I Just Re-Read ‘Wuthering Heights’ for the First Time as an Adult—and I Have Thoughts
It’s been almost a decade since I first picked up Wuthering Heights. Emily Brontë’s iconic novel was required reading the summer before my senior year of high school, as a part of my AP Literature class. I’ve always loved reading, but I’ll admit: when it came to assigned books in school, I did the bare minimum. I’d read whatever chapters we were assigned on a given day, but I couldn’t tell you anything about what it all meant. That’s probably the reason that all I remembered about Wuthering Heights prior to this year was a lot of talk about “the wildness of the moors.” (If any of my teachers happen to read this article, I’m so sorry.)
As I got older, however, I eventually got better at reading the classics. I had to—I’ve got an English degree, after all. Even outside of the classroom setting, I’ve conquered authors like Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott and enjoyed myself. But Wuthering Heights continued to intimidate me all these years later. Once the news broke of the new movie, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, the buzz finally got to me: maybe it was time to try again. Without turning this into an essay, here are the biggest takeaways I got from revisiting Wuthering Heights as an adult. (Mild spoilers ahead).
1. Heathcliff is written as a person of color
I tried not to compare the book to what we’ve seen prior to the movie’s release, but the casting of this adaptation is one of, if not the, biggest pieces of discourse I’ve seen. Whether you like Jacob Elordi or not, his casting is misplaced here because Heathcliff, though his race is never explicitly stated in the book, is undeniably a person of color. At one point, he compares himself to another character, saying, “I wish I had light hair and a fair skin…and had a chance of being as rich as he will be!”
It’s not just his physical description that makes this clear. Heathcliff is ostracized for most of his life, was raised as a servant in a well-off family, and is constantly referred to by cruel names like “black villain” and described as having “half-civilized ferocity.” I don’t think I need to explain how much more harmful these names become in the context of Heathcliff being a person of color. His story becomes even more heartbreaking as he turns into the cruel man everyone always believed him to be. No matter how good a performance Jacob Elordi may give, I can’t help but feel we’ll lose a lot of depth to Heathcliff in the movie with him in the role.
2. The book’s takes on love and marriage still hold up
One scene that stood out to me on this read is when Catherine is weighing her love for Heathcliff against Edgar Linton. She thinks of Heathcliff as a sort of soulmate, but is also physically attracted to Edgar more. But her housekeeper Nelly delivers quite a reality check: “You love Mr. Edgar because he is handsome, and young, and cheerful, and rich, and loves you,” she says, but “the last, however, goes for nothing: you would love him without that, probably; and with it you wouldn’t, unless he possessed the four former attractions.”
“Their obsession with each other causes so much damage, I don’t know how I ever believed it was a romance.”
Obviously, the idea of courtship is different from modern relationships, but I do think young people in the dating pool can relate in some way to Nelly’s speech. The idea of loving someone for who they are, versus how they look or what material things they have, is still very much relevant. People do still marry for money, and I’d argue that social media and dating apps have made some of us overly obsessed with appearance. It’s the same ideas as portrayed in this scene in the book, in a slightly different font. However, we also have much more freedom than Catherine would have. If our long-term relationships aren’t serving us, we have the ability to leave.
3. Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship is far from a romance
I have long thought that while all romances are love stories, not every love story is a romance. Granted, Cathy and Heathcliff do have a good foundation for romance: they’re childhood friends who grow to be lovers; she seems to understand him like no one else does, and due to their differences in social standing, there’s an element of “forbidden love.” But in practice, their relationship is more toxic than romantic–and one of the easiest pieces of evidence to point to is the book’s most iconic quote: “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”
Out of context, this line could make anyone swoon. But earlier in the same scene, Catherine says Heathcliff is “more myself than I am.” Losing yourself in your partner isn’t healthy by any means, but a thought like this is even worse when you factor in that Cathy and Heathcliff never could have been together. Even if they did belong to the same social class, Heathcliff’s “savage” reputation would ruin Cathy’s if she married him.
Their so-called love is more codependent than anything. Another scene that caught my eye is when Catherine is trying to dissuade her friend Isabella from marrying Heathcliff. She describes the man who’s supposed to be her soulmate as “an unreclaimed creature, without refinement” and “a fierce, pitiless, wolfish man.” So since Cathy can’t have him, no one else can? I have a really hard time believing that Catherine can love Heathcliff like she says she does while also buying into all of the awful ways the people around her view him. Their obsession with each other causes so much damage, I don’t know how I ever believed it was a romance.
“The whole story is one big gossip session about two families that became so intertwined, everyone’s either married or related (or both)—and our narrators are airing out all of their dirty laundry.”
4. Wuthering Heights is a revenge story, not a love story
Most of the movie’s promo calls Wuthering Heights “the greatest love story of all time.” The toxicity of Cathy and Heathcliff’s relationship aside, I think this description downplays that this book is messy as hell. I missed all of the drama as a teenager! The whole story is one big gossip session about two families that became so intertwined, everyone’s either married or related (or both)—and our narrators are airing out all of their dirty laundry.
I expected most of the book to follow Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship, but in reality, that’s only covered in about half. In the rest, we see just how far Heathcliff is willing to go to get revenge on those who wronged him as a boy…even Cathy. I’m a sucker for books with deliberately unlikeable characters, so I was very satisfied in that regard.
After revisiting Wuthering Heights, I have a newfound appreciation for it, and I definitely understand why it’s considered a classic. However, when it comes to book-to-screen adaptations, I am a bit of a purist–and from what I’ve seen of this one, I know I’m not gonna like it. (Will I still go see it? Maybe.) My younger self definitely didn’t appreciate the story when it was required reading, so I’m glad I got to read it with a new perspective… and no deadlines.
Hannah Carapellotti, Contributing Writer
Hannah is an Ann Arbor-based writer with a bachelor’s in English and writing from the University of Michigan. Outside of The Everygirl, Hannah has written for The Michigan Daily, where she also served as an editor. She currently works at an independent bookstore and is interning for a literary agency.
Products included in graphics linked within article. Feature graphic images credited to: Julia | Adobe Stock, Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures,
The post I Just Re-Read ‘Wuthering Heights’ for the First Time as an Adult—and I Have Thoughts appeared first on The Everygirl.
