Wuthering Heights - Reading Journal
Uploaded by sweet serenity on Nov 08, 2001
ENTRY I (chapter 1-4)
The first chapter of Wuthering Heights introduces the narrator, Mr Lockwood. He has come to Wuthering Heights to meet his landlord Heathcliff, the owner of both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Lockwood describes him as a handsome, erect, dark-skinned gypsy, though have the manners and dress of a gentleman. His black eyes, hidden under his dark brows, suggest his morose nature. His aloofness would make any guest feel unwelcome. Immediately, I, like Mr Lockwood, have become curious and drawn to Heathcliff’s world. Emily Bronte has wonderfully used descriptions of nature not only to give vividness to the story, but also to reach certain purposes. Firstly, the nature was used to show and give a hint about the characteristics of specific places or characters. For instance, in Chapter I, Wuthering Heights was described to be ‘an ancient fortress, standing against both the weather and outsiders”, “exposed in a stormy weather surrounded by stunted firs and gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs as craving alms of the sun”. From here I learned that Wuthering Heights, the title of the book, suggests the novel is not going to be set in an agreeable place, but rather a wild and mysterious location.
Upon Lockwood’s second visit to Wuthering Heights, the characters of Cathy and Hareton are introduced. Cathy is a slender young woman with golden ringlets, a beautiful figure and a lovely face, though her attitude is cold, inconsiderate, rude and unfriendly. Hareton Earnshaw is poorly dressed, with the appearance of a servant. However, his manner is confident and arrogant. The way this chapter is told sets the mysterious mood for the reader. I became more curious and fascinated by the characters and story line of the novel.
In chapter three, a sense of mystery and suspense are portrayed throughout the entire chapter. Horrific descriptions are used for the famous ghost scene of the novel. Sentences like ‘…I pulled its wrist on to the broken pane and rubbed it to and fro till the blood ran down and soaked the bed clothes’ are used to paint a frightful picture in the readers’ minds. The atmosphere of mystery and terror is further deepened by the behaviour of Heathcliff upon hearing Lockwood’s nightmares. Upon this point of the novel, I have developed a further curiosity of Catherine and her relation to Heathcliff.
Chapter four begins the history of the Earnshaw family in Wuthering Heights with...