I feel I need to protect myself from any movie adaptation of this amazing novel. I will definitely not watch the film. I believe Wuthering Heights is unfilmable.
Well, I think the complex structure of the novel makes it very hard. But yeah, you have a point. It should be possible. Probably not in a one night movie, though, but perhaps a tv-series. Up to now, nobody has succeded! I think it's a testament to the enigma and genius of the book.
I recently reread this after several decades, and was shocked by the violence and darkness that had escaped me before. There was one television adaptation years ago that did include the violent aspects...can't recall the details, though.
Yes, several adaptations have struggled with the violence and domestic abuse. It's an amazingly powerful story, up there with Shelley's Frankenstein in terms of prising open the darker portals of the mind.
It is quite a while since I read and studied WH in university but it still stands out as one of those great books that can be analysed from various angles. It is so vivid, violent and atmospheric that one can only admire Bronte's audacity and ability to pull it off, given the time it was written in and the patriarchal attitude to female writers. I don't think I will be venturing to see the new glammed-up film. Much prefer the black and white version.
Yes, I think it's one odlf those books you can study from so many angles, and one that you never forget! I agree re Emily's audacity! I so admire her for pushing boundaries.
In 1984, I drove across the Moors with my then-husband. It was an extremely dark, rainy night and a very long drive. We even stopped to pick up a hitch-hiker because we felt sorry for him, soaked as he was. It's not difficult to associate that experience with dark, cinematic qualities of WH films or others like it that are situated in rather desolate environments.
The exchanges below remind me of the greatly popular television series about Emily Dickinson, which was excellent but also created elements or events for dramatization that did not involve the real life story of the poet. Adaptations can be both good and bad, of course; a problem arises when the film watcher has no knowledge of the real historical person, or how, because of need to hold its audience, it introduces dramatized scenes or characters who didn't exist in reality.
Thank you for a very interesting essay focused on the domestic aspects of the novel.
You're welcome, Maureen! Wow, that must have been some drive…the Moors can be foreboding even in daylight. Beautiful but also quite desolate. Whenever I've visited, I can really imagine how Emily got her inspiration.
Very good essay, Kate! Wuthering Heights seems to be a bit of a Rorschach test. Like Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’, people see what they want to see in it. You and your readers might enjoy this deep dive by one of my favorite Substack writers:
Thanks, Baird! And thank you for sharing this essay, which I enjoyed reading.
Yes, the book (and no doubt the new film) appears divisive…I suppose that is what I love about studying literature - imagine how dull it would be if we all liked the same books! 📚 😄
Love this look at Wuthering Heights - it’s such an unusual and strange book. I agree about the shocking violence of the book. I think what stood out most to me was the cycle of abuse - how Heathcliff was tortured by those who had wronged him, and so wronged innocent people in return. Thank you for sharing!
Loved this, Kate (sorry I know I'm way behind on reading your essays ❤️). The moors are absolutely a 'home' to them too, I love how you've drawn that environment in. I didn't really get what the fuss was all about when I read it as a teenager--I guess as an Austen fan, I'm here for the hero whose idea of wild is slightly loosening their cravat! So the Cathy/Heathcliff thing was never my 'vibe'. But after having a little deep-dive back into the Brontë world a few years back, revisiting Haworth and watching the films and shows, rereading WH was an unexpected delight. I think there's a moment in To Walk Invisible, where a servant is sort of gossiping to Emily about a house and the goings on there and that really worked for me. Especially with the Lockwood/Nelly story in a story structure--it's not a love story at all, but more the recounting of a wild tale. Local gossip pushed to the most melodramatic degree.
Thanks Claire - no need to apologise for not reading!! I love your comment on the heroes of Austen haha Yes…Heathcliff is a completely different beast indeed. I think visiting Haworth really gives you a different perspective of the sisters’ and the novels, as you say. The landscape too; it absolutely is a ‘home’ and a character all its own.
Had to come back to say that Northern Ballet did a version of the novel several years ago. There are mini-clips on YouTube. Apologies for going off at a tangent.
My relationship with wuthering heights changed as I grew older: at first I was so scared by Heathcliff that I couldn't read the book (I was 14), later I appreciated it, but only in my twenties I understood the toxicity of the "love"story in it...and of both Heathcliff and Cathy.
This essay about the two houses was really interesting,thank you, especially because normally one associates the book to landscapes more than to an interior set.
Thank you, Stefania! Yes, I think because of the focus on landscape in both the book and the films (and in the life of the Bronte sisters themselves) we don't often consider the interior of the two homes so much.
I read WH for the first time this past autumn. I loved Jane Eyre as a teenager and thought this was a similar work…gosh was I wrong. What a bleak, violent novel—a brilliant work but certainly not a romantic one. I’m heading to the adaptation tonight and have no idea what I’ll think of it!
Thanks, Marguerite! It's funny, I have always preferred WH to JE, which I found a bit pious 😄 but I know what you mean. The contrast is stark.
Also, just had a review from my daughter who saw the film this afternoon and thought it was wonderful as a piece of cinema, always accepting that it bears very little resemblance to the actual novel!
I would love to reread JE and reconsider my perspective, it’s been at least 15 years since I’ve read it! I can imagine my thoughts will have changed as my raging feminism has grown 🤣 Lovely to hear…I shall return with a review!
Omg. I think I died a bit watching that film. Nothing like the film but a beautiful piece of art in its own right. Dark, romantic, full of yearning. 🖤 And so fun and aesthetic! I expected to hate it!
Ah! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It sounds like it needs watching with an open mind and viewing it as a piece of cinematic art, rather than a complete adaptation of the book.
Whoops, I meant to say "nothing like the book." And yes, it's a great piece of work in its own right. I think it helps to know the book to make sense of a mad story, but the film must be appreciated on its own. In some ways, I liked the film more, I found it less dark and more romantic than the novel, which was so dark, violent, and insane. The film captured the sorrow of a traumatic childhood and the ways it bonds us to those who go through it with us. If you ever decide to watch it, I hope you enjoy it. It has left me full of yearning.
I don't think it's accurate to say "The novel takes place between two Victorian homes – Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange." -- the novel is narrated in 1801 (and many events take place earlier), so those two homes are not Victorian
Hi Erika, yes, although set earlier, the book was published in 1847, in the early part of the Victorian era. Therefore its themes of social class and the Gothic violence of the novel are seen to conflict with the strict moral codes of the Victorian era, including gender constraints. Something we can see plays heavily in all three of the Bronte sisters’ novels.
I think the writer of this essay has fallen back on everyone else's opinion. The Victorian era' 1837 -1901 had barely begun when Emily began writing this story. The constant reference therefore to Victorian readers and Victorian sensibilities seems to me absurd, especially when Yorkshire was so far from the London sphere of influence.
There is also the filter of modern living that this analysis has gone through.
The story is timeless, to me, for all that it shows how little change there has been in near two hundred years.
The wonder should be how a seemingly gentile young unmarried woman in the North of England could write such a beautifully horrible piece of social commentary. That is its fascination as well.
I feel I need to protect myself from any movie adaptation of this amazing novel. I will definitely not watch the film. I believe Wuthering Heights is unfilmable.
I get you, Andrea!
It Shoukd be if it was faithful to the book.
Well, I think the complex structure of the novel makes it very hard. But yeah, you have a point. It should be possible. Probably not in a one night movie, though, but perhaps a tv-series. Up to now, nobody has succeded! I think it's a testament to the enigma and genius of the book.
I recently reread this after several decades, and was shocked by the violence and darkness that had escaped me before. There was one television adaptation years ago that did include the violent aspects...can't recall the details, though.
It's a really startling novel.
Thanks for reading, Christine. Yes, startling is a good word for it.
Yes, several adaptations have struggled with the violence and domestic abuse. It's an amazingly powerful story, up there with Shelley's Frankenstein in terms of prising open the darker portals of the mind.
Home is where the dark heart is, especially for 'trapped' women.
Absolutely! A familiar theme from literature, particularly of the Victorian era.
It is quite a while since I read and studied WH in university but it still stands out as one of those great books that can be analysed from various angles. It is so vivid, violent and atmospheric that one can only admire Bronte's audacity and ability to pull it off, given the time it was written in and the patriarchal attitude to female writers. I don't think I will be venturing to see the new glammed-up film. Much prefer the black and white version.
Yes, I think it's one odlf those books you can study from so many angles, and one that you never forget! I agree re Emily's audacity! I so admire her for pushing boundaries.
In 1984, I drove across the Moors with my then-husband. It was an extremely dark, rainy night and a very long drive. We even stopped to pick up a hitch-hiker because we felt sorry for him, soaked as he was. It's not difficult to associate that experience with dark, cinematic qualities of WH films or others like it that are situated in rather desolate environments.
The exchanges below remind me of the greatly popular television series about Emily Dickinson, which was excellent but also created elements or events for dramatization that did not involve the real life story of the poet. Adaptations can be both good and bad, of course; a problem arises when the film watcher has no knowledge of the real historical person, or how, because of need to hold its audience, it introduces dramatized scenes or characters who didn't exist in reality.
Thank you for a very interesting essay focused on the domestic aspects of the novel.
You're welcome, Maureen! Wow, that must have been some drive…the Moors can be foreboding even in daylight. Beautiful but also quite desolate. Whenever I've visited, I can really imagine how Emily got her inspiration.
Very good essay, Kate! Wuthering Heights seems to be a bit of a Rorschach test. Like Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’, people see what they want to see in it. You and your readers might enjoy this deep dive by one of my favorite Substack writers:
https://open.substack.com/pub/soulmaking/p/centering-heaven-and-hell?r=2ks6k8&utm_medium=ios
Things will only get more weird when yet another generation commits the sin of “Saw the movie. Missed the book”!
Thanks, Baird! And thank you for sharing this essay, which I enjoyed reading.
Yes, the book (and no doubt the new film) appears divisive…I suppose that is what I love about studying literature - imagine how dull it would be if we all liked the same books! 📚 😄
Love this look at Wuthering Heights - it’s such an unusual and strange book. I agree about the shocking violence of the book. I think what stood out most to me was the cycle of abuse - how Heathcliff was tortured by those who had wronged him, and so wronged innocent people in return. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks! Yes, and how the younger generation then managed to break the cycle is interesting.
Loved this, Kate (sorry I know I'm way behind on reading your essays ❤️). The moors are absolutely a 'home' to them too, I love how you've drawn that environment in. I didn't really get what the fuss was all about when I read it as a teenager--I guess as an Austen fan, I'm here for the hero whose idea of wild is slightly loosening their cravat! So the Cathy/Heathcliff thing was never my 'vibe'. But after having a little deep-dive back into the Brontë world a few years back, revisiting Haworth and watching the films and shows, rereading WH was an unexpected delight. I think there's a moment in To Walk Invisible, where a servant is sort of gossiping to Emily about a house and the goings on there and that really worked for me. Especially with the Lockwood/Nelly story in a story structure--it's not a love story at all, but more the recounting of a wild tale. Local gossip pushed to the most melodramatic degree.
Thanks Claire - no need to apologise for not reading!! I love your comment on the heroes of Austen haha Yes…Heathcliff is a completely different beast indeed. I think visiting Haworth really gives you a different perspective of the sisters’ and the novels, as you say. The landscape too; it absolutely is a ‘home’ and a character all its own.
Had to come back to say that Northern Ballet did a version of the novel several years ago. There are mini-clips on YouTube. Apologies for going off at a tangent.
I love tangents! :)
My relationship with wuthering heights changed as I grew older: at first I was so scared by Heathcliff that I couldn't read the book (I was 14), later I appreciated it, but only in my twenties I understood the toxicity of the "love"story in it...and of both Heathcliff and Cathy.
This essay about the two houses was really interesting,thank you, especially because normally one associates the book to landscapes more than to an interior set.
Thank you, Stefania! Yes, I think because of the focus on landscape in both the book and the films (and in the life of the Bronte sisters themselves) we don't often consider the interior of the two homes so much.
I read WH for the first time this past autumn. I loved Jane Eyre as a teenager and thought this was a similar work…gosh was I wrong. What a bleak, violent novel—a brilliant work but certainly not a romantic one. I’m heading to the adaptation tonight and have no idea what I’ll think of it!
Thanks, Marguerite! It's funny, I have always preferred WH to JE, which I found a bit pious 😄 but I know what you mean. The contrast is stark.
Also, just had a review from my daughter who saw the film this afternoon and thought it was wonderful as a piece of cinema, always accepting that it bears very little resemblance to the actual novel!
I would love to reread JE and reconsider my perspective, it’s been at least 15 years since I’ve read it! I can imagine my thoughts will have changed as my raging feminism has grown 🤣 Lovely to hear…I shall return with a review!
Yes! Please let me know how you find it!
Don’t worry, I was openly weeping at the end, you are not alone 🤣 Speechless is a great word for the effect. I want to see it again…
A friend told me this morning she went back to re-watch it...
I like her style 🤭 I think I’ll go again next week!! 😍
Omg. I think I died a bit watching that film. Nothing like the film but a beautiful piece of art in its own right. Dark, romantic, full of yearning. 🖤 And so fun and aesthetic! I expected to hate it!
Ah! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It sounds like it needs watching with an open mind and viewing it as a piece of cinematic art, rather than a complete adaptation of the book.
Whoops, I meant to say "nothing like the book." And yes, it's a great piece of work in its own right. I think it helps to know the book to make sense of a mad story, but the film must be appreciated on its own. In some ways, I liked the film more, I found it less dark and more romantic than the novel, which was so dark, violent, and insane. The film captured the sorrow of a traumatic childhood and the ways it bonds us to those who go through it with us. If you ever decide to watch it, I hope you enjoy it. It has left me full of yearning.
You have convinced me!
I also loved WH as a teenager but as an adult find it too bleak. I did enjoy this post though 🙂
Thanks, Shelly, so strange how it passed us by as teenagers!
I don't think it's accurate to say "The novel takes place between two Victorian homes – Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange." -- the novel is narrated in 1801 (and many events take place earlier), so those two homes are not Victorian
Hi Erika, yes, although set earlier, the book was published in 1847, in the early part of the Victorian era. Therefore its themes of social class and the Gothic violence of the novel are seen to conflict with the strict moral codes of the Victorian era, including gender constraints. Something we can see plays heavily in all three of the Bronte sisters’ novels.
I think the writer of this essay has fallen back on everyone else's opinion. The Victorian era' 1837 -1901 had barely begun when Emily began writing this story. The constant reference therefore to Victorian readers and Victorian sensibilities seems to me absurd, especially when Yorkshire was so far from the London sphere of influence.
There is also the filter of modern living that this analysis has gone through.
The story is timeless, to me, for all that it shows how little change there has been in near two hundred years.
The wonder should be how a seemingly gentile young unmarried woman in the North of England could write such a beautifully horrible piece of social commentary. That is its fascination as well.
The writer of the essay actually adapted it from the one written for a Victorian lit module for a University course.
I agree that it is startling how Emily produced such a brutal piece of literature.