Describing Wuthering Heights

Within the first paragraph of Wuthering Heights we are informed that the setting is ‘a perfect misanthropist’s Heaven’ identifying that the novel is based in a isolated place where not many people will go giving the sense of being trapped and lonely, an element that is clear in many gothic novels.

Although the house is big we are immediately told, when Mr Lockwood enters the house that the sitting room is seen as the house. ‘The kitchen is forced to retreat altogether into another quarter […] I observed no signs of roasting, boiling, or baking, about the huge fireplace; nor any glitter of copper saucepans and tin cullenders on the walls’ As the kitchen is ‘forced to retreat’ it makes the building seem alive and scared of what’s contained within it and trying to hide from the members of the household. This is mentioned again when Mr Lockwood refers to ‘its entire anatomy’ describing it as a person instead of a building. Although the house is described, as living there isn’t much life to the buildings, there is no feminine input as everything is either practical or manly. There is nothing innocent in the house that would make a visitor feel welcome or want to stay for a long period of time as it will give them a sense of discomfort and to be feared without thinking about the people living within.

The house itself is described as strong but grotesque with narrow windows making the building look old, ‘I detected the date ‘1500’’ with lots of hidden stories. Due to the narrow windows it makes it difficult for any outsiders to see what is happening within the house. This makes the house seem more like an abandoned fortress then a house as it isn’t homely or welcoming with the narrow windows give the feeling of being trapped and having no escape. Yet this draws people in and leads to them getting trapped within the house.

Talk to you later x

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