hareton; The boy's mother fell ill after giving birth and never got up again. Having lost the most precious thing he had in life, Hindley gave up and went downhill before his eyes: he disappeared in the village for days on end, returning drunk and terrifying his family with his irrepressible violence. The relationship between Catherine and Edgar gradually became more and more serious, and then one fine day the young people decided to get married. This decision was not easy for Katherine: in her soul and heart she knew that she was doing the wrong thing; Heathcliff was the focus of her greatest thoughts, the one without whom the world was unthinkable for her. However, if she could liken Heathcliff to underground rock layers on which everything rests, but whose existence does not bring hourly pleasure, she compared her love for Edgar to spring foliage - you know that winter will not leave a trace of it, and yet you cannot don't enjoy it. Heathcliff, barely learning about the upcoming event, disappeared from Wuthering Heights, and nothing was heard about him for a long time. Soon the wedding took place; Leading Catherine to the altar, Edgar Linton considered himself the happiest of people. The young couple lived at Starling Manor, and anyone who saw them at that time could not help but recognize Edgar and Catherine as an exemplary loving couple. Who knows how long the serene existence of this family would continue, but one fine day a stranger knocked on the Skvortsov gate. They did not immediately recognize him as Heathcliff, for the former uncouth youth now appeared as a grown man with military bearing and the habits of a gentleman. Where he was and what he was doing in the years that had passed since his disappearance remained a mystery to everyone. Catherine and Heathcliff met like good old friends, but Edgar, who had previously disliked Heathcliff, was displeased and alarmed by his return. And not in vain. His wife suddenly lost the peace of mind that he had so carefully preserved. It turned out that all this time Catherine had been executing herself as the culprit of Heathcliff’s possible death somewhere in a foreign land, and now his return reconciled her with God and humanity. Her childhood friend became even more dear to her than before. Despite Edgar's dissatisfaction, Heathcliff was received at Skvortsov Manor and became a frequent guest there. At the same time, he did not bother himself at all with observing conventions and decency: he was harsh, rude and straightforward. Heathcliff did not hide the fact that he returned only to take revenge - and not only on Hindley Earnshaw, but also on Edgar Linton, who took his life with all its meaning. He bitterly blamed Katherine for the fact that she preferred a weak-willed, nervous slobber to him, a man with a capital M; Heathcliff's words painfully stirred her soul. To everyone's bewilderment, Heathcliff settled in Wuthering Heights, which had long since turned from a landowner's house into a den of drunkards and gamblers. The latter worked to his advantage: Hindley, who had lost all the money, gave Heathcliff a mortgage on the house and estate. Thus, he became the owner of all the property of the Earnshaw family, and Hindley’s legal heir, Hareton, was left penniless. Heathcliff's frequent visits to Starling Manor had one unexpected consequence - Isabella Linton, Edgar's sister, fell madly in love with him. Everyone around tried to turn the girl away from this almost unnatural attachment to a man with the soul of a wolf, but she remained deaf to the persuasion, Heathcliff was indifferent to her, because he did not care about everyone and everything except Catherine and his revenge; So he decided to make Isabella the instrument of this revenge, to whom her father, bypassing Edgar, bequeathed Skvortsov Manor. One fine night, Isabella ran away with Heathcliff, and as time passed, they showed up at Wuthering Heights as husband and wife. There are no words to describe all the humiliations to which Heathcliff subjected his young wife, and who did not think of hiding the true motives of his actions from her. Isabella endured in silence, wondering in her heart who her husband really was - a man or a devil? Heathcliff had not seen Catherine since the day of his escape from Isabella. But one day, having learned that she was seriously ill, he, in spite of everything, came to Skvortsy. A painful conversation for both, in which the nature of the feelings that Catherine and Heathcliff had for each other was fully revealed, turned out to be their last: that same night Catherine died, giving birth to a girl. The girl (who, as an adult, was seen by Mr. Lockwood at Wuthering Heights) was named after her mother. Catherine's brother, robbed by Heathcliff Hindley Earnshaw, soon also died - he literally drank himself to death. Even earlier, Isabella’s reserve of patience had been exhausted, and she finally ran away from her husband and settled somewhere near London. There she had a son, Linton Heathcliff. Twelve or thirteen years passed, during which nothing disturbed the peaceful life of Edgar and Cathy Linton. But then news of Isabella’s death came to Skvortsov Manor. Edgar immediately went to London and brought her son from there. She was a spoiled creature, inheriting sickness and nervousness from her mother, and cruelty and devilish arrogance from her father. Cathy, much like her mother, immediately became attached to her new cousin, but the very next day Heathcliff appeared at the Grange and demanded to give up her son. Edgar Linton, of course, could not object to him. The next three years passed quietly, for all relations between Wuthering Heights and Skvortsov Manor were prohibited. When Cathy turned sixteen, she finally made it to the Pass, where she found her two cousins, Linton Heathcliff and Hareton Earnshaw; the second, however, was difficult to recognize as a relative - he was too rude and uncouth. As for Linton, just like her mother once did, Katie convinced herself that she loved him. And although the insensitive egoist Linton was not able to respond to her love, Heathcliff intervened in the fate of the young people. He did not have feelings for Linton that were anything like his father's, but in Katie he saw a reflection of the traits of the one who had possessed his thoughts all his life, the one whose ghost haunted him now. Therefore, he decided to make sure that both Wuthering Heights and Skvortsov Manor, after the death of Edgar Linton and Linton Heathcliff (and both of them were already dying) would come into the possession of Cathy. And for this the children had to be married. And Heathcliff, against the wishes of Cathy's dying father, arranged their marriage. A few days later, Edgar Linton died, and Linton Heathcliff soon followed. So there are three of them left: the obsessed Heathcliff, who despises Hareton and has no control over Cathy; the infinitely arrogant and wayward young widow Cathy Heathcliff; and Hareton Earnshaw, the poor last of an ancient family, naively in love with Katie, who mercilessly bullied her illiterate hillbilly cousin. So there are three of them left: the obsessed Heathcliff, who despises Hareton and has no control over Cathy; the infinitely arrogant and wayward young widow Cathy Heathcliff; and Hareton Earnshaw, the poor last of an ancient family, naively in love with Katie, who mercilessly bullied her illiterate hillbilly cousin. This is the story old Mrs. Dean told Mr. Lockwood. The time came, and Mr. Lockwood finally decided to part with the solitude of the village, as he thought, forever. But a year later, he was passing through those places again and could not help but visit Mrs. Dean. Over the course of a year, it turns out that a lot has changed in the lives of our heroes. Heathcliff died; Before his death, he completely lost his mind, could neither eat nor sleep, and kept wandering the hills, calling on the ghost of Catherine. As for Katie and Hareton, the girl gradually abandoned her contempt for her cousin, warmed up to him and finally reciprocated his feelings; the wedding was supposed to take place on New Year's Day. In the rural cemetery, where Mr. Lockwood went before leaving, everything told him that, no matter what trials befell the people buried here, now they are all sleeping peacefully. So there are three of them left: the obsessed Heathcliff, the despising Hareton and the finding control over Katie; the infinitely arrogant and wayward young widow Cathy Heathcliff; and Hareton Earnshaw, the poor last of an ancient family, naively in love with Katie, who mercilessly bullied her illiterate hillbilly cousin. This is the story old Mrs. Dean told Mr. Lockwood. The time came, and Mr. Lockwood finally decided to part with the solitude of the village, as he thought, forever. But a year later, he was passing through those places again and could not help but visit Mrs. Dean. Over the course of a year, it turns out that a lot has changed in the lives of our heroes. Heathcliff died; Before his death, he completely lost his mind, could neither eat nor sleep, and kept wandering the hills, calling on the ghost of Catherine. As for Katie and Hareton, the girl gradually abandoned her contempt for her cousin, warmed up to him and finally reciprocated his feelings; the wedding was supposed to take place on New Year's Day. In the rural cemetery, where Mr. Lockwood went before leaving, everything told him that, no matter what trials befell the people buried here, now they are all sleeping peacefully.

I opened another book with a mechanical movement. The next cover, the next first page... It didn’t seem to me then that I would meet with something special, with something that I hadn’t read or didn’t know about before. This was intended as a “meeting for show”, which I did not try to pin my hopes on. But page after page - and suddenly for myself the most rapid cold air carries me away, and I hear its impulses, and it is as if I myself am standing on the heather moors of northern Britain, trying to understand the unconscious impulses of the human soul. When the story came to the last page, I realized that in the future it would be difficult for me to find a work like this.

“This novel has nothing in common with the literature of the era.
This is a very bad novel. This is a very good novel. He's ugly. There is beauty in it.
This is a terrible, harrowing, powerful and passionate book."
(Somerset Maugham)

The story of the Bronte sisters is a story with its own sorrows, with its own peculiar joys and secrets. Charlotte, Emily and Anne were born into the family of a country priest, Patrick Brontë, in Yorkshire, northern England. The area around them was devoid bright colors: harsh heather moors, dark gray buildings, almost complete absence of greenery, and the nearby cemetery did not add warmth to the dull picture... But nevertheless, it was among this harsh nature that the Bronte sisters managed to create their wonderful works, filled with strong feelings and real passions .

The family of the Brontë sisters could not call themselves rich. She was not distinguished by nobility either. But Patrick Brontë's daughters were amazingly talented: from an early age they were fond of literature, loved to fantasize and create imaginary countries. There is no doubt that the harsh nature left its certain indelible imprint on the character and worldview of little girls. British literary critic Victor Soden Pritchett reviewed Emily Brontë's novel, comparing its characters with the gloomy inhabitants of Yorkshire: “Perhaps its heroes will initially strike the reader with undisguised cruelty and ruthlessness - but in reality, the harshness and intransigence of judgments, pride, and a heightened sense of sin were expressed the philosophy of life inherent in the inhabitants of these places, which placed the will of each human person above all else. In order to survive in these parts, it was necessary to learn to subjugate others, while not subordinating to anyone.”

Of course, the life of future writers was distinguished by its originality: it combined a kind of natural asceticism, steely severity and at the same time an irresistible desire to create and write.

The life of little girls who lost their mother early could not be called rosy. Most They spent time in each other’s company, deprived of simple childhood communication. The isolated place where their house stood, a rather monotonous, boring life contributed to even greater solitude and the inevitable withdrawal into their own spiritual world.

Emily was perhaps the most reserved of the three sisters. According to eyewitnesses, she rarely left the house, and if she did take walks, she was not particularly inclined to have friendly conversations with her neighbors. But she could often be seen walking around thoughtfully and whispering something to herself...

For some time, little Emily and her sister Charlotte studied at a charity school in Cowan Bridge. Exactly this scary place served as the prototype for the Lockwood Orphanage in Charlotte’s novel “Jane Eyre,” where all the horrors of such institutions were described: hunger, bad food, and monstrous treatment of the pupils...

After studying at Cone Bridge, Charlotte and Emily decided to continue their education in Brussels. But, unlike older sister Emily could not get rid of the homesickness that constantly tormented her, and when she returned to England in 1844, she tried never to leave her native land.

1846 - most significant date for the Brontë sisters. At this time, a collection of their poems was published - the first fruit of their literary activity. The writers deliberately took male pseudonyms, and the collection was entitled: "Poems of Kerrer [Charlotte], Ellis [Emily], and Acton [Ann] Bell." Subsequently, of all the poems in the collection, it is Emily’s poems that receive the highest critical praise, poems permeated with sadness and longing for impossible or lost love (“Stanzas”). Particularly remarkable are Emily's philosophical lyrics, which raise themes of personal freedom and independence (“The Old Stoic”). But, despite the undeniable beauty and grace of Emily’s poems, one cannot help but note the sadness and melancholy breaking through them. The most optimistic and hopeful works in the collection were, perhaps, the poems of the younger sister Anne (especially the poem “Lines Folded in the Woods on a Windy Day”). However, then the first experience of the young poetesses, unfortunately, did not gain wide popularity among the reading public.

But the Brontë sisters did not give up, and soon each of them decided to devote herself to prose: in 1847, Charlotte wrote her first novel “The Teacher”, Anne wrote the novel “Agnes Gray”, and Emily wrote “Wuthering Heights”. From this moment their tense literary activity, however, it continued for a relatively long time only for Charlotte, since Emily and Anne, soon after the release of their first works, suddenly died of consumption. Most likely, this was a hereditary illness of the Brontë family: all the girls were distinguished by an extremely fragile physique and very poor health, which, by the way, was significantly undermined during the years of training of the sisters at Cone Bridge. Unfortunately for the entire reading world, this hereditary serious illness did not allow the sisters to create further and cut short the lives of women who were in the prime of their lives (Emily died when she was 30, Anne at 29, Charlotte did not live to see 40).

Meanwhile, the creative heritage of the Brontë sisters, although not numerous, has been striking researchers with its depth and originality for almost two centuries.

Their works are very emotional, very honest and a little mysterious. The last definition, however, applies to the greatest extent and in its entirety specifically to Emily Brontë’s only novel, Wuthering Heights.

What kind of novel is this? And what is his mystery?

When people in Russia talk about the works of female writers, I’m almost sure that most people remember the novel “Jane Eyre” by her older sister Charlotte. The work of Emily Brontë is rarely discussed. The very fact that “Jane Eyre” was first translated into Russian in 1849 (the novel was published in the journal “Otechestvennye zapiski”), and “Wuthering Heights” only in 1956, serves as evidence of insufficient attention to the work of the writer in Russia.

Meanwhile, this only novel by Emily Brontë is in no way inferior to the works of her sister. I would even be afraid to compare them, since the writers consider human nature using completely different coordinate systems. Virginia Woolf compared the work of the two writers most imaginatively and deeply in her critical article “Jane Eyre” and “Wuthering Heights”: “She [Charlotte Brontë] does not think about human fate; she doesn’t even know that there is something to think about here; all its power, all the more powerful because its area of application is limited, goes into statements like “I love,” “I hate,” “I suffer... “Wuthering Heights” is a book more difficult to understand than “Jane Eyre” because Emily is more of a poet than Charlotte. Charlotte used all her eloquence, passion and richness of style to express simple things: “I love,” “I hate,” “I suffer.” Her experiences, although richer than ours, are at our level. And in “Wuthering Heights” I am completely absent... From beginning to end, in her novel [now we are talking about Emily] this titanic plan is felt, this high effort - half fruitless - to say through the lips of her characters not just “I love” or “I hate ”, and - “We, the human race” and “You, the eternal forces...”. This excerpt from the article, it seems to me, perfectly conveys the intention of “Wuthering Heights” - to extremely generalize what is depicted, to bring it to a cosmic scale.

The novel “Wuthering Heights” was published, as mentioned above, in 1847, but during the writer’s lifetime it was not appreciated. World fame came to Emily Brontë much later, which, however, often happens for inexplicable reasons with great works, but, subsequently appreciated by descendants, they have lived for many centuries and never grow old.

At first glance, the plot of this unusual novel does not appear to be anything complicated. There are two estates, two opposites: Wuthering Heights and Starling Grange. The first personifies anxiety, violent and unconscious feelings, the second - a harmonious and measured existence, home comfort. At the center of the story is a truly romantic figure, a hero without a past, Heathcliff, who was found by the owner of Wuthering Heights, Mr. Earnshaw, unknown where and when. Heathcliff, it seems, from birth does not belong to any of the houses, but in spirit, in his make-up, he belongs, of course, to the Wuthering Heights estate. And it is on the fatal intersection and intertwining of these two worlds that the entire plot of the novel is built.

The genre of this novel is definitely romantic. “Wuthering Heights is a wildly romantic book,” said the classic of English literature Somerset Maugham in 1965. Nevertheless, Emily Brontë, having written her only work, surprisingly could not fit into the framework of the usual literary trends. The thing is that Wuthering Heights cannot be classified as a purely romantic novel: it also contains elements of a realistic understanding of man, but Emily Brontë’s realism is special, completely different from the realism of, say, Dickens or Thackeray. We can say that here it is absolutely inseparable from romanticism, partly due to the fact that the writer refuses to consider and resolve the conflict of the novel in the social or public sphere - she transfers it to the philosophical and aesthetic area. Like the romantics, Emily Brontë longed for the harmony of life. But in her work it is expressed, paradoxically, through death: only she tried on the descendants and helped to reunite the tormented lovers. “I wandered around the graves under this kind sky; looked at the moths flying in the heather and bluebells, listened to the soft breathing of the wind in the grass - and marveled at how people imagined that the sleep of those who sleep in this peaceful land could be unpeaceful,” the novel ends with these words. Still, it is surprising that such a “powerful, passionate, terrible” book, in the words of Somerset Maugham, ends with such an almost idyllic ending. But what is “powerful and creepy” about it?

This is a book about love, but about strange love, about love that does not fit into any of our ideas about it. This is a novel about a place, but a place born of passion. This is a novel about fate, about will, about man, about space...

The very structure of the novel, its stylistic and visual means, are quite sophisticated. It is difficult to say whether Emily Brontë created such a harmonious text on purpose or unconsciously. The theme of fate and continuity of generations is clearly visible thanks to repetitions: the names, characters, and actions of the heroes are repeated, which creates some kind of mysterious, mystical atmosphere, a sense of inevitability and regularity of what is happening. No less important role play descriptions of nature, which is not only the background of the unfolding events, but also expresses the inner experiences of the characters, personifying their exorbitant, stormy feelings.

We can talk about these descriptions of nature separately and for a very long time. Emily Brontë really makes the wind blow and the thunder rumble, while the breath of the heather seems to break through the text of the novel and showers us with its coldness, but at the same time with its unique romanticism.

… “Wuthering Heights” is a controversial and mysterious work. If you understand the text, it is impossible not to encounter moral and ethical inconsistencies in the behavior of the characters that strike the reader: Catherine and Heathcliff, on the one hand, personify cosmic love, love that is stronger than death, but in reality it somehow takes on grotesque forms , expressed, essentially, through Evil - Good as such is practically not shown at all in the novel, except perhaps in the last scenes. Critic Georges Bataille, in his article about Wuthering Heights, says that “...in the knowledge of Evil, Emily Brontë reached the very end.” And really, who else in literature has portrayed Evil like this? Evil, existing in an unnatural synthesis with love, Evil is completely beyond control and any kind of moral justification. And this is another one big secret in this whole story: how was Emily Brontë, brought up on the Bible, able to create characters absolutely devoid of Christian humility and peace? Even during his last meeting with Catherine, who is on the verge of death, Heathcliff is unable to overcome his thirst for revenge; after Catherine betrayed him by marrying Linton, an inhabitant of the “serene” Skvortsov Grange, revenge in Heathcliff’s heart constantly takes the place of love. “Oh, you see, Nellie, he will not relent for a minute to save me from the grave. That’s how he loves me!” exclaims Catherine herself.

But even after the death of his beloved, Heathcliff does not resign himself: “God grant her to wake up in torment! - he shouted with terrible force, and stamped his foot, and groaned in an unexpected attack of indomitable passion. - She still remains a liar! Where is she? Not there - not in heaven... and she didn’t die - so where? Oh, you said that my suffering means nothing to you! I have only one prayer - I repeat it constantly until my tongue ossifies: Catherine Earnshaw, find no peace while I live! Virginia Woolf wrote that “there is no more vivid male figure in literature.” But this image is not just “alive”, it is unusual, it is mysterious and endlessly contradictory. However, like the whole novel. Somerset Maugham, who highly appreciated Wuthering Heights, spoke about the image of the main character this way: “I think that Emily put all of herself into Heathcliff. She endowed him with her furious rage, her frantic suppressed sexuality, her passionate unquenched love, her jealousy, her hatred and contempt for the human race, her cruelty...” Be that as it may, this extraordinary image cannot leave the reader indifferent. However, these are all the images of the novel.

A modern reader will probably have a completely logical question: is it possible to learn something for yourself from this middle-aged novel? It would seem that during this time almost everything in our lives has changed: is it worth looking for answers to the questions that concern us in a book written more than 150 years ago? Costs. It's still worth it.

This is the indescribable charm of Wuthering Heights. The book makes us understand that some laws that apply to people are eternal - they do not disappear over time and are completely independent of changing eras, regimes and systems. Emily Brontë seems to show a natural person, a person who has thrown back the veil of a certain time. “She frees life from the dominion of facts,” notes the same Virginia Woolf. If you think about it, the novel doesn’t even have a developed plot or an open, acute conflict. The theme of social inequality is not properly developed, and, in general, no one prevented Catherine from connecting with Heathcliff. Thus, in the novel we do not see open social confrontation and, most importantly, all the heroes are free to choose their own path. Even the terrible, cruel scenes of Cathy’s imprisonment in Heathcliff’s house are, in essence, the result of her own careless behavior. She, burning with curiosity, ran away from home and went of her own free will to the Wuthering Heights estate, went without any coercion, without any instructions from anyone else, as if some unknown forces forced her to do this. In general, this amazing freedom and total disobedience to the will of others in all the characters in the novel is striking. They build their own destiny, making fatal mistakes or unraveling the most difficult life situations (as Katherine Jr. did at the end of the novel). We can say that this is a novel about fate, which a person sometimes cannot resist.

So, here are the two main themes of the novel, the two main words around which the narrative of Wuthering Heights unfolds - inexplicable love and fate. But I would add one more thing - forces beyond human control.

We can deny the logic of Emily Brontë, which is expressed rather unconsciously and spontaneously in the novel (“Wuthering Heights” is completely devoid of moralizing, which was also noted by the English writer and literary critic Victor Soden Pritchett), we can even be frightened by this mystical chill that permeates the book, but deny it all strength and power simply will not succeed. The book really packs a punch. You can agree or disagree with it, but it is still impossible not to fall under its influence.

Without a doubt, this novel is a mystery that you can ponder endlessly. A novel that overturns all the usual ideas about Good and Evil, Love and Hate. Emily Bronte forces the reader to look at these categories with a completely different look, she mercilessly mixes seemingly immutable layers, while simultaneously shocking us with her impartiality. Life is broader than any definitions, broader than our ideas about it - this thought confidently breaks through the text of the novel. And if the reader manages, like me, to grasp this energetic message, then getting to know this novel will be truly unforgettable.

The writer, having created her only work, at the same time shrouded it in such mystery that even an inexperienced reader cannot help but stop in thought - “Wuthering Heights” will simply force one to reflect on its poetics, since the author himself is detached and impartial, his subjective “I” ” is silent, bringing the story to the reader’s judgment. Emily Brontë, leaving the narration to the housekeeper Nellie Dean and Mr. Lockwood, is hiding behind seven locks - we cannot fully understand her relationship to the created characters. What is it: hatred or love? Somerset Maugham noted that “by first entrusting the narrative to Lockwood, and then forcing him to listen to Mrs. Dean’s story, she [Emily Brontë] hid, so to speak, behind a double mask.” He further argues that narration from the perspective of an omniscient author “would mean a contact with the reader unbearably close to her painful sensitivity.” “I think her fierce and uncompromising integrity would have rebelled if she had decided to tell this frantic story in her own person.” Most likely, Emily Brontë did not want to, and probably could not, finally define her attitude towards the incredible characters she created. She simply poses a question, but leaves it to the reader to answer. Although, on the other hand, how, in general, can anyone fully comprehend these eternal cosmic themes touched upon in the novel? The task posed by the author is too ambitious, too big and difficult to solve on our everyday scale. Depicting completely unimaginable passions, unconscious manifestations of human nature, showing the forces that stronger than man and at the same time, shrouding it all in some kind of impenetrable fog, deliberately confusing the reader, Emily Bronte left no doubt about only one thing - that these forces are higher and stronger than us. And the plot of Wuthering Heights, its entire impulsive and impetuous text prove this statement, and, as I see it, this is precisely where its mysterious power, charming mysticism and inexplicable charm lie.

P.S. There are more than 15 film adaptations of Wuthering Heights, including the famous 1939 film starring Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff. The premiere of the next film adaptation is scheduled for 2010 in the UK.

Bataille J. Emily Brontë and evil // “The Critic”. - 1957 (No. 117).
Wolf W. Essay. - M.: ed. AST, 2004. pp. 809-813.
Charlotte Bronte and Another Lady. Emma // Bronte sisters in England. - M.: ed. AST, 2001.
Mitrofanova E. The fatal secret of the Bronte sisters. - M.: ed. Terra Book Club, 2008.

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