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Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: A Film Analysis

In partial fulfillment of all requirements in LIT1
CADAG, Aprile Marie Y. 7/27/2012

Mrs. Bhang Tallorin

CONTENT

I.

Setting a. Time element b. Place c. Local Color d. Mood of the story at the on-set

II.

Characters a. i. Protagonist ii. Antagonist 1. Flat character 2. Round character iii. Characters behavior b. i. Point of View 1. Omniscient 2. First Person 3. Third

III.

Plot a. Exposition b. Rising Action c. Conflict d. Climax e. Falling Action f. Resolution

IV.

Conflict a. Conflict situation i. Man versus man ii. Man versus phenomena iii. Man versus nature iv. Man versus himself b. Conflict statement c. Discussion of conflict statement

V. VI.

Climax Universal Truths a. Learning Insights b. Central/Message of the story

VII. VIII.

Symbolism in the story Other elements: a. Sound effects b. Technical c. Artistic d. Costumes e. Cinematography f. Dialogue

I.

Setting i. Yorkshire, Dale in Northern England The location is set in a quiet and strange area called Yorkshire, Dale in Northern England. ii. Sceneries The sceneries in the movie were black hollows, biberry bushes, moonlit scenery, miles of heath, winding roads, houses, hills, and weather. iii. Wuthering Heights This plays a big role as it is the house where Earnshaw family lives. It is also the first location in the movie where in Heathcliff was adopted and brought to this house. It is a house of dark, gothic and dirty feeling. iv. Thrushcross Grange Also, this plays a big role as it is the four miles away opposite house against Wuthering Heights where in the Linton family lives. It is a mansion filled with beautiful nature ambiance, bright and inviting appeal.
Set in the harsh and isolated Yorkshire moor in Northern England, Wuthering Heights practically makes a character out of its geography. Gimmerton is the nearest town and provides the location for characters like Mr. Kenneth, the doctor, and Mr. Green, the lawyer. Liverpool is a distant port city associated with the dark, foreign, gypsy child, Heathcliff. But more important than any sense of a city center are the regional markers and sights, such as the "golden rocks" of Penistone Crags , black hollows, bleak hilltops, bilberry bushes, moonlit scenery, miles of heath, and winding roads. It's easy to get lost in this barren landscape, especially in the snow. The feelings of desolation and confusion provoked by the setting strongly contribute to the tone of the novel. The story spans roughly fifty years, the last half of the eighteenth century, though Lockwood's narrative begins in 1801. Weather plays a big role and tends to reflect some of the desolate attitudes of the characters. The landscape can be pitiless and forbidding as with Lockwood's snowbound night at the Heights or a Garden of Eden-like escape from the tyrannies of the home as with the rambles young Catherine and Heathcliff take in order to avoid Hindley's cruelty. The two main sites of action, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, are opposed in many ways: Wuthering Heights is dark and cold, located on a hill high above the more bright and inviting Thrushcross Grange, which is situated in the valley below. The two houses are only four miles apart, and yet characters are constantly getting lost while traveling between the two. There is continuous back and forth movement on horse and foot. Access to the Grange symbolizes the acquisition of a certain social status. Though there is no social scene as such, Catherine is still gratified by her acceptance into the Linton manor. Heathcliff, on the other hand, is not welcome in either household. So issues of setting, access, and mobility reflect many of the novel's themes of social class, family, property, and estrangement.

v.

Time element 1750-1802 - It started on an evening when Mr. Earnshaw found Heathcliff on the streets and took him to Wuthering Heights to become his adopted son. The dark and foreboding environment described at the beginning of the movie foreshadows the gloomy atmosphere. The house, Wuthering heights is an ancient mansion perched on a high ridge, windy and inhabited wasteland. It is an adaptation from a medieval time feeling.

vi.

Place The two main location of the movie are the Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. They are opposed in several ways. The Wuthering Heights is a dark and cold house located on a hill high above the brighter and inviting Thrushcross Grange which is situated in the valley below. The two houses are only four miles apart.

vii.

Local Color The local color of the movie is

viii.

Mood of the story at the on-set The overall mood conveyed alludes to themes of despair, loneliness and childhood bonds. This is a world of contrasts, the interior versus the exterior. While nature is cleansing, it responds, expresses extreme emotion. It offers little comfort, just like the eternal rocks beneath, a source of little visible delight.

II.

Characters a. Protagonist, Antagonist, Flat character, Round character and Character behavior b. Heathcliff, the protagonist Heathcliff enters the Earnshaws family home as a poor orphan. He has a dark skin, black curly hair, thin body and athletic skills. His language is gibberish and his dark otherness provokes the labels gypsy, villain and wicked boy. He is badly treated by Hindly and his love for Catherine, who prefers to marry Edgar for his position and breeding. Months later, he came back in time well educated, rich and presentable to vow vengeance on Hindley, Edgar and their children. . i. Catherine Earnshaw, the romance

Catherine is a very pretty girl who has thick long brown hair. She is Heathcliffs love and heroine of the story, although she dies part of the way through the movie. Her character, both alive and dead haunts Heathcliff. She is free spirited, beautiful but can also be arrogant. Growing up aling side Heathcliff, their love is more like that of twins than lovers, and she marries Egdar Linton because of position and breeding. ii. Mr. Earnshaw He is the father of Catherine and Hindley Earnshaw. He is a strict and grave man with no sense of humor. Nevertheless, he is a kindly man who takes pity on Heathcliff when is found alone and starving in the streets of Liverpool, and adopts him as his own. He favors Heathcliff above his true son, Hindley. He died earlier in the movie, until Hindley is in charge of the Wuthering Heights. iii. Hindley Earnshaw, the antagonist Hindley is a tall, shave haired man who is Catherines elder brother. He hates Heathcliff from the start because of his Fathers preference and treats him badly. When his wife dies, he descends into gambling and drunkenness. He is married to Frances, but later died due to giving birth to Hareton Earnshaw, their son. Heathcliff gains his revenge by buying Wuthering Heights from him. iv. Edgar Linton Edgar has a fair skin, long light hair curled at temples, blue eyed man. He Catherines husband. His breeding and wealth attracted Catherine though Heathcliff was her true love. He is spoiled, cowardly although tender and loving to Catherine and his daughter. He is a contrast to Heathcliff both physically and spiritually. v. Isabella Linton Isabella has a pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. She is Edgars younger sister. A weak and spoiled girl, she becomes infatuated by HEathcliff, seeing him as a romantic hero. However, Heathcliff despises her and uses her purely as a tool in his revenge. She is a contrast both to physically and spiritually to Catherine. vi. Frances Frances is thin and frail, has fresh complexion and sparkling eyes. She is a woman that Hindley met while at college, married and brought back to Wuthering Heights. She is childish and physically weak, and dies soon after giving birth to Hareton. vii. Hareton Earnshaw

Hareton is a young boy with thick brown curled hair. He is Hindley and Frances only child. He is raised as an uneducated, unpleasant and rude kid. He is like a counterpart of Heathcliffs image.

viii.

Nelly Dean Nelly Dean or more known as Ellen, is the housekeeper of Thrushcross Grange as the movie begins and is the servant of Catherine. She is intelligent and compassionate. She is often more of a friend or relative to the characters than a servant. She knows more of the story than anyone else in the movie. She is the one I see as the narrator of the events happened.

ix.

Joseph Joseph is an old man with unpleasant facial expression at all times. He is the lifelong servant at Wuthering Heights to the Earnshaws. Fanatically Calvinist and selfrighteous, he is unlikable and unkind. He speaks in a strong Yorkshire accent.

x.

Dr. Kenneth He is the doctor from Gimmerton, a plain, rough and frank man. He is always present in the important events in the movie- Mr. Earnshaws death, Haretons birth, Catherine got bitten by a dog, Catherines illness. b. Point of View
c. As both Lockwoods and the readers narrator, Nelly plays the role of the storyteller. Yet at the same time, Nelly is also a character in the story that she tells, occupying a vast array of roles. As a character within her own tale, Nelly attempts to manipulate the actions of her fellow characters. The best way for the reader to understand both Nellys role in the novel and her manipulative actions is to see Nelly as being representative of the author. Authors occupy roles that are similarly as ambiguous as Nellys role, acting as both writers of and characters in their own stories, often unwittingly writing aspects of themselves into a large variety of roles within their own novels. Furthermore, Nellys manipulative actions and biases are analogous to an authors exertions to move the narrative in accordance with her artistic vision. The multiplicity and ambiguity of Nellys roles as...

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...sy to dismiss Nelly as merely being a means to an end. It is because of Nelly that we are allowed the opportunity to hear the story of Wuthering Heights, but the narrative certainly does not revolve around her, and nor should it. The author herself should never occupy more space than her story. Yet by performing a meta-analysis on Nellys role, we can see the importance of not simply dismissing such a character, because her presence says just as much about the turbulences of passion for love as it does about the passion for a writers art.

1. Omniscient 2. First Person 3. Third d. Plot a. Exposition Heathcliff enters the Earnshaw family b. Rising Action Earnshaw dies c. Conflict

d. Climax e. Falling Action f. Resolution

e. Conflict a. Conflict situation i. Man versus man 1. Heathcliff versus Hindley As Heathcliff arrived to the Wuthering Heights 2. Nature versus Culture Nature is represented by the Earnshaw family and by Catherine and Heathcliff to be specific. These characters are driven by their passions, not by reflection or ideals of civility. Also, the house where they live, comes to symbolize a similar wilderness. On the other hand, Thrushcross Grange and the Linton family represent culture, refinement, convention and cultivation.

There was a part where Catherine was bitten by the Lintons dog and brought into Thrushcross Grange, leading to a collision course of the two families. At the time of that first meeting between Linton and Earnshaw households, chaos has already begun to erupt in Wuthering Heights, where Hindleys cruelty and injustice reign, whereas all seems to be fine and peaceful at Thrushcross Grange.

ii. Man versus phenomena iii. Man versus nature iv. Man versus himself b. Conflict statement c. Discussion of conflict statement f. Climax

g. Universal Truths a. Learning Insights b. Central/Message of the story h. Symbolism in the story i. Other elements: a. Sound effects b. Technical c. Artistic d. Costumes e. Cinematography f. Dialogue