Wuthering Heights (Illustrated Edition)

Author: Emily Bront? (English)
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2003-01-01
Features: In an article over ten years ago, the translator mentioned that Wuthering Heights is a novel written by a pure poet, not like Hardy, who is both a poet and a novelist, nor like Dickens, who is a pure novelist. In terms of the basic elements of traditional realistic novels—characters and plot—only the male and female protagonists in Wuthering Heights stand out, and in fact, their emotional characteristics are the most prominent—since human emotions should be the primary element of poetry. Other characters in the novel lack the profound and intense emotional depth of the protagonists, so they are mostly bland or even unreasonable. For example, Isabella’s love for Heathcliff and young Catherine’s love for young Linton are both contrived by the author. Only Heathcliff and Catherine are genuine, natural, and full of charm, standing above other characters, gripping the readers, leaving no room for criticism or harsh judgment.
In terms of structure, as the main love story of the novel progresses to the lovers’ separation, Catherine’s death, and seemingly reaches its climax, Heathcliff continues to endure emotional torment and takes revenge on the Lintons and the Earnshaws. This should be the decline from the climax to the end. When he undergoes a five-day, four-night fast and hallucinates, it becomes a detour, and the story approaches its conclusion. Yet, during this period, a large number of love entanglements involving the second generation are interwoven, and in the end, a distant happy ending is arranged, which tarnishes what could have been a brilliant conclusion. Here, Emily seems to have strayed from poetry and fallen into the maze of writing novels. This is precisely proof from the opposite side that Emily was originally a poet, and writing poetry—whether in verse or prose—was her forte. Wuthering Heights is indeed a poem written in prose, and its immense success, outstanding charm, as well as some of its flaws, all stem from this.