Domestic Space and Plot Development in Wuthering Heights

This essay delves into the significance of domestic settings in Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights," focusing on Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. The contrasting characteristics of these two houses reflect the personalities and destinies of the characters within. Wuthering Heights, with its wild and isolated nature, embodies passion and turmoil, while Thrushcross Grange represents gentility and social constraints. The analysis explores how these settings influence character development, relationships, and the overall plot, highlighting the impact of environment on the unfolding drama of love, class, and revenge. The essay also examines the symbolism of windows and other architectural elements in shaping the narrative and conveying deeper meanings related to the characters' desires and limitations. This analysis shows how the domestic setting merges with the surrounding rough moorland and influences activity of house.

Running head: DOMESTIC SETTING OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Domestic Setting of Wuthering Heights
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1DOMESTIC SETTING OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Introduction
Wuthering Heights had been published in 1847 which was published by Emily Bronte
under that of pseudonym of “Ellis Bell”. The novel unfolds through the prism of the two
houses and the domestic setting has repercussions on the entire plot of the novel. The interior
setting has been emphasized by the author and it helps in linking past, present along with the
future of the novel1. The ownership of the property can be said to be strand of plotting and it
has effect on the unfolding of the action within the framework of the story. This essay
discusses about how the whole drama of Wuthering Heights takes place inside the house and
the effect of the interior setting on the unfolding of plot in novel.
Discussion
Wuthering Heights have been described vividly in the first chapter of the novel and
the house have been conceived as the ‘real’ environment in the novel. The building is isolated
and wind-swept with the Gothic gargoyles along with the mysterious names. It fulfils the
expectations of the Gothic sensibility as it is a place of the passion along with the secret
chambers. Name of manor helps in describing atmospheric tumult and the isolation have been
made evident with the help of the words of Mr Lockwood:
“I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of
society,” and describes the Wuthering Heights as the “perfect misanthropist’s home”2.
1 Chitham, E., 2016. The Birth of Wuthering Heights: Emily BrontÎ at Work. Springer.
2 Gutenberg.org (2020). Wuthering Heights. [online] Gutenberg.org. Available at:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/768/768-h/768-h.htm [Accessed 26 Feb. 2020].

2DOMESTIC SETTING OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS
The domestic setting mingles with the surrounding rough moorland and working lives
of the occupants influences the activity in the house. The house is devoid of any kind of the
homeliness and the words, “jutted” and “strong” is symptomatic of the inhabitants of the
house. The gloomy atmosphere that prevails in the house makes the imprisonment of Cathy
all the more grotesque and it casts an ominous presence throughout the novel. Lockwood
however does not perceive it as the welcoming place and the trees does not grow properly in
the place3. There exists the sense of the emotional charge which have been represented with
the help of the hearth:
“the house and kitchen cheerful with great fires … the shining kitchen utensils, the polished
clock, … the speckless purity of my particular care - the scoured and well-swept floor”4
The kitchen is indicative of place of the physical proximity and many key events takes
place within the novel. The interior setting of the Wuthering Heights contributes to novel as it
sets moods for the scenes taking place inside the house. The house has been introduced to the
people with the help of a symbol of the storm that shows the emotional turmoil present in the
inhabitants of the grand building. The house has been described as being dreary and the
foreboding that is instrumental in the creation of the mood of the isolation. Estate have little
amount of the vegetation and it is weathered that is evident of the bleak interior of the
building. The people living in the building are bitter and they act in a violent manner that is
manifested with the help of the structure of the building. The domestic setting of house helps
in enforcing actions of Earnshaws along with the Heathcliff. Name of estate helps in setting
3 Roan, E., Sassaman, N. and Ward-Sowards, C., 2018. Wuthering Heights: A Study of Character and
Boundaries.
4 Gutenberg.org (2020). Wuthering Heights. [online] Gutenberg.org. Available at:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/768/768-h/768-h.htm [Accessed 26 Feb. 2020].

3DOMESTIC SETTING OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS
theme of the gloom within the framework of the novel. Furniture of the house can be said to
be sullen that is symbolic of the dark setting of the novel.
In the event of Lockwood stepping into the Wuthering Heights, the place seems to be
ghostly to him. In the event of sleeping in the old chambers of Catherine, Lockwood had a
vivid nightmare when the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw was trying to gain access to the old
room. Lockwood experiences series of the nightmares in oak-panelled bed that helps in
indicating the fact that he has violated the hallowed place. The ghosts of Wuthering Heights
symbolizes the lack of the closure for lovers in the novel. Heathcliff believed in the ghosts
along with afterlife as it would help him in being around Catherine. Supernatural powers
surrounding the bed becomes more extreme in the event of the death of Heathcliff that
transformed the bed into the symbol of the coffin where Heathcliff was reunited with the love
of his life5. Heathcliff was found dead and the window was found to be open and it seemed as
if the spirit of the person had escaped. The domestic setting of the bed signifies the protective
boundary and at the same time it acts as the haunted space.
Thrushcross Grange on the other hand is a luxurious place and the readers get the first
glimpse of the place with the help of the window. Its size is greater than that of the Heights
and it is less emotionally intense when compared to the home of the Earnshaws. It have been
brought out with the help of image of the fireless grate that Lockwood encounters on the
second visit. The love within the boundaries of the domestic setting of the Thrushcross
Grange is described as the ‘affection’ and the ‘care’ instead of the passion6. The Grange helps
5 Morse, D.D., 2017. “The Mark of the Beast”: Animals as Sites of Imperial Encounter from Wuthering Heights
to Green Mansions. In Victorian Animal Dreams (pp. 181-200). Routledge.
6 Landers, K., 2017. Wuthering Heights: From Victorian to the Romantic. The St. Lawrence Review, 2, p.6.

4DOMESTIC SETTING OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS
in matching Victorian sensibilities of the readers of the novel and the décor within the house
are carefully ordered within the novel. It can be stated to be the apt setting for the ‘civilised’
propriety. It is inhabited by the magistrates and the property is surrounded by the cultivated
parkland that is bordered by the high walls.
The contrast in between two residences have a great impact on the inhabitants of the
two houses- Wuthering Heights along with the Thrushcross Grange. Wild location of the
Wuthering Heights helps in promoting the passion along with the wildness of the inhabitants.
The Thrushcross Grange on the other hand is symbolic of orthodox attitudes of the
genteelness along with the respectability7. Catherine and the Heathcliff were caught spying at
the Grange and Catherine’s health revived health with the help of Lintons after the dog bite.
She returns as the changed girl that helps in showing the effect of the genteelness on her
character and the mindset. She emerges to become courteous and she scoffs at Heathcliff for
the uncleanliness.
There exists a great difference in between the relationship of Catherine and Heathcliff
and on the other hand in between relationship of Catherine and Edgar Linton of the Grange.
Catherine acts in a passionate and wild manner with that of Heathcliff and she used to roam
the moors with the mysterious character. Catherine in the event of being with Lintons used to
conform to the social norms8. Catherine was able to find a sister in the character of Isabella
that she lacked in her childhood. Catherine developed the tendency of conforming to the
social codes of conduct and relinquish the childhood delights in the event of being within
7 Van de Laar, E.T.M., 2019. The inner structure of Wuthering heights: A study of an imaginative field (Vol.
23). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
8 Defant, I., 2017. Inhabiting Nature in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Brontë Studies, 42(1), pp.37-47.

5DOMESTIC SETTING OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Thrushcross Grange. In Wuthering Heights on the other hand, Catherine could experience the
true joy along with the spontaneity. Catherine confides to Nelly the essential fact that she
would marry Edgar on account of the fact that it would help her in getting the security in her
life.
Thrushcross Grange can be said to be symbolic wedge in between young lovers of the
novel. Mansion threatens the relationship in between the lovers and the whole character of
Catherine changes after staying for five weeks in the estate. She evolves to become a graceful
young woman owing to the influence of the people around her. It alters the relationship in
between Catherine and Heathcliff who is wild like the estate, Wuthering Heights. The
characters in the novel have been found to gaze by taking recourse to the open windows that
helps them in getting a glimpse of the outside world9. The window of Thrushcross Grange
helped in providing the accessible views into the garden along with the green valley for the
characters of the novel. In the event of Catherine and Heathcliff spying on Edgar along with
the Isabella, drawing room window helps in providing the view into the different world- that
would accept Catherine and on the other hand reject Heathcliff. Heathcliff was thrown away
from the Thrushcross Grange and he used to make the observations with the help of glass
partition10. The symbolic meanings of the windows can be said to extend to the appearance of
Heathcliff and Nelly describes the eyes as being “a couple of black fiends, so deeply buried,
who never open their windows boldly"11.
9 Wise, R.S., 2018. Capital games: the Bourdieuxian movements of Heathcliff and Nelly Dean in Neo-Victorian
revisitations of Wuthering Heights.
10 Wilson, A., 2017. Folklore and Identity in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.
11 Gutenberg.org (2020). Wuthering Heights. [online] Gutenberg.org. Available at:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/768/768-h/768-h.htm [Accessed 26 Feb. 2020].

6DOMESTIC SETTING OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Conclusion
Domestic setting of Wuthering Heights merges with that of surrounding rough
moorland which influences activity of house. The estate called Wuthering Heights does not
have any trace of the homeliness that reveals the characteristics features of the people present
in the house. Gloomy atmosphere present in house makes imprisoning of Cathy grotesque
and it spreads ominous presence across novel. Thrushcross Grange can be said to be symbolic
of the aspects of gentleness and respectability that has a major influence on the characters
present in the novel. Catherine in Thrushcross Grange is nursed back to the sound health after
she was beaten by a dog in the mansion. Thrushcross Grange is the symbolic wedge between
young lovers of novel. The mansion threatens relationship between lovers- Heathcliff and
Catherine and the character of Catherine undergoes changes after she stays in the place for a
period of five weeks. He emerges to become a graceful woman on account of the presence of
the people around her.

7DOMESTIC SETTING OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Bibliography
Chitham, E., 2016. The Birth of Wuthering Heights: Emily BrontÎ at Work. Springer.
Defant, I., 2017. Inhabiting Nature in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Brontë
Studies, 42(1), pp.37-47.
Gutenberg.org (2020). Wuthering Heights. [online] Gutenberg.org. Available at:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/768/768-h/768-h.htm [Accessed 26 Feb. 2020].
Landers, K., 2017. Wuthering Heights: From Victorian to the Romantic. The St. Lawrence
Review, 2, p.6.
Morse, D.D., 2017. “The Mark of the Beast”: Animals as Sites of Imperial Encounter from
Wuthering Heights to Green Mansions. In Victorian Animal Dreams (pp. 181-200).
Routledge.
Roan, E., Sassaman, N. and Ward-Sowards, C., 2018. Wuthering Heights: A Study of
Character and Boundaries.
Van de Laar, E.T.M., 2019. The inner structure of Wuthering heights: A study of an
imaginative field (Vol. 23). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
Wilson, A., 2017. Folklore and Identity in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.
Wise, R.S., 2018. Capital games: the Bourdieuxian movements of Heathcliff and Nelly Dean
in Neo-Victorian revisitations of Wuthering Heights.