Developing criticism

The perspectives of the New Critics

There has been plenty of interest in trying to examine and explain the structure of the novel, particularly by the so-called New Critics in the middle of the twentieth century. This has been done based on the families and their interlinking, or by exploring themes. For example, David Cecil did so by examining the clash of calm and storm in the novel. (See Themes > Calm versus storm.) These critics analysed the use of multiple narrators and traced the use of various symbols and recurring images. (See Imagery and symbolism.) The structural device of the two houses was also analysed. (See Structure: the two houses.) More recently, there have been attempts to see the novel as an example of Romantic literature, or as a tragedy, or as containing significant Gothic features.

Specific schools of criticism

Some critics look at literature from a particular standpoint. What follows is a brief look at the main critical schools of recent times. There may be a danger here of some critics making the novel fit their theories rather than the other way around.

Psychoanalytic or Freudian criticism

Freudian critics focus on sexual symbolism and the relation between sexuality and death, as examined in the theories of Sigmund Freud. In Wuthering Heights, Thomas Moser interpreted the window and door images as ‘female’ symbols and keys and the poker as ‘male’ symbols. (See Imagery and symbolism > Windows, doors, gates and locks.)

There are certainly many references to death in the novel and Freud’s idea of this being linked to a desire to return to the womb is echoed in the number of dark, enclosed spaces which Brontë includes (for example, coffins and the enclosed space where Lockwood sleeps in Chapter 3).

Critics may also see the relationship of Catherine and Heathcliff as like that between mother and child. The assumption is that, since Emily Brontë lost her mother when very young, she was therefore concerned with the separation of mother and child. More broadly, the novel seems to acknowledge the importance of the upbringing of the infant in forming the psychology of the adult.

Finally, Freud’s idea of the divided self is similar to the theory of different humours within individuals and of the need to balance these. They in turn are linked to the powerful elements which Brontë explores. (See Imagery and symbolism >The four elements.)

Marxist criticism

This school of thought is interested in the social, political and economic context of literature. In this, the clash between the lower class Heathcliff and the upper class Edgar becomes important. The Marxist critic Terry Eagleton explores how Heathcliff can only gain revenge by joining the system which has abused him and becoming ‘a pitiless capitalist landlord’.

Feminist criticism

Feminist critics would focus on the importance of Wuthering Heights having a female author, and would examine issues of equality and motherhood. Lyn Pykett, for example, traces the various models of family through until Cathy and Hareton provide ‘the modern nuclear family’ at the end, having turned Wuthering Heights into ‘a domain of feminine values’.

Some critics have identified the term Female Gothic. This perspective might examine how men dominate and women are trapped, reflecting the sense of isolation and entrapment which women increasingly felt in typical domestic arrangements of the time. Despite attempts at restraint by Hindley, Catherine exerts her freedom, until ‘civilised’ by her sojourn at the Grange, after which she is never truly free. Although she chooses a socially advantageous marriage, she still resists the conventional strictures of class and marriage, but is not allowed by Brontë to flourish.

Perhaps to compensate for the dangers her mother faced, Cathy is initially over-protected in a way that no male was likely to be. She then becomes the chattel of her husband and father-in-law. A feminist critic would note that part of the plot of Wuthering Heights centres around the fact that married women could not own property at the time. However, Cathy arises to become the only character in the second half of the novel who overcomes her intrinsic fear of Heathcliff.

Post-colonial criticism

Since Heathcliff is often described as ‘dark’ and a ’gypsy’, some critics have taken him to be black. Mr Earnshaw finds him in Liverpool, a major slave-trading port at the time, so perhaps Heathcliff is the son of a slave or of some foreign blood. Old Mr Linton refers to his possible mixed race by describing him as ‘a little Lascar, or an American or Spanish castaway.’ His incomprehensible ‘gibberish’ might also reflect the large influx of starving Irish immigrants in Liverpool when Bramwell visited there in 1845, who spoke no English.

On this basis, the treatment of Heathcliff as ‘other’ becomes a metaphor for racism generally. A typically colonial attitude would anticipate Heathcliff’s inability to control his savagery, since he is a ‘lesser’ person compared to ‘civilised’ whites (although Hindley rather belies that description!). There is certainly evidence in the text for this view, but the student might wonder why Emily Brontë never actually states Heathcliff’s race explicitly.

• Tweet