Storm And Calm In Wuthering Heights

Introduction

Emily Bronte who wrote under the pseudonym of Ellis Bell, was born in July 1818 in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. She is the most famous writer amongst her two sisters- Charlotte and Anne Bronte, who too were famous writers. Brontë’s work onWuthering Heightscannot be dated exactly, and she may well have spent a long time on this intense, solidly imagined novel.

When Emily was just a baby, the family shifted to a village called Haworth, a moorland steep situated in the West Riding of Yorkshire. There she spent most of her time in the Moorish lands- absorbing their silence and their distinctive solitude and finding herself relating to this silence and solitude- as her aversion towards the society and her very reserved nature. . She would often find multiple moments of delight from the times she would spend roaming around. Perhaps, this becomes the very reason of her very vivid, graphic and almost life like depiction of the life in the Moorish lands of Wuthering Heights in the novel.

The elements of Storm

Throughout the novel we see a continuous contrast between storm and clam and the things through which they were symbolized. The very first and perhaps the most significant symbol comes in the form of the mansion, The Wuthering Heights. Situated on a high barren moorland, the word “Wuthering” subjects to persistent blustery or strong, noisy winds and “Heights” referring to the hill on the top of which it resides. The grotesque yet lavish cravings over the front door gives the readers an idea as to what to expect from this eerie, mysterious and gloomy house.

The Moors

Wuthering heights was the home to the Earnshaw family with its fiery and untamed children possessing storm like qualities- wild, noisy, strong and restless. Such traits are reflected through the characters of Heathcliff, Cathy Earnshaw and her brother Hindley Earnshaw.

Just like a storm’s chief trait- destruction, we find similar traits in Heathcliff’s character too. Feeling betrayed by Cathy, the ill treatment he faced as a child from the hands of Hindley and the humiliation arising solely from class differences that he was made to feel, gave rise to this strong and very passionate feelings of revenge and hatred in Heathcliff’s heart which led him take catastrophic actions that affected multiple lives around him. Driven with the feeling of revenge and to teach a lesson to Edgar Linton, Cathy’s husband and to hurt Cathy just like she did by marrying Edgar, Heathcliff too lures Edgar’s sister, Isabella Linton into marrying him and tortures her to the point that she ends up fearing him more than anything else and hates him to no bound- all in a bid of revenge.

Heathcliff

Thus, in way the ‘natural order’ of all the things are destroyed. As Cathy’s unfair infatuation for Edgar plants the very first seed of betrayal, hatred and revenge in Heathcliff’s heart, he decides to go on a self-destructive path. Heathcliff, further maddened by the loss of his love, becomes all the more blind in her revenge and anger and proceeds to take his vengeance on the next generation- Hareton (son of Hindley and Frances), Catherine (daughter of Cathy and Edgar) and Linton (son of Heathcliff and Isabella). Even these children were in a way symbolic of storm and calm. Whereas, Hindley and Catherine both were children made out of love and mutual liking and respect, Linton on the other had was not born out of love, but he was more of a revenge child.

Thus, it can be said that both Hareton and Catherine were children of calm whereas Linton, an unfortunate child of storm. Even the frequent storms and wind that sweep throughWuthering Heightssymbolize how the characters are at the mercy of forces they cannot control. The forces of nature in a way controls these characters residing at Wuthering Heights.The countryside'ssometimes savage weather compares well to Heathcliff's temperament and nature throughout the novel. Even Cathy’s and Hindley’s wild, untamed and temperamental nature can be attributed to this.

Cathy and Heathcliff

The elements of Calm

Where on the one hand, the mansion Wuthering Heights and all the major characters connected to it- a symbol of storm, the mansion Thrushcross Grange and the family residing in it, the Linton’s are completely opposite to that of the Earnshaw’s and are thus a symbol of calm.

Thrushcross Grange

In comparison to Wuthering Heights, Thrushcross Grange sheltered in a leafy valley below is depicted to be a genteel place, full of civility, calm and order- a beautiful, bright and splendid place unlike the always gloomy and unrestful Wuthering Heights.

The Linton household and its children, Edgar and Isabella are very poised, mannered, gentle and passive unlike the untamed, wild and temperamental children of the Earnshaw’s- Cathy, Hindley and the little orphan boy Heathcliff.Where Heathcliff is all temperamental, wild and full of vengeful feelings, Edgar is a true gentleman- soft spoken, calm and mannered. Where Heathcliff is “bleak, hilly and coal”, Edgar is like a “beautiful fertile valley… with a sweet, low manner of speaking” as described by Nelly- the housekeeper of the in the Earnshaw family.

And Edgar’s such traits instantly evoke a deep liking in Cathy’s for him as she loved “the ground under his feet and the air over his head.” He is also very considerate of Cathy’s feelings and tries his best not to offend her or hurt her feeling hat would evoke her temper. There’s also a lot of difference between the love of Edgar and Heathcliff for Cathy. Heathcliff’s love is extremely passionate, and vehement kind with a sort of destructiveness attached to it, whereas Edgar’s love for Cathy is very sincere, deep, calm and enduring and this can be very well through many instances like, when Edgar gets to know the love Cathy feels for Heathcliff, he is very worried about her wellbeing and nurses her back to health and takes care of her day and night “more devotedly than any mother could have nursed an only child.” His deep love for Cathy is yet again proved when she dies. Life no longer held any meaning for him without Cathy in his world.

Edgar is a truly devoted father towards his daughter, Catherine as she was a symbol of love that existed between Cathy and Edgar. He was a moral and a virtuous man and is forgiving. Thus, he becomes a perfect symbol of calm.

We also see elements of calm in Cathy, Catherine and Edgar’s daughter. No doubt she got her mother’s independent and stubborn traits, but they were mellowed down with Edgar’s love, dedication towards her and his good parenting. The etiquettes and the morals that he instilled in Cathy were remarkable as compared to Heathcliff who did all his best to make Hareton as brutish as possible.This shows a deep contrast between the lives of the households. Where life in Wuthering Heights was always full of anxiety, wildness and rush, Thrushcross Grange had a calm, serene and loving atmosphere. These, characters did not try to resist the course of nature like Heathcliff did. They rather embraced the turns of events with no ill feelings and a calm of bent of mind. Thus, Thrushcross Grange and its inhabitants were truly a symbol of calm and peace.

Conclusion

Emily Bronte in the novel has very beautifully shown a contrast between the two major households by making them a symbol of storm and calm. Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange illustrate this concept of storm and calm respectively. The physical characteristics of the two houses and the people that reside there are the driving forces for this contrast. The characters of Hindley, Linton, Isabella and Heathcliff illustrate the negative atmosphere and the storm that existed not only in the house but in the lives of these people as well. And the characters of Edgar, Cathy and even Isabella (before she marries Heathcliff) are shown in a complete contrast with the ones residing in Wuthering Heights. We readers encounter a sense of happiness or lightness while reading about Thrushcross Grange and the Linton’s as which we otherwise would not derive from reading about the mansion Wuthering Heights and its household. From the beginning of the story, Emily Bronte represents a very vivid contrast between the two place and how very slowly the storm of Wuthering Heights upon the return of Heathcliff takes over the calm of Thrushcross Grange and the lives associated with it. But, however, in the end the calm of Thrushcross Grange returns and the things are set into their ‘natural order’.

References

1.Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New Delhi: Fingerprint Classics, 2018

2.Life of Emily Bronte- britannica