NON-AFRICAN PROSE: WUTHERING HEIGHTS (Emily Brontë)
Discuss the use of "the weather," "the window," and "the setting" as symbols in the novel.
In Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, the physical world is inextricably linked to the internal lives of the characters. Brontë utilizes the weather, the window, and the broader setting of the Yorkshire moors not merely as backdrops, but as powerful symbols that mirror emotional states, represent social boundaries, and facilitate the supernatural elements of the plot.
The weather in the novel serves as a form of "pathetic fallacy," where the external environment reflects the internal turmoil of the protagonists. The frequent storms ("wuthering" itself refers to the atmospheric tumult) are synonymous with Heathcliff and Catherine’s wild, untamed love.
A massive storm breaks on the night Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights after overhearing Catherine say it would "degrade" her to marry him. The lightning and thunder symbolize the shattering of their unity. The heavy snowfall at the start of the novel traps Lockwood at the Heights, forcing the initial encounter with Catherine’s ghost. Here, the weather acts as a fate-driven force that compels characters to confront truths they would rather avoid. The window is perhaps the most recurring symbol in the novel, representing the thin, often permeable line between the inside (civilization/safety) and the outside (nature/the unknown), as well as between life and death.
In the famous scene where Lockwood dreams of Catherine Linton’s ghost, she tries to enter through a window, crying "Let me in!" This symbolizes her trapped spirit’s desire to return to the "home" of her childhood. When young Heathcliff and Catherine spy on the Lintons through the window of Thrushcross Grange, the glass acts as a social barrier. They see a world of luxury they are excluded from, which eventually sparks Catherine’s desire for social elevation. At the end of the novel, Heathcliff is found dead with the window wide open. This symbolizes his soul finally escaping the "prison" of his body to join Catherine on the moors.
The setting is built on the symbolic contrast between two locations: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Wuthering Heights is perched on a hill and exposed to the elements and built of strong stone. It represents the raw, "stormy" side of human nature—passion, revenge, and tradition. It is the natural home of Heathcliff. Thrushcross Grange is located in the valley, sheltered and lush. It represents the "calm" side of life—civilisation, wealth, refinement and social convention. It is the home of the Lintons. The vast, treacherous and beautiful moors that lie between the two houses represent a middle ground. For Catherine and Heathcliff, the moors are a symbol of ultimate freedom and an egalitarian space where their spirits can exist without the constraints of class or marriage.
By skillfully weaving these symbols together, Emily Brontë creates a narrative where the environment is alive. The weather, the windows, and the settings do more than provide atmosphere; they provide the vocabulary for the characters’ deepest desires and conflicts. Through these symbols, the novel suggests that human passion is as inevitable and unstoppable as a Yorkshire storm, and that the boundaries we build—whether social glass or stone walls—are ultimately unable to contain the human spirit.
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