Ａ Ｇｏｔｈｉｃ Ｓｔｕｄｙ ｏｆ Ｅｍｉｌｙ Ｂｒｏｎｔｅ’ｓ “Ｗｕｔｈｅｒｉｎｇ Ｈｅｉｇｈｔｓ”

Emily Bronte is one of the most famous female English writers. Her novel—Wuthering Heights successfully creates a fantastic love story. Besides the passion-love of Catherine and Heathcliff in this novel， the themes of revenge， plot and contending for the fight of inheritance， the destructive pursuit of revenge by Heathcliff， the ghost of Catherine while Mr. Lockwood's staying at Wuthering Heights and Heathcliff's opening Catherine's coffin， etc. Wuthering Heights undeniably contains Gothic elements though it is not merely a Gothic novel.

Ⅰ.Definition of Gothic novel

The Gothic novel， or in an alternative term， Gothic Romance， is a type of prose fiction which was inaugurated by Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (1764) and flourished through the early nineteenth century. Some writers followed Walpole's example by setting their stories in the medieval period; others set them in a Catholic country， especially Italy or Spain. The locale was often a gloomy castle furnished with dungeons， subterranean passages， and sliding panels; the typical story focused on the suffering imposed on an innocent heroine by a cruel and lustful villain， and made bountiful use of ghosts， mysterious disappearances， and other sensational and supernatural occurrences. The principle aim of such novels was to evoke chilling terror by exploiting mystery and a variety of horrors. Many of them are now read mainly as period pieces， but the best opened up to fiction the realm of the irrational and of the preserve impulses and nightmarish terrors that lie beneath the orderly surface of the civilized mind. The term “Gothic” has also been extended to a type of fiction which lacks the exotic setting of the earlier romances， but develops a brooding atmosphere of gloom and terror， represents events that are uncanny or macabre or melodramatically violent， and often deals with aberrant psychological states. (Abrams 111)

Ⅱ.Description of environment and surroundings

Emily Bronte adopts Gothic method to describe Wuthering Heights and its surroundings at the very beginning. “The narrow windows are deeply set in the wall， and the corners defended with large jutting stones.” ((Bronte 2) Also， Wuthering Heights is built alongside the moors; its station is exposed in stormy weather. Through the narration of Mr. Lockwood， winds whip across the barren fields and make the growth of the trees impossible; the estate receives its name because of how bad weather attacks the house and its surroundings though it is strong to stand against the wind. Wuthering Heights is so bleak and desolate that it leaves a deep impression on the readers.

The weather description also reflects Gothic features. At the time of Mr. Earnshaw's death， high wind blusters round Wuthering Heights and roars in the chimney which signals a great change. But after Catherine's death， the weather breaks， “the wind shifted from south to north-east， and brought rain first， and then sleet and snow the primroses and crocuses were hidden under wintry drifts; the larks were silent， the young leaves of the early trees smitten and blackened. And dreary， and chill， and dismal that morrow did creep over!”(135). Nature becomes completely silent in Catherine's dying as though it is in mourning. This develops a brooding atmosphere of gloom and melancholy， evokes strong sadness to readers.

Ⅲ.Main characters

The creation of the main character Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights belongs to Gothic mode， he is a villain-hero， that is to say he is a persecutor as well as a victim who bears between love and hatred. (蒲 49-51)

As a gipsy waif， Heathcliff is picked up by the old master Mr. Earnshaw in the street and treated well. But after Mr. Earnshaw's death， Hindley deprives Heathcliff's right of receiving education and even makes him a servant. During that period of time， Heathcliff has Catherine's understanding and love at least， she is the only person he can trust and the sole support of his life， but his whole world elapses when he overhears the conversation that Catherine decides to marry Linton. For this aspect， Heathcliff is a victim who suffers a lot. He then leaves Wuthering Heights and returns with wealth and awful revenge， he revenges not only on Hindley and Linton but also on their children. He gets the chance by taking Wuthering Heights from Hindley， marries Edgar Linton's sister Isabella but treats her cruelly. He also forces little Cathy to marry his son with the purpose to seize the right of inheritance to the property of Linton's family. Even though all his behaviors reflect his endless love for Catherine and fearless rebellion to the fate， he is no longer a man but an evil creature who sets revenge as the only goal in life. For this aspect， Heathcliff is a persecutor who makes the others suffer even more than he has had. (黃 53-54)

Another main character is Isabella Linton， the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Linton， sister to Edgar. She is a typical Gothic heroine as she is innocent but suffers painfully by the cruel and lustful villain-Heathcliff.

Born in a rich， high-society family， Isabella is brought up in Thrushcross Grange which is quite different from Wuthering Heights， it is more lavishly decorated， and the family seems happy and loving. She is pure， gentle， soft and with a mild disposition at beginning， but seduced by Heathcliff to fulfill his revenge. Despite Heathcliff's ill nature， Isabella falls in love with him， when her brother disapproves their marriage， she just runs away with Heathcliff. After she gets married with him， she is treated badly and cruelly by his husband， and even imprisoned in Wuthering Heights for a long time. Influenced by Heathcliff's violent and cruel tendencies， her own violent and cruel tendencies come out. She is not a gentle lady anymore but a woman who looses her best part of her personality. Though she finally escapes from Heathcliff， Isabella dies at last. Her life is a tragedy not only because of the bitter sufferings she has had， but also for her turning out to be a victim of Heathcliff’s revenge.

Ⅳ.Supernatural

The most horrible part of Wuthering Heights may be Catherine’s ghost appearing to Mr. Lockwood. In the third chapter， Mr. Lockwood is disturbed by the teasing sound of the fir-bough during his stay at Wuthering Heights， when he knocks his knuckles through the glass and try to silence it， he touches the fingers of a little， ice-cold hand. It is a young girl who calls herself Catherine Linton， pleading to be let in， and Mr. Lockwood will not let her in even though she complains she has been wandering for twenty years. “A child's face looking through the window.” (19) Terror makes Mr. Lockwood cruel and when he finds it useless to attempt shaking the cold hand off， he “pulled its wrist on to the broken pane， and rubbed it to and fro till the blood ran down and soaked the bedclothes: till it wailed.”(19) This evokes chill terror by using the ghost of Catherine， it is also horrible， bloody and cruel which shocks the readers even the literature world.

In chapter twenty-nine， Heathcliff tells Nelly that he has the sexton remove the earth off Catherine's coffin lid while he is preparing for Edgar's grave. He also opens Catherine's coffin and finds her face looks the same as the day she dies. Though he shows no respect for the dead in Nelly's view， he doesn't think so. He even knocks out one side of Catherine's coffin， with the instruction that one side of his be knocked out too can they lie together for eternity. Heathcliff also confesses to Nelly that right after Catherine's death， he almost digs her up just because he wants to hold her again. At the time of digging， he hears a sigh nearby and feels a warm breath at his ear， he is certain it is Catherine， not in the grave but on earth! A sudden sense of relief flowed from his heart， through every limb. At that time he is consistently looking for Catherine's ghost and expects to see her wherever he goes， she never shows herself though he often feels her. Anyway， the grave digging; the sigh and breath by the ghost; the desire to be buried in the same tomb; the wandering ghost， etc. can send cold shivers down the reader's spine.

Ⅴ.Conclusion

The desolation of Wuthering Heights; the themes of revenge and scheme; the cruelty of Heathcliff; the bloody and horrible ghost and so on demonstrate that Emily Bronte adopts Gothic elements in this novel. In conclusion， Wuthering Heights is a novel with Gothic features from the perspective of its description of the environment， characters and supernatural， etc.

References:

[1]Abrams， M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press Thomson Learning，2004.

[2]Bronte， Emily.呼嘯山莊.上海：上海世界圖書出版公司，2003.

[3]蒲若茜.《呼嘯山莊》與哥特傳統(tǒng).外國文學(xué)評論.2002，（1）：47-54.

[4]黃志強(qiáng).《呼嘯山莊》人物分析.語文學(xué)刊（高教.外文版），2007，（6）：53-56.

（作者單位：廣東東莞理工學(xué)院城市學(xué)院）