Settings and Characters in Wuthering Heights.

            

             Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. 'Wuthering' being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather . . . One may guess the power of the north wind blowing over the edge, by the excessive slant of a few stunted firs at the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the sun. Happily, the architect had foresight to build it strong: the narrow windows are deeply set in the wall, and the corners defended with large jutting cornerstones (Bronte 2).

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             This is a description of Wuthering Heights by Mr. Lockwood, a narrator, who is first witnessing the foreboding household. .

             Ah! It was beautiful - a splendid place carpeted with crimson, and crimson-covered chairs and tables, and a pure white ceiling bordered by gold, a shower of glass-drops hanging in silver chains from the centre, and shimmering with little soft tapers (Bronte 40).

             This is a description of Thrushcross Grange from the point of view of young Heathcliff, a major character in the novel. The two main settings in Wuthering Heights, the houses of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, are so opposite that it simply begs for analysis. Similarly, the characters juxtapose each other and personify each house's characteristics. The wild, uncivilized manner of Wuthering Heights and the high, cultured, civilized nature of Thrushcross Grange are reflected in the characters who inhabit them by use of their dissimilar settings.

             Wuthering Heights is a grim, thick-walled farmhouse built near the moors (Bloom 10). According to Eleanor Hubbard, it could simply not exist anywhere else (1). The moors are described as cruel and unsheltering, and as a savage earthly paradise (Bloom 12). There is a certain harshness to the moors around Wuthering Heights which suits its inherent qualities.