Wuthering Heights- Influences

Question #8

Wuthering Heights is set in northern England in the 1700s and 1800s. Emily Bronte’s childhood home was the very same landscape that is described in her novel. She lived near the Yorkshire moors, which greatly influenced her writing. In her novel, Wuthering Heights, the moors are an ever-present figure- more than a setting, the moors actually become like a character in the book. The moods of the characters are often reflected in the description of the moors. For example, Cathy remarks, “The pleasantest manner of spending a hot July day was lying from morning ‘til evening… with the blue sky and the bright sun shining steadily and cloudlessly.” (page 209) Growing up in the moors influenced Emily’s beautiful descriptions of the landscape and changed the essence of the story.

However, the landscape was not the only element that greatly influenced Miss Bronte’s writing. One of the most dramatically influential factors was the oppression of women’s rights in the Victorian era. It is quite possible that Emily analyzed her society and drew on the injustices that she saw, using them to effectively shape her writing. Some of the concepts addressed in the novel are domestic violence, a lack of women’s rights, love versus money, and even a touch of the supernatural. Heathcliff is the great cause of many of these problems, for his love for Catherine blinds him to the distinction between right and wrong. When speaking of Linton, for example, Heathcliff says, “I despise him for himself, and hate him for the memories he revives!" (page 191) All of these issues would have been prevalent in Emily’s time, and so inspired some of her greatest work. 

Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New York: Random House, 1943. Print.