Wuthering Heights Reading Group

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Can two really be one? Catherine thinks so (Chap. 9):

"I love him... because he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from lightning or frost from fire..." Later, "Nelly, I am Heathcliff..."

In other words, with Heathcliff there is unity, while with Linton there is only difference, even opposition.

I also wondered if the name Hindley had some relation to the word "hinder." Love the detail on the family tree!

^ I loved that part as well. The symbolism of the names is very interesting also! I'm on chapter 13 i think but so far the one i feel for the most is Heathcliff. I don't know what that says about me, but i have a weakness for terrible people in love.

Can I join too? I've read Wuthering Heights several times and I've got a CD of Whatsisname (get back to you)* reading it. I know I'm late but I'm sure I can catch up with you. Please?

That pic of their tiny books is a whole revelation! For all my roaming on the web and taking classes, I didn't know about that.

I want to stay!

* Martin Shaw

I'm sure that is fine Claradoon, it's certainly fine with me. You are very welcome. I'm a newbie at WH but with these very well people and Isabella at the tiller I am learning lots and loving it.

Welcome, Claradoon! You're certainly welcome to join, as are all WP members! I'm just starting Chapter 9 today but other readers are at different stages. There's no established timeline. I enjoy reading Brontë biographies and academia as much as the actual novel and, therefore, I can happily diverge to other sources while you read and post your thoughts, even on early chapters. Three cheers for another reader! ((Claradoon))!

Hmmm, regardless of multiple readings, I am always surprised at the level of domestic-situated violence. I find it interesting that Linton appears appalled by the idea of aggression (even Cathy’s temper in chapter 8 upsets him) but he has no qualms about organizing two of his employees to attack Heathcliff on his behalf (by chapter eleven). The meaning is in the context, indeed. Who can look down on an aggressor without fully knowing one’s own capacity (or lack thereof) for violence in ‘optimum’ circumstances? Food-for-thought quote I read earlier by Nietzsche (from the intro to MGMT’s video ‘Kids’): “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby becomes a monster.”

I want to analyze the text more but I get carried away with the story...greedy to devour it!

I just want to say while I’m here that I’m in awe of your knowledge and passion for Wuthering Heights and its affiliated literature! Thank you so much for making this beyond wonderful!

I feel the same way. I had to put my book down to shudder with disbelief at the beginning of Chapter 9, despite the fact I've read it countless times. There is always more subtext and hypocrisy to be found. Brontë's brilliance and skill amaze me. She's a genius. Have I mentioned how I feel? I'll report more thoughts when I get my wits about me and when I see what Claradoon would like to discuss.

Chapter 9: (I can't resist)

Catherine's famous dream speech to Nelly highlights the dichotomy of tension between Heaven and Hell. Beyond its powerful and symbolic imagery, the passage also reflects Catherine's subconscious preference of rustic life at Wuthering Heights (being free on the heath, the moors and hilltop), as compared to the splendid, worldly and eccentric abode of Thrushcross Grange. Cross-reference to Chapter 6, when Heathcliff and Cathy sneak to TG. Heathcliff remarks on its elegant riches, "We should have thought ourselves in Heaven!"

Catherine's speech about her unity with Heathcliff is flawed. If they are one and share a soul, why does she ask Nelly "He does not know what being in love is?", and why does she forsake Heathcliff when it would be natural that she could not? Is Heathcliff a projection of Catherine's ego, psychologically? Is she forsaking herself, or him?

A tree bough splits in two upon The Heights to conclude this question.

Last edited by IsabellaLinton on 21 Oct 2018, 3:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

‘“Oh, Cathy! Oh, my life! how can I bear it?” was the first sentence he uttered, in a tone that did not seek to disguise his despair.’ (Vol. II, C. 1)

No analysis...just tears. I. Am. In. Tears.

Chapter 9 Forever

Thank you! I was left so unsettled about whether Catherine was reliable here--seemed too easy--I put the book down for a while. I do think she is forsaking both him and herself to follow convention and avoid hardship, but as to whether it is definitively the forsaking of a soulmate, that is a troubled notion, especially from one so young and inexperienced.

On the other hand, the tree is a unity sundered by an outside force...

My text (Norton Critical Edition) is not divided into volumes, just 34 chapters. For those of you with a Vol. II, after what chapter does it begin?

Volume II begins after Chapter 14 (concluding with "Dree and dreary...").

These are passages that have stayed with me, word for word, all these years -

Now, my bonny man, I'm going to Liverpool to-day, what shall I bring you? You may choose what you like: only let it be little, for I shall walk there and back: sixty miles each way, that is a long spell!
~~~~~~
... but one night while leaning on his shoulder, in the act of saying she thought she should be able to get up to-morow, a fit of coughing took her - a very slight one - he raised her in his arms; she put her two hands about his neck, her face changed, and she was dead.

These have stayed with me as oddly part of me as my nose. This is not something I chose, I'm not sure I understand its shape and content, I don't know if this changes others' perception of me or perhaps reflects my character? How can Emily do this?

Catherine does not know what being in love is. She doesn't forsake anybody; she thinks Heathcliff will stay and nothing will change except her status. I believe her when she tells Nelly she will use the money to bring Heathcliff up to her new status.

The tree is a wonderful touch and so beautifully, so immediately written that I experience it as if I was there. The writing is not dramatic on purpose, although Emily must have been aware of it. But the words are plain, she doesn't comment on the tree. She tells exactly what happens in the physical world.

Could this be part of why we are puzzled as to the inner goings-on of the characters? Emily doesn't explain or comment, not on trees or people. We just see it happen. Occasionally there might be a comment from Nelly, at a great distance of time. As for Catherine's comments, they are more a demonstration of herself than anything else.