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Key Examples in Wuthering Heights
Genre
Explanation and Analysis:
Wuthering Heights is a Gothic novel with an undertone of romance. Gothic novels became extremely popular in England, from the 18th century through the Victorian era when Brontë wrote. Supernatural elements are the genre's most famous characteristic, and Brontë fulfills that convention through the appearance of Catherine's ghost (or at least the teasing possibility thereof) in Chapter 3; Brontë leaves it ambiguous whether the ghost was literally present or just a dream, but strongly hints that Catherine's spirit truly does haunt the Heights. The supernatural is also reflected in the novel's spooky setting: the remote, windswept moor and 300-year-old Wuthering Heights with its gargoyles, stunted trees, and air of neglected grandeur. Old, historic, crumbling buildings are a major feature of Gothic literature, helping create a tone of dark, mysterious history, isolation, and potential danger.
Related Themes:
