I've been thinking a great deal, trying to chose the first book and movie i should be talking about. I've been thinking i should be choosing a book I've read more than once. I've started writing it in Hungarian...now here it is in English.
I. The story
This is Emily Bronte's only novel, published in 1847. The novel tells the story of two families, two generations, it relates 30 years of their lives. There are two narrators: the first is Mr Lockwood, a young man from London, who has come to rent Trushcross Grange, the second is Ellen "Nelly" Dean, the housekeeper in Trushcross Grange. After calling on his landlord, Mr. Heathcliff and having a rather unpleasant experience, he asks her to tell him more about this very unusual family he has met in his landlord's house, a place called Wuthering Heights.
Her story is starting about 30 years ago (the novel itself starts in 1801, with the arriving of Mr. Lockwood and ends in 1802), when Nelly was only a girl of 14 herself, Hindley as well (the two of them had the same age, maybe she being older a few moths than Hindley, as her mother used to be his wet-nurse). Hindley and his 6 year old sister, Cathy, were the children of the respected and wealthy Earnshaw family, living in their old family home, Wuthering Heights (built in 1500). This harmony is disturbed by the arrival of a young (probably gipsy) orphan boy, found by Mr. Earnshaw on the streets of Liverpool. He is adopted by the Earnshaw family, in spite of the children hating him at first. He is named "Heathcliff", after a dead son of the Earnshaw couple, but as he never takes the family's surname, he is only known as Heathcliff, the name becoming both his Christian and surname. The first one to warm up to him is the young Cathy, who is only one year younger than Heathcliff (though nobody has ever really known his age, he must have been 7 at the time). They were two wicked creatures, free spirits, strongheaded, and more than that, the boy was always doing what Cathy had asked or commanded him to do. He was even more attached to the girl, than to Mr. Earnshaw, even though this silent and self-possessed boy became his favourite son. Heathcliff is not liked by the other children, servants or master alike. Hindley is growing to hate him more and more, and two years later, when his mother dies, he sees Heathcliff as the one who would steal his father's affections from him. Approximately at the age of 17, Hindley is sent to college. Three years later the old Mr. Earnshaw dies, so Hindley (along with his wife, Frances) becomes the new master of the house. His hatred towards Heathcliff is growing day by day so much, that the one-time favourite child becomes an uneducated servant. But not even this cruelty and big social difference can separate the two loyal friends: Cathy and Heathcliff.
One evening the the 12 years-old Cathy and the young lad Heathcliff, being neglected by Hindley, are running away from Wuthering Heights to Trushcross Grange. After a rather unpleasant and informal visit at the Linton's family home, Heathcliff is sent back to the Heights, while Catherine, being bitten by the dog (as the whole household thought that Heathcliff and her were robbers), is kept there for five weeks to recover. After her returning she is much changed. She is more civilised, she looks more like a proper lady then the little savage girl she used to be. Her newly discovered charm and beauty make her a favourite at the Linton's, and make Heathcliff admire her even more than before. But he is not the only one to discover her beauty, but also the young Linton Edgar starts showing interest in her. Soon after, Frances gives birth to Hareton, Hindley's son and dies a few weeks later as she is suffering of consumption for years. The children, including not only his sister and Heathcliff, but now his own son, Hareton are neglected and tortured by Hindley.
When Cathy turns 15, she becomes the most beautiful girl in the county, being equally admired by the 16 years-old Heathcliff and the 17 years-old Edgar Linton. And Cathy is being unable to chOose between them. After a quarrel between her and Heathcliff, she reveals to Nelly that Edgar Linton has asked her to marry her, and she has accepted it. She also reveals that she is in love with Heathcliff, even though she has feelings for Edgar, she knows that she doesn't belong to his world. The only real reason why she is marrying Linton is to help Heathcliff free himself from Hindley's power.
Heathcliff overhears the conversation between Nelly and Cathy, and leaves the house when Cathy sais that marrying Heathcliff would be a degradation to her, so he doesn't find out that she is deeply in love with him. Heathcliff runs away, Cathy becomes very ill, and 3 years later she marries Edgar Linton.
Their happiness is short-lived, thanks to Heathcliff's sudden return, which brings back their feelings even stronger. Heathcliff is now a wealthy gentleman, and this new situation makes Edgar even more jealous. But very soon he has to discover that he cannot keep the peace of his household as long as Heathcliff is constant guest in Trushcross Grange. The reason why is Isabella Linton's sudden childish love for Heathcliff. When this is revealed to him by Cathy, he laughs at it first, but when he realizes the potential it has, he decides to act. After a conflict between him and the Linton couple he is banished from the Grange and Cathy becomes very ill, even more ill then she has been when Heathcliff has run away.
To take his revenge on Edgar, Heathcliff persuades the lovely but naive Isabella (who is just 18) to run away with him. Edgar doesn't do anything in attempt of bringing her back. Two months later the runaways come back and Isabella sends a latter to Nelly, revealing that she is not happy with Heathcliff, since she has realised that her husband is not in love with her and never has been. His true and only love is Cathy.
With Nelly's help Heathcliff goes back to the Grange when he is sure to find Cathy alone. They confess their love for each other for the first and last time. Heathcliff realises how cruel she had been to him when,-in spite of loving him-, chose to marry Edgar. Cathy asks for forgiveness, telling him, that she is willing to die for her mistakes and she forgives him for leaving her for 3 years.
"I love my murderer-but yours! How can I?" " I cannot live without my life, i cannot live without my soul." "I shall not be at peace! (...) I only wish us never to be parted!"- these are amongst their last words to each other, and they fully express the desperate deepness of their love.
A few hours later Cathy gives birth to Edgar's daughter, Catherine and dies. Her death leaves both men who love her in misery: Heathcliff becomes cruel and bitter, while Edgar becomes sad in a reluctant way. He wishes to be dead soon in hoping to find his wife soon, as Heathcliff prays for her to haunt him, because he can't bear the thought of losing her.
Not long after his sister's death, Hindley follows her to the grave (Joseph thinks that Heathcliff has had a part in his death). Hareton, his son, becomes a servant in his own home, Heathcliff being the owner now. Soon after Cathy's death Isabella manages to run away from Wuthering Heights, moves to London and 6 months later she gives birth to Heathcliff's son, Linton.
12 years later, after Isabella's death, Edgar brings the young Linton to the Grange, hoping that he can raise the child himself, but he is taken away. He must go and live with his father and the next time Linton and Cathy see each other, they are both seventeen.
Heathcliff encourages the young Catherine's visits at Wuthering Heights hoping that she would fall in love with Linton. And that happens. On one occasion Heathcliff lures Nelly and Cathy into the house and keeps them there for five days, until she gets married to Linton. With his help she manages to run away to say goodbye to her dieing father. Soon after his death, Linton dies too. Heathcliff becomes the owner of both Wuthering Heights and Trushcross Grange. This happens one year before Lockwood's arrival. After he gets better, he leaves Trushcross Grange, being convinced that it is for the best that he is not in love with the young widow (at the beginning he planned to seduce her) and thinking that he would never come back ever again.
But next year he does come back and the ending of the story is revealed.
After Linton's death Catherine is very cold and bitter to everyone, including Hareton (who is the only person who respects and even loves Heathcliff---even Heathcliff loves him, in his way). But as she warms up to her, he reveals his love for Cathy and Cathy grows to love him too. The power of their love, the memories they bring back defeat Heathcliff. He can't even bear to see them, he can't sleep at night, he can't eat, he starts hallucinating (he probably sees Cathy's ghost) and soon dies. Nelly tells Mr. Lockwood that Hareton and Cathy are going to be married and they will move to Truschross Grange after their wedding. Wuthering Heights will be locked. She also reveals him that it is rumored that Heathcliff and Cathy Earnshaw still walk the moor around Wuthering Heights.
This is video featuring some scenes from an italian version of Wuthering Heights from 2004, called Cime tempestose. (Music: H.I.M.- Gove with the Sin)
Video by mauvemailed.
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