| Title | : | The Brontë Sisters: Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0681270705 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780681270701 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 518 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1847 |
The Brontë Sisters: Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre Reviews
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Jane Eyre is often forced on schoolchildren before they're ready to enjoy it. It's such a shame if that turns them off the Brontes - the novels are a joy, full of passion, elements of the Gothic and strong characterisation.
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Am so happy I finally picked up this book and treated myself to reading it.
Oh, the journey of Jane from childhood through young adulthood - the successes and failures, the trials; and ultimately, her self-determination, perseverance, and confidence in the truth of what her heart and mind told her gave this reader a deeply satisfying experience.
Surprisingly passionate at times, this book really packs a wallop near the end. I found myself reminded of fairy tales in all their grim and lovely twists and turns and very much put in mind of Beauty and the Beast.
Withering Heights remains my favorite book but this was certainly a great work of literature and I’m so pleased I had the chance to read it. -
I am only halfway through Wuthering Heights, but I already have so much to say that I have to come and write down all my thoughts before I forget them.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
There are some things I like about this book, and there are some things that I really hate about this book. The following are simply a few of my thoughts:
I'll admit, when I started reading, I didn't have a clue what was going on, or who the narrator was. Last night, I ended up re-reading the first 50 pages of the book to try and understand what was going on. After doing so, I was able to pick out who the narrator(s) was/were, and understood exactly the storyline and what would happen.
On the topic of narrators, I like the fact that the book begins with an outsider, Mr. Lockwood, coming to Wuthering Heights to live. After encountering so many strange events during his stay and meeting with Heathcliff, his landlord, it stood for a very intriguing beginning. Then, when Mrs. Dean, or "Nelly," is introduced and he begs her to tell the story of Mr. Heathcliff and his strange behavior, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a story take place through not one, but two different point of views. Though confusing at first, I was able to later get it and understand.
I do not like the fact that both Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff are such evil characters. Catherine is the one who began her own demise (by accepting Edgar Linton's marriage proposal) when she really loved Heathcliff. Because of her stupidity and heart full of greed for Edgar's money, she betrayed Heathcliff, whom she loved. Heathcliff, overhearing her heartbreak over her decision, takes off and vows to make something of himself to prove to Catherine that he is worthy of his love and heart. BUT IT'S TOO FRICKING LATE! It's very bittersweet that he wants to prove his love, but divorce was a sin during this time period. Catherine would never leave Edgar, even if she did love Heathcliff more. Gah, and the fact that Heathcliff had grown so greedy for money, upon Catherine's mentioning that Isabella had money and loved him, he "wooed" her so to speak, and married her for nothing but money and a chance to enact revenge on Edgar Linton. Then Catherine claims that his battle with Edgar is what murdered her, when in fact she pretty much murdered herself because of her sheer stupidity.
This is a dark story, and I honestly don't have a clue if it could be called a love story, because it's not. It's almost a warning AGAINST love. Emily Bronte is almost saying, "This is what love shouldn't be. Do not follow this example." For that, it's a great story of warning, and probably why I don't like this story all too much.
Okay /endrant. I've got to go finish the last half--(Speaking of the last half, does there even need to be more? Catherine's dead. Heathcliff is mourning and pretty much wants to kill himself. (Do you see the Shakespeare ties with this, too? IT'S EVERYWHERE! Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth . . . the madness, the "I'm so in love I'm going to kill myself," the tragedy, the depressing themes. Emily Bronte loved Shakespeare, I'm sure of it.) What's the point of more story? There isn't one anymore. At least, I think.)
**update**
I finished reading, and honestly, all I really have to say about the story is this: 1) Emily Bronte is twisted in imagining a story such as this and 2) Heathcliff is a sick, twisted, evil man and should rot in Hell with Catherine Earnshaw for eternity.
The reason I give Wuthering Heights four stars, is the fact that the writing was great (though very wordy at times) and the underlying themes strong and powerful. If read mulitiple times, you could probably find something new and learn something new about it. That's why her writing is timeless, and very unforgettable. I'm sure that's why it's remembered as a classic, no matter how sick and twisted it may be.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
I have finished.
It was beautiful.
I will update my review some other time, right now, I am exhausted. -
Wuthering Heights: 5 stars
Jane Eyre: 3 stars -
I found Wuthering Heights to be a dismal story. I felt sorry for all the characters in the story who had to meet Heathcliff, knowing that something tragic would happen to them when he got them under his thumb. At first I also felt sorry for Heathcliff, but later ended up despising him. I guess that is why the book it is such a classic. The storytelling is wonderful and I didn't want to stop reading until something good happened, which took a while. The ending was the one redeeming part of the story in my opinion and the only reason I would possibly read again.
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3.5-4. I remember reading this on my own in my late teens and enjoying it. This time around I still love Heathcliff but found myself wishing for a bit...more. I love seeing connections with this book in modern day literature across genres. Angsty men and troubled relationships and lovers that just can’t seem to make it work.
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Jane Eyre:
Years after I first read this in high school, and I still love this story. Such feeling, such heart, such brokenness and healing. Everything my emotional heart adores.
Content: profanity, expletives, replacement expletives, tobacco, alcohol
Wuthering Heights:
This story was just as emotional as the first time I read it and the numerous times I’ve watched the Ralph Fiennes movie version. There’s something completely broken yet absolutely intriguing about Heathcliff. He’s such a brute, but he’s also hurting and yearning for love. I adore the way Miss Brontë wrote this novel, because the reader almost feels obligated to love Heathcliff – because Cathy refuses to do so.
Content: profanity, expletives, alcohol -
I didn't really like this book.
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It was good
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Leído para el club Clásico es leerte
Definitivamente una de mis historias clásicas favoritas.
Me gusta cómo la historia acompaña a Jane en diferentes etapas de su vida empezando con ella de niña en la que vemos cómo es maltratada por la familia que debió cuidarla y recluida en un internado donde sus condiciones no fueron mejores. Sin embargo, ganó educación que le permitió salir adelante y valerse por sí misma y también forjó su carácter.
Aunque algunos lo odien, disfruté mucho de su interacción con Mr. Rochester, su carácter agrio y sombrío, producto de situaciones de las que nos enteraremos a medida que avance el libro, podría hacer que nos caiga antipático pero la forma en que Jane respondía sus desplantes y groserías me resultó hasta divertida.
El final y la parte previa al final, aunque no me disgusta, siento que es la parte más floja del libro, y aunque en general me gusta siento que hubiese estado más satisfecha con algunos cambios. -
So, I´ve re-read Wuthering Heights in this Anniversary Year for Emily Brontë (she was born in 1818)...although most of the people described in the book are not exactly the most cheerful, nor sympathetic characters, the story (oh, that passion!) still keeps up, and what to say about the landscape of the Yorkshire Moors, so present in this book!
In 1991, during my first stay in West-Yorkshire, I ventured to Haworth (had a ride in the Worth Valley Railway, a steam train still operated during the weekends), visited the Parsonage and had a walk up the Moors from there to what is considered the place EB took as a setting for the Wuthering Heights farmhouse...I´ll never forget it, and it definitely is part of the charm of this story! Even nowadays it can be rough and "wuthering" up there ;-) -
Jane Eyre ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Jane, such a lovely, proper young woman. A lady whose morals and principles hold out over her heart, and who is rewarded with her happy ending. Solid story. The characters were interesting and engaging. Few twists and turns, a dab of the supernatural, and a happy ending. Everything one would expect from a quintessential Gothic romance.
Wuthering Heights ⭐️⭐️
I can't decide who I hated more, Heathcliff, Catherine, or every other character. Boring story. it felt as if the story was an outline of a plot half finished. None of the characters were likable or made you invested in their story enough to care if they lived, died, had a happy or sad conclusion. I feel this story is a bit more true to the Gothic romance core.
Having these two stories together is really nice. Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights had similar themes, story elements, characters, but couldn't be more different. Enjoyed following Jane and Mr. Rochester's story. Couldn't care less about Catherine and Heathcliff. -
this review is for wuthering heights: it feels silly giving a classic 3 stars but it was such a mid read. the story itself was actually fire but it truly was miserable turning each page cuz it was told in such a long way. sorry emily but charlotte did it better with jane eyre 😧❤️🔥
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A reread of Wuthering Heights.
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5+ stars. I adore Jane Eyre. Reading it is perfect in every way. Treasure!!!!!
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Whatever our souls are made of..
His n mine are the same.. -
I liked Wuthering Heights twice as much as I probably should have and liked Jane Eyre half as much as it probably deserved
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An den Schreibstil musste ich mich erst gewöhnen. Es dauerte etwas bis ichs durch hatte, stellenweise sehr langatmig. Dennoch haben mir die beiden Geschichten gefallen jene vob jane eyre etwas besser, Sturmhöhe hat mir doch zu viele Intrigen und boshafte Menschen. Hab mir dann auch gleich die Verfilmung angeschaut :)
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Después de haber escuchado tantas referencias en muchas peliculas "románticas" me animé al leerlo con altas expectativas y debo decir que me decepcionó un montón, no tiene nada de romántico y hasta me provocó aburrimiento en reiterados momentos, si bien en cosa de gustos no hay nada escrito, mi opinión es que no es un buen libro.
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CUMBRES BORRASCOSAS
Me cautiva por lo complejo de los personajes y por la conexión de éstos con la naturaleza. Se lo recomiendo a los amantes de personalidades oscuras como Heathcliff y transparentes y puras como Cathy y Hareton! -
This was the kindle version, Loved Jane Eyre, didn't love wuthering heights.
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Lo ame, es el mejor libro que puede existir, definitivamente mi favorito.
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Jane Eyre is my favourite of all the Bronte books!!
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Feminism and Fairy Tales in Wuthering Heights
FW: this was written over one year ago. I am always a big fan of Emily Bronte.
Since many scholarly evaluations tend to see Heathcliff as another ego of Catherine, the heroine in Emily Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights, providing myriads of evidence of Catherine’s narcissism, for example, her overly quoted comment about the relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine, the identification of Heathcliff has been deemed as another Catherine or an ideal Catherine. What’s more, analysis from feminist point of view seems to exaggerate Catherine’s domination towards Heathcliff mentally and physically, and by this means, prove that Heathcliff is sheer the incarnation of Catherine. This essay tries to argue with this established sentiment for the independent identification of Heathcliff from Catherine. And by further elucidations, I will also try to substantiate the equality of social and domestic status of two genders, and thus, to show the great author Emily Bronte’s appeal for independence and real liberty of females.
Firstly, Catherine and Heathcliff are two different persons. Their similarity can be explained by common childhood and mirror phase. In Childhood and Innocence in Wuthering Heights, Seichepine explains this point of view:
The mirror-phase thus provides a link with reality, a link between the 'Innenwelt' and the 'Umwelt'. As for Catherine, she indeed proves unable to cope with the mirror-phase.' "And I dying! I on the brink of the grave! My God! Does he know how I'm altered?" continued she, staring at her reflection in a mirror, hanging against the opposite wall. "Is that Catherine Linton?"'. (Seichepine 212)
Their antagonized relations were uncovered after Catherine married Linton. The wrestling of control over each other and ways to get it through different means according to different gender roles are vividly depicted. Both Catherine and Heathcliff have strong narcissism, however, this personal characteristic takes no place between them, since both of them feel an alter ego in the other, and both have something that the other possess not. In This Shattered Prison: Confinement, Control and Gender in Wuthering Heights, Crouse states as below:
Catherine primarily views herself in relation to others and her acts of confinement become self-destructive whereas Heathcliff, in valuing hierarchy, is destructive of others. Emily Brontë shows that as both Catherine and Heathcliff follow traditional gender roles, neither is able to achieve the communion they had as children together. (Cruise 179)
The second point is that Wuthering Heights is actually a prophetic love story-- how love from both of them is equally rewarded? This mutual dynamic equilibrium is developed through the story. And along the developing, both Catherine and Heathcliff experience great change in personality. During the childhood, Catherine’s protection is paid by Heathcliff’s loyalty. After the marriage, Catherine’s betrayal is rewarded by Heacliff’s hatred.
Why Catherine betrayed Heathcliff She married Linton part of vanity and in depth, for she can do nothing to improve the social improvement of Heathcliff except by marrying a most prestigious family. Later she punishes herself by being killed by a nearly-suicide disease—out of repentence and regret.
After Catherine’s death, her love is returned by Heathcliff’s morbid revenge and self-torture. Heathcliff later twists himself on purpose in order to keep in line with Catherine. At last, his suicide out of fantasy confirms to Catherine’s wish. In the duration, Catherine has lost her identity, suffering from a place where she does not belong：
“This importance for women to define themselves in connection to others is essential to understanding Catherine’s behaviour of confinement throughout the novel. She seeks to find and maintain a place for herself within the web of relationships around her, particularly with Heathcliff, with whom she has the strongest attachment.”(Crouse 182)
What does Emily Bronte want to express through Wuthering Hights? I see her strong Desire for love. Also, many Bronte experts have pointed out WH’s story pattern as a fairy tale, Heathcliff best represents Catherine, also Bronte’s desire for a male companion. It should hardly surprise us that a novel whose innermost significance gravitates around a nonsense — the famous, overquoted ‘Nelly, I am Heathcliff!’ — poses serious problems of interpretation.
Referring to Heathcliff’s perfect fairy-tale model in Wuthering Height, Piciucco points out that:
Of the famous couple, Heathcliff seems to me to be the one who is more noticeably fashioned on the stock images of traditional fairy tales, possibly because from the narcissist’s perspective he best represents the (male) projections of Catherine’s secret desires, and probably inhabits a more imaginary territory than Catherine in Emily Brontë’s fictional world.(Piciucco 222)
William Somerset Maugham[1] points out Bronte might want to fulfill her unaccomplished wish by writing this semi-autobiographical WH. Bronte has been single and depressed to some extent in her short life. Heathcliff is a symbol of love and liberation to save her out of her shackles.
Whether Heathcliff is another Catherine cannot be judged simply from her narcissism and their similarity. Love is too complicated and both of the characters have round-shaped different characters. If deeply explored, WH is a love story of a perfect love with two persons involved. The whole story is about how the two persons got apart from each other and finally got united again. During this infernal experience both grew and changed—in a different direction and cursed by different destinies. However, their love is still epically great since they love each other the same way—the same passionately and self-devotedly.
Bernard Paris has gone further by describing Catherine and Heathcliff s relationship as "a mutual dependency," whereby both characters lack "a sense of themselves as autonomous beings with separate identities" (Tytler 108).
However, the ending of the story has always been doubted as whether it really shows what Emily Bronte wants to express through Wuthering Heights, since the ending part where little Catherine and Edgar unite together, a much more moderated result than what most would expect and seemingly incoherent with the previous plots. In Dunn’s Reviewing The Birth of Wuthering Heights: Emily Bronte at Work by Edward Chitham, she quotes Chitham, a Bronte expert’s speculation on this:
For example, when Chitham points out that the second Catherine's love for the sickly Linton mocks her mother's great passion for his strong father, are we seeing the impact of Charlotte's and Anne's suggestions for taming Emily's work? This cannot be answered, but with the information Chitham provides about the context for the revision of Wuthering Heights, the question itself gains importance. (Dunn 81)
Therefore, whether the ending has been changed for some pragmatic consideration and whether Emily Bronte has prepared for us a much more dramatic but at the same coherent with the them she tries to convey is worth pondering. Emily has sharpened such two everlasting male and female characters in the treasury of literal world. Her incomparable genius and strong passion has indeed involved an equally intense appeal for the equal social and domestic status between Catherine and Heathcliff, and then all the tragedy may be avoided and all the underlying fairy-tale elements can come into real being, without such brutal and regrettable zigzags and sufferings.
As previously many scholars have pointed out that Wuthering Heights pivots how Catherine strived for her freedom and liberation, I agree with this. However, many people tend to attribute her oppression to her dependence on Heathcliff and therefore lack of character independence. However, I would here again argue that Heathcliff as an unorthodox prince created by Emily to fit into her fiction’s extraordinary but still discernable pattern of fairy tales, is never the source of oppression or misery. It is the unfairness and lagging situation in the social roots which leads her family’s inequality in domestic rights. Social position and respectability in this period were directly tied to possession of property. A country house owned by landed gentry like the Earnshaws and the Lintons was known as a "seat," a broad term that included both the tangible assets (for instance, the house and land) and intangible assets (for instance, the family name and any hereditary titles) of the family that owned it. In Wuthering Heights, the first Catherine tells Nelly that she is marrying Edgar Linton because to marry Heathcliff would degrade her (they would be beggars) and because she plans to use Linton's money to help Heathcliff to rise.
Seats passed from father to first-born male or to the next closest male relative if there were no sons in a family. The only way around this process was to invoke a device called "strict settlement," in force between 1650 and 1880, which allowed a father to dispose of his holdings as he liked through a trustee. Because Edgar Linton dies before ensuring that his daughter Catherine will inherit Thrushcross Grange, the land passes first to her husband, Linton, and after Linton's death to his father, Heathcliff.
When we have a brief review about that period, we can find out that In contrast to earlier times when incest was forbidden by law, in eighteenth-century England marriage between first cousins was looked upon favorably as a way of preserving position and property. A typical union was one of a woman who married her father's brother's son, which kept the seat of the bride's family under their control. In Wuthering Heights, in a perverse twist, the second Catherine Linton marries her father's sister's son, and in the absence of a strict settlement ends up losing her family's seat.
Landholding families typically maintained a large staff of servants who fulfilled the functions (for a man) of steward, valet, butler, and gardener, or (for a woman) of lady's maid, housekeeper, cook, and nurse. In a household the size of Wuthering Heights, whose inhabitants did not entertain, combining functions made economic sense. In the novel Joseph serves as both valet and steward, and Ellen as housekeeper, though her duties are fairly broadly defined. (Li Run 5)
That’s why both Catherine and Heathcliff have to experience such morbid and seemingly unavoidable disasters in the pen of Emily Bronte. She tries to wake up the people to make revolutions of this noxious inequality. Fortunately, her voice has been answered and will at last be understood fully too.
Works Cited
Works in English
Crouse, Jamie S. This Shattered Prison: Confinement, Control and Gender in Wuthering Heights. Brontë Studie. Vol. 33, November 2008
Dunn, Richard J. Reviewing The Birth of Wuthering Heights: Emily Bronte at Work by Edward Chiham. Studies in the Novel. Vol. 31,Summer 1999.
Piciucco,Pier Paolo. Wuthering Heights as a Childlike Fairy Tale. Brontë Studie. Vol. 31, November 2006
Seichepine, Marielle.Childhood and Innocence in Wuthering Heights. Bronte' Studies. Vol. 29, November 2004
Tytler, Graeme . "Nelly, I am Heathcliff!": The Problem of "Identification" in Wuthering Heights. The Midwest Quarterly. Vol. 47, Winter 2006
Works in Chinese
Li Run. Huxiao Shanzhuang De Lishi Beijing Yanjiu(The Background Research of Wuthering Heights). Yanshan Press, 2002
[1] William Somerset Maugham (1874 – 1965) was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era, and reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s. -
I believe I gave Jane Eyre a 3.5, but I’m giving Wuthering Heights a 4.5. I’m cutting my review of the entirety of the book straight down the middle.
Jane Eyre’s storyline was interesting enough, but I felt it was a little too long and a little too hard to follow. I found myself getting bored at times. However, Jane and Rochester’s love story was great. I loved the ending.
Wuthering Heights was awesome. Gothic through and through. Not many likable characters in this one, and whether or not Nelly was wholly reliable is yet to be seen. Was Heathcliff really as bad as she made him out to be? (Don’t take this as me saying that he wasn’t bad, because he definitely was lol). Was Cathy Jr. as good as Nelly claimed? (Also debatable imo). Heathcliff and Catherine were toxic af, as individuals and as a possible couple. I even liked the dash of supernatural here, too. Good stuff. Hareton is my sweet little summer child who I just want to hug for eternity. I loved how Emily Bronte turned the characterizations on their heads multiple times throughout. Am I supposed to feel sorry for Heathcliff or contempt? How about for Linton? How about Isabella and Edgar?
Overall, both of these books are highly recommended if you’re in the right headspace for them. They do take a lot of concentration and patience with the older English, but they’re both worthwhile and classics for a reason. ❤️🖤 -
Fabulous book!
I always believed that this was a book for young people; I was wrong.
The 1945 edition that I'm reading is exactly like the cover shown above except it does not contain "Wuthering Heights." I read "Wuthering Heights" last year and hated it.
(I tried to add a copy of my book on Goodreads except now Goodreads won't allow you to add an edition anymore. Instead, they want you to take a picture of your edition and then they will find it for you, so this wrongly attributed edition is what I'm forced to declare. Thus, I'm reading 345 pages of "Jane Eyre" and no pages of "Wuthering Heights"!)
The illustrations (wood engravings) in the book are really amazing and gave me many interesting visuals. Also, as I read the story I watched "Jane Eyre" (the series) on YouTube. Timothy Dalton who played Mr. Rochester was really very good, and the actress who played Jane was incredibly talented as well. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the parts of the book I'd read the night before.
By-the-by, I liked most of the characters in the story except St. John (pronounced "Sinjin) Rivers. He was a cold, hard, narcissistic bully, but I was satisfied with how things ended for him. It was a case of "watch what you wish for" all throughout the book.
