Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

101 reviews

dark emotional sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

my favorite book ever, i wish white people could read.

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dark tense
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Loveable characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I hated everyone! Justice for Edgar Linton

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was still a pretty difficult read, although I definitely understood it more reading it the 2nd time than the first. However, it seems the intention of the book is actually to confuse the reader with its dream-like metaphysical state and constant confusion of the naming schemes of characters, and that the writers who wrote the introduction for the book and critical analysis thereafter also were confused and had to re-read. Maybe by a third or fourth read, I'll actually enjoy it. Also, the version I read delved into some of the history of Emily Bronte, which I enjoyed. 

TLDR: an important contribution to the literary canon, but definitely not a 'fun' or 'enjoyable' read. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I found Wuthering Heights to be refreshing after reading Jane Eyre. Both Charlotte and Emily have tremendous talent in storytelling, albeit vastly different modes of portraying themes, characters and morality. It is as though they have lived completely different lives, Charlotte is inspired by what is good and godly, Emily is attracted to darkness and misery. The content warnings could be rolling out the door.

Wuthering Heights delves into the reality of many people’s lives in Emily’s era, through morbid, selfish characters and of course her narcissistic / sociopathic anti-hero, Heathcliff who becomes a tyrannical patriarch. His ability to do so is enlightening in regards to the ease in which a man can inflict cruelty on those around him, especially women, with impunity from the law. Power-hungry and sadistic, Heathcliff seeks revenge for the way he was treated in childhood and for how his love was stolen from him— the only person who can stir positive feeling in him. Although Heathcliff is abhorrent, he is so intriguing and his devotion to Catherine renders this morally indefensible character understandable to the eyes of many readers. Although we cannot excuse his temperance, cunning and evil nature, we sympathise with the little orphan Romani boy he once was, treated terribly, until Catherine “saved” him, and her father warmed up to him.
In death, Catherine saves him once more, and calls him to the other side; or at least we may deduce this from his delirious state during the days leading to his death.


I am still reflecting on this novel and I shall be for a while, however here are some quotes which are poignant/of interest:

Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and Linton is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire. - Catherine Earnshaw, 78 
so who’s trying to merge souls? 

What were the use of my creation, if I were entirely contained here? My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff’s miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning; my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and, if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the Universe would turn to a mighty stranger…Nelly, I am Heathcliff— - Catherine Earnshaw, 79-80
I love that the line between love and obsession is so faint, it may as well not be there between Catherine and Heathcliff 

The moment her regard ceased, I would have torn his heart out, and drunk his blood! - Heathcliff, 143
Heathcliff is toxic (understatement) but I liked the vampiric imagery, he quite figuratively is a vampire seeking to use and destroy for his own ends/pleasure/consumption.  

“I wish I could hold you…till we were both dead! I shouldn’t care what you suffered. I care nothing for your sufferings. Why shouldn’t you suffer? I do!” - Catherine Earnshaw, 152
Well might Catherine deem that Heaven would be a land of exile to her, unless, with her mortal body, she cast away her moral character also. - Nelly Dean, assuming the role of narrator, 152
I also appreciate how love and hate are intertwined, and how selfish they are in love— it’s difficult to determine whether they act for their lover or themselves, and yet it is both since they seem to be eternally bound. 

…and on my approaching hurriedly to ascertain if she had fainted, he gnashed at me, and foamed like a mad dog, and gathered her to him with greedy jealousy. - Nelly Dean, 154
“…Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy? I have not one word of comfort— you deserve this. You have killed yourself…wring out my kisses and tears. They’ll blight you— they’ll damn you.” “I love my murderer—but yours! How can I?” - Heathcliff, 154-155
Their passion, through their disdain, through their spite, through their jealousy, it is unbreakable. Their tempestuous relationship is solidified as an unstoppable force in this scene, and unfortunately the surrounding characters (their family!) are drawn into the wreckage of the storm. 
In regards to the narration, I love Nelly Dean, especially when she portrays Heathcliff in a preternatural, primal light, it fits the dark, gothic mood and it adds a sparkle to his enigmatic, morally grey character. 

I finish this review under the misty full moon, left with feelings of repulsion and curiosity towards Wuthering Heights

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dark reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This isn’t meant to be a feel-good book. You’ll have more questions coming out than going in. Dark, foreboding tragedy with elements of generational curses/trauma - a lot of film adaptations will interpret this as romantic when it’s not the main focus. Classic for a reason and I wish the author had not passed away so young.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional slow-paced
Loveable characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings