The Importance of the Setting in Wuthering Heights
The Importance of the Setting in Wuthering Heights
There are numerous approaches to analyzing and understanding a novel, with the setting being one of utmost importance. It is one of the first aspects noted by readers because it can potentially increase their identification of specific motifs, and subsequently themes, through repetitively emphasizing the natural setting that penetrates conversations, incidences, thoughts, and behaviors. The author typically creates a setting that facilitates the development of a proper atmosphere and mood while maintaining a sense of veracity for the reader. In Emily Bronte’s classic novel, Wuthering Heights, the setting not only successfully satisfies these fundamental guidelines, but it also contributes to an essential understanding of the characters that allows the reader to predict and follow changes in the plot. Therefore, the interesting tone of the Yorkshire countryside is immediately projected to a higher level of importance: it is employed as a metaphor for character behaviors or attributes which Bronte utilizes to subtly direct the plot, mainly through the ominous foreshadowing of events.
From the beginning of the novel, the reader is confronted by persistent descriptions of the landscape in order to stress its importance. Mr. Lockwood dwells on the word “‘wuthering’ being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult which its station is exposed in stormy weather” (38). Bronte is communicating to the reader through this statement. She strongly implies that the reader will benefit from analyzing the setting, and that her descriptions serve a greater purpose than simply engaging the reader; they are a significant literary device used to facilitate overlying themes.
If the reader successfully heeds the warning from Bronte, they would notice that the two major residences in the novel provide a striking contrast. These two residences not only differ in their inhabitants, but
There are numerous approaches to analyzing and understanding a novel, with the setting being one of utmost importance. It is one of the first aspects noted by readers because it can potentially increase their identification of specific motifs, and subsequently themes, through repetitively emphasizing the natural setting that penetrates conversations, incidences, thoughts, and behaviors. The author typically creates a setting that facilitates the development of a proper atmosphere and mood while maintaining a sense of veracity for the reader. In Emily Bronte’s classic novel, Wuthering Heights, the setting not only successfully satisfies these fundamental guidelines, but it also contributes to an essential understanding of the characters that allows the reader to predict and follow changes in the plot. Therefore, the interesting tone of the Yorkshire countryside is immediately projected to a higher level of importance: it is employed as a metaphor for character behaviors or attributes which Bronte utilizes to subtly direct the plot, mainly through the ominous foreshadowing of events.
From the beginning of the novel, the reader is confronted by persistent descriptions of the landscape in order to stress its importance. Mr. Lockwood dwells on the word “‘wuthering’ being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult which its station is exposed in stormy weather” (38). Bronte is communicating to the reader through this statement. She strongly implies that the reader will benefit from analyzing the setting, and that her descriptions serve a greater purpose than simply engaging the reader; they are a significant literary device used to facilitate overlying themes.
If the reader successfully heeds the warning from Bronte, they would notice that the two major residences in the novel provide a striking contrast. These two residences not only differ in their inhabitants, but
Cited: Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. Ed. Beth Newman. Ontario: Broadview Editions, 2007.