Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

How to Read Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (Patreon)

Published:
2022-01-03 19:00:44
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:
haven't archived this post yet. have a subscription? use the importer!

Content

We’re starting the year with a deep-reading of one of the greatest novels of all time.

Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Brontë is a tragic tale of destructive love and fierce revenge, which many readers find emotionally overwhelming.

Today's video will help us prepare to inhabit the dark cosmos of Emily Brontë's work. We're discussing the Byronic anti-hero that is Heathcliff, the symbolism of the moors, men and women in Victorian England, and much more.

Video Timestamps:

  • 0:00 how to read Wuthering Heights
  • 0:52 read in light of the novel’s deadly eros
  • 3:00 the publishing history of Wuthering Heights
  • 4:30 contemporary reviews of Wuthering Heights
  • 5:28 meet Heathcliff as Byronic anti-hero
  • 8:30 two types of man in Brontë’s dark cosmos
  • 9:30 the Brontës’ childhood
  • 10:30 Emily Brontë as Gothic Romantic
  • 11:30 Emily Brontë as Shakespearean novelist
  • 12:10 nature vs civilisation
  • 12:52 symbolism in Wuthering Heights
  • 13:10 Walter Pater’s pathetic fallacy
  • 14:00 Emily Brontë and the Romantic Sublime
  • 15:00 latent vs manifest meaning
  • 15:45 the moors in Wuthering Heights
  • 17:30 the short tragic life of Emily Brontë
  • 18:00 the poetry of Emily Brontë
  • 20:00 social, cultural, and historical context
  • 21:00 men and women in Victorian England
  • 24:00 class strife and social mobility
  • 27:00 Wuthering Heights as set in Hell
  • 28:40 the characters and time of the novel
  • 31:45 Wuthering Heights, King Lear & Moby Dick
  • 32:30 the value of discussing and rereading the novel
  • 33:00 the Wuthering Heights lecture series

Editions of Wuthering Heights

Reading Assignment

Self-pacing is key. So make sure you read at the speed that is most suited to your life. For those staggering their reading as the lectures come out, we will be aiming to read this novel across 4-5 weeks.

Our next video, ‘Meeting Emily Brontë’, will introduce us to the author of this sublime masterpiece. This will be followed by a deep analysis lecture covering the first four chapters.

You might wish to read chapters 1-4 in anticipation for the first lecture. Be on the lookout for things you would like to discuss and share with us.

For Rereaders of Wuthering Heights

If you have already fallen in love with the novel, or would like to deepen your engagement with the text, you might find it useful to compliment your rereading with one of these focused activities:

  • Frame your reading with a focus on a theme that most resonates with you - e.g. ghostly presences, ethnicity, religion, narrative voice, imagery and symbolism.
  • Treat yourself to an adaptation. Ask yourself how faithfully the story was adapted. For example: What does the 1939 film version leave out? Did the Northern Ballet production capture the spirit of the story?
  • Dip into Emily Brontë’s poetry. ‘No Coward Soul Is Mine’ and ‘The Old Stoic’ are two great poems that we will pull apart in lectures together.

Question for you:

What is your current relationship with Wuthering Heights? Is this a first read or a reread for you? If this is your first read, what are you expecting from the novel? 

Happy reading, everybody!

Files

Previews only

How to Read Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (10 Tips)

📚 Read 'Wuthering Heights' with the Hardcore Literature Book Club: https://www.patreon.com/hardcoreliterature/about ———————————— ✨ Reflection Questions for the New Year: https://cutt.ly/LUHbQuV 🎭 Shakespeare's Masterpieces Lecture Series: https://cutt.ly/6UHbRYg ———————————— 📖 Read the Great Books with Hardcore Literature: https://www.patreon.com/hardcoreliterature 🎙️ https://open.spotify.com/show/70IZA248yNVkrjqzDNm6Lt (Subscribe to the Hardcore Literature Podcast on iTunes & Spotify) 🏫 https://hardcore-university.teachable.com(Hardcore University, Exam Preparation Courses) ✍🏼 https://benjaminmcevoy.com My Personal Website ———————————— Hardcore Literature Lecture Series ———————————— 📔Contents Page: https://cutt.ly/CmNhRY3 🚂 Anna Karenina: https://cutt.ly/vmNhAWv 💀 Crime and Punishment: https://cutt.ly/rmNhFt5 ☕ In Search of Lost Time: https://cutt.ly/5mNh8oD 🎠 Don Quixote: https://cutt.ly/cmNjoK4 ⚓ Persuasion: https://cutt.ly/amNhX7b ⚔️ The Hero’s Journey: https://cutt.ly/UmNjrE3 🌸 Siddharta: https://cutt.ly/YmNjuzi ❤️Shakespeare’s Sonnets: https://cutt.ly/nmNlW7V 🕯️ The Turn of the Screw: https://cutt.ly/nToAQQ3 🖋️ Dickens Seasonal Read: https://cutt.ly/9ToAybt ———————————— 0:00 how to read Wuthering Heights 0:52 read in light of the novel’s deadly eros 3:00 the publishing history of Wuthering Heights 4:30 contemporary reviews of Wuthering Heights 5:28 meet Heathcliff as Byronic anti-hero 8:30 two types of man in Brontë’s dark cosmos 9:30 the Brontës’ childhood 10:30 Emily Brontë as Gothic Romantic 11:30 Emily Brontë as Shakespearean novelist 12:10 nature vs civilisation 12:52 symbolism in Wuthering Heights 13:10 Walter Pater’s pathetic fallacy 14:00 Emily Brontë and the Romantic Sublime 15:00 latent vs manifest meaning 15:45 the moors in Wuthering Heights 17:30 the short tragic life of Emily Brontë 18:00 the poetry of Emily Brontë 20:00 social, cultural, and historical context 21:00 men and women in Victorian England 24:00 class strife and social mobility 27:00 Wuthering Heights as set in Hell 28:40 the characters and time of the novel 31:45 Wuthering Heights, King Lear & Moby Dick 32:30 the value of discussing and rereading the novel 33:00 the Wuthering Heights lecture series

Comments

Daisy

Looking forward to reading Wuthering Heights for the first time. This has been in my TBR list for far too long. When I saw that there's a new movie adaptation coming out next year starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, I set myself a goal to read the book before the movie is out. I have just read Rebecca by Du Maurier and really enjoyed the gothic. So, I swapped Jane Austen in the reading schedule for Emily Bronte instead.

Jennifer
>>194521923

How did you go Daisy? I'm just starting the lecture series for my -nth re-read! It's one of my favourite novels.

Josie Swallow

If you’re interested in art history, this is a fabulous presentation of one of JMW Turner’s paintings, comparing the subject, mood, landscape and Romantic imagery to Wuthering Heights. This National Gallery YouTube channel is full of delights and really deserves to be better known. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! https://youtu.be/uEbuxTH5yp8?si=GhvtJHQXjsCMaFtG

Roger Hunter

I read Wuthering Heights last June. My niece has just started to read the book so I thought it would be a something we could discuss. After I finished the book, I did watch the 1939 film version. I am not sure I would have finished the book, if I didn’t think my niece was also reading it. Dark book. Hopefully, with your guidance, the reread will be better for me. Ironically, my niece didn’t make it past chapter 3. Summer came and she became re-acquainted with her friends, after a year of remote learning.

Cristiana

I would be so glad to explore the avenues highlighted here, look at the history, poetry and life of the writer; and look for the symbolism. The last few chapters are difficult to read, so much so that I cannot wait to finish it. However, excited to study it. Thank you.

James

My experience with Wuthering Heights is extensive and it's a novel I have been revisiting almost annually since high school and, is the first classic novel I recommended to friends who have not read the 'great books'. Growing up in similar areas to the Bronte's (as I mentioned on a previous comment), my own experiences in Howarth and the moors and, being in a theatre adaptation of the novel have all given me unique (I feel) perspectives on Wuthering Heights that I am excited to share with the group. Side thought - I have had a number of people tell me they don't connect with the story due to what they describe as a lack of plot. I find this interesting because I feel Wuthering Heights is really about the complex contrasting characters and the mood the landscape evokes. A lack of 'plot' has never stuck out to me!

Nate

This is my first read of Wuthering Heights. I read Jane Eyre a few years back and really enjoyed it but never got around to any more Brontë works until now. I read the first three chapters yesterday evening and it is not what I expected, I don’t want to spoil anything in my comments but I was terrified at a certain scene early on, especially with the wind and rain blowing outside as I read. I think I’m going to finish chapter four and then reread them a again in preparation for the lectures. Heathcliffe immediately is a very striking character and I very much hope I get to learn more about Hareton Earnshaw. Thank you for this great video and cannot wait to learn more from you all. I really look forward to hearing more insights on the area from James.

Susan

This is a first time of reading Wuthering Heights, apart from what you have mentioned (I quickly skipped the spoiler bit) I know nothing. Oh - I know the song Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush lol

Holly Puckette

This is a first time for me. I've always heard of this novel as almost a portrait of obsession, so I really enjoyed this lecture and its expansion on the themes to look for in the book.

Denise Powers

This is the first time I have read this. I have been avoiding plot spoilers like mad as I am reading this more slowly than any book I have ever read in my life (reading each chapter twice and then pausing to journal on themes, motifs and characters before moving on). I have no expectations of the novel, but I am curious to see what the fuss is all about! So far, (it is early days, still) I am in love with it.

Ellen M

This will be my 3rd or 4th reread of Wuthering Heights, but it has been many years since the last. Im curious to see what my thoughts will be. This year I reread quite a few novels I loved in the past and had different views on a couple of them. It’s so true that where you are in your life really changes how you approach literature. What hasnt changed this time is the difficulty I find in Joseph’s dialogue. Ben, I don’t know the dialect so I hope you’ll touch on this in the lectures! Does anyone else get irritated by dialogue written in the supposed accent of the character?

Dee

I must confess that this will be my sixth read of the novel. The first time was when I was seventeen, I started it one evening and stayed up all night to finish it in one sitting. Really wish I could stay awake all night now, no chance! Every time I’ve reread it I’ve worried that getting older and more worldly would change the impact it has on me, but no, every time it still hits me over the head and runs off with my imagination. I’m going to try to slow down and look beyond its surface impact this time.

Cristiana
>>74964494

Yes, haha, I do! I am so eager to keep reading that I don’t give it the time to make more out of it. It is a Yorkshire accent she is doing. At first it made me think, wow was this how all working class people spoke, or maybe just the farmers for the servants had to be able to speak better. Having lived in Yorkshire a few years in the past I am sure I can pick it up if I give it some time. I found a reading of the novel on YouTube and listened to the first chapter. I was pleased to hear it is English haha, and realised it is Yorkshire accent. Later I learned that the writer was from the area. Strong hard accent to pick up if not familiar with it but audio is great for it.

Caroline P

I agree with Dee, every time I reread this I wonder if I will have lost the pleasure reading it brings. I never have and am now enjoying it hugely all over again. As to the poetry, I really enjoy that too. I love the ones we will discuss but also ‘The starry night shall tidings bring…’ ‘in the earth, the earth thou shalt be laid…’ and ‘May flowers are opening…’ among others. I like how Emily Bronte always veers off into the blackness and unexpected gloom. Is ‘like’ the right word?

Pablo

👋🏻 Comrades 🙂 Fabulous primer for this read yet again Ben; thanks so much, I’m very excited to get going on this now 😀 No pre-existing relationship with Emily Bronte or Wuthering Heights (other than the famous song by 80’s gothic pixie Kate Bush!) Another rather infamous novel choice with a lot of adaptations that seems very deeply imbedded in the western collective consciousness, doesn’t it? People have an impression of Heathcliff without having read the novel and know that ‘the moors’ are the settling. Buoyed up by the Mary Shelly read of Frankenstein at Halloween and still on a high from the moors and the forge of Pip’s Great Expectations. I have come to a new appreciation of the romantic and gothic movements more broadly over the last couple of months and am really looking forwards to this read. As an aside it was interesting to hear Ben mention Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the introduction lecture, as I was gifted a rather nice piece of art a day calendar for Christmas, and todays picture is Elaine by Emma Sandys – Fortune synchronicity; I hope so 🤞🏻😀 More romantic sublime for me please captain!

Dee
>>74989739

Pablo, I received the same lovely calendar for Christmas too (after dropping a very blunt hint) and was looking at ‘Elaine’ just prior to reading your post 😃

Erik Bajzert
>>74936531

I can only imagine how powerful Bronte's desription of the moors must feel havign come from such a similar upbringing! I can't wait to hear more about those experiences.

Erik Bajzert

Wuthering Heights and I have a bit of a history, despite me never actually having read it all the way through. The novel was a particular favourite of my twelth grade English teacher, who had been trying for years to get it onto the syllabus with much resistence from the entire department. "Too hard and too dark" were the reasons we never covered it. I picked up my copy of Wuthering Heights shortly before graduation, where it sat unread on my shelf for many years. I figured that I'd get around to it when I was brave. Towards the end of my undergrad I picked it up for the first time and made it about 60 pages in. I was really enjoying it! I drew my own family tree to keep all the characters' names and relationships clear and consulted it whenever I was confused. However, exams hit and I dropped the book out of necessity. I have a bad habit of dropping things and not finishing them- books, TV shows, games, you name it. I once again figured I would get to the rest eventually. That "eventually" is transforming to "now!" I'm eager to see this read through to the end and to engage with the novel on a much deeper level than I would have in the past. I expect this to be a moody, interesting and entertaining read as a whole! I can't wait to keep up with the discussions here.

hardcoreliterature
>>74935418

That's really interesting to hear because many readers find the first 3-4 chapters dark and disorienting to the point of nearly abandoning the work - I know I did too. But that social accountability is such a magical thing. As for the 1939 film version, I love Laurence Olivier, but I see the director has having left some of my favourite parts of the novel out.

hardcoreliterature
>>74938174

Very nice, Nate. Your reading of Jane Eyre will serve you so well for Wuthering Heights - they're certainly complimentary novels. I'm glad to hear you were terrified early on. Emily is wonderful at instilling an icy fear in her readers. I know exactly the passage you are referencing. Returning to this scene after reading the novel through makes for an incredibly chilling experience. I'm also looking forward to hearing more about James' theatrical experience!

hardcoreliterature
>>74939731

A portrait of obsession is the perfect description of this novel, Holly. I'm so happy to hear you're sharing your first reading with us. I hope you love it :)

hardcoreliterature
>>74942867

Yay! Another first reader :) This is such a wonderful group, we seem to have a real fifty-fifty split between first readers and rereaders, which is perfect in my opinion. Well done on avoiding spoilers, Denise. I can't wait to hear more of your thoughts as we make our way through it!

hardcoreliterature
>>74969284

Your sixth reading! This must be your favourite, or at least one of your favourites, Dee! My first reading would have been when I was eighteen, and like you I read it in one sitting. I was on a long train ride from Yorkshire to Oxford, it was completely dark outside, and I devoured the book. I was lost in it. So much so that the older lady who had sat next to me for the trip had to "applaud" my reading before she got up. I must have looked incredibly engrossed! Thanks for sharing your experience :)

hardcoreliterature
>>74973498

What a wonderful feeling. Approaching a book with trepidation, hoping not to damage it with a rereading through the passing of time - and yet having the book hold up! Wuthering Heights has never lost its magic for me either, Caroline. It actually improves with each reading, and I fancy that I can glimpse just a little more Emily between the lines with each reading.

hardcoreliterature
>>75014863

That's so fascinating to hear, Erik. The faculty resisted because it was too hard and dark! I wonder, what did they want students to read in its place? Because we had Charlotte Perkins Gliman's The Yellow Wallpaper on our syllabus, which was rather dark itself. I'm excited to hear that you enjoyed what you read of WH so far. I've had to drop so many books because of exams and life getting in the way. As one who reads multiple books on rotation, it's only natural that many will fall by the wayside. But you're here now, and you're in a perfect position to get so much out of this one. I can't wait to hear your thoughts as we make out way through :)

Kayla Shae

I’m so excited for this one! Wuthering Heights was my first introduction to higher literature when I was around 16. Im curious if the Barnes and Noble classics edition is an alright edition or should I pick up one of the ones you mentioned?

Jenny C

Thank you for this! I listened to it while wandering along the ocean bluffs at deep dusk, with a cold wind whirling around me--what a setup! I'd love to love this novel. I've only read it once, long ago, and then only because I was so obsessed with Jane Eyre, and figured her sister's famous work would be just as mesmerizing. But I had a hard time finishing it and don't remember anything except the mood of despair and my confusion. Your video was inspiring and helpful, though, and I've just opened up my big 1943 edition (with the Eichenberg engravings) for a trip to the moors. I'm very glad to have your guidance!

sharon salmon

Thank you Ben for organising and what a warming and welcoming community here. I have just joined the HLBC in the last month and get so excited when a new video drops or we have an update on our schedule. I have started WH and I am on chapter 4; it's a reread. I first read the novel when I was doing my GCE in English Literature many moons ago, so I really have forgotten most of the book apart from the complexity of the main characters and how the story is presented, a story within a story and the gothic backdrop. Totally enjoying the book so far and have to stop myself from reading on too much as I want the words to wash over me and to make sure that I understand the meanings and taking into account some of the things you have used as guides for us to look out for. I love that I bought a cheap Wandsworth's classic version of the book and I am marking and bending the pages to my hearts content. I have never read books like that before and enjoying the experience very much. I have also ordered my copy of King Lear and the other banquets of blood in our series for Shakespeare reading and cannot wait to read King Lear. Looking forward to hearing the discussions here. Thank you for sharing your knowledge Ben. Happy reading folks.

Sharon xx

Hi everyone. Thank you for a fab introduction to reading WH’s, Ben. I picked this up in August last year after a visit to, The Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth. That was a real bucket list day!!! I read about three quarters of it and then realised it was on our schedule for early this year so I stopped reading so I could start it all over again with all of you. Emily is my favourite Brontë sister because I identify with her more than Anne and Charlotte. I love her poetry and it’s through reading her verse that my affinity with her has grown. Her poetry is an absolute delight and well worth reading/studying in tandem with WH’s. Visiting where she lived and walking where she walked was one of the best experience of my life!! Looking forward to sharing Emily with all of you x x

Sharon xx
>>75253063

PS the family tree is an excellent idea as my brain was addled trying to keep up. It would no doubt be an easier, and therefore more enjoyable (?), read if it were more straight forward but that’s not what Emily wrote or intended. To read it with all its tangles and complications is to walk beside Emily. To feel as she felt; to begin to know her. This is one of our very few links to how her mind worked so to change that would be to break that link. Unthinkable!

hardcoreliterature
>>75102734

Sublime setup! I find that readers definitely have a preferred Brontë - often between Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, but I've seen The Tenant of Wildfell Hall get a lot of love too. I'm glad I could convince you to open your beautiful copy, Jenny, and would love to hear what you make of the novel this time around!

hardcoreliterature
>>75125844

Thank you, Sharon :) That makes me so happy to hear! And I am even happier to learn that not only are you enjoying the novel, but you're marking your pages too! You have really taken to this deep-reading. I can't wait to hear some of your thoughts on Wuthering Heights and the Shakespearean tragedies. Happy reading!

Steve Horan

My first read. I’d read about the Bronte sisters and thought it so unusual that three sisters could all be famous authors. As a result, I picked up WH by Emily, JE by Charlotte, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne from the Folio Society. Beautiful books, and excited to get started on my first of the three. As for impressions, I’ve heard this is a dark book and that Heathcliff is a scoundrel. Does this turn out to be true and will I like it?

Michelle Best

Hi all sorry for the late comments. This is my first read of Wuthering Heights. I nearly moved to Haworth but was put off by the isolation of the place (I don’t drive so had visions of being trapped there in winter time). Like some of the comments above I love the atmosphere of Kate Bush’s song, this has made me intrigued to read the novel but never got round to it until now.

Benjie Baladad

Joining the rest of the club in reading Wuthering Heights (I have the Modern Library Torchbearers edition and the covers look amazing)! This will be my first read of the novel and I can't wait!

Jetzabel Peniche

This is my first time read of Wuthering Heights and Emily Brontë. I have heard of Wuthering Heights but never are an effort to read it so I am excited to read about Heathcliff and Catherine.

Lori Miller

Dear Ben and members of the Hardcore Literature Book Club, I’m excited to begin my journey with you. I’m starting with Wuthering Heights. This is my third reading. The word which characterized my first reading is “confused” (the narrative structure, the repeating and intertwined names, my idea that this was a love story...well, it is a love story, but not that kind of love story.) My second reading was wonderful because I was able to start scratching the surface of the big ideas and themes of the novel, along with a beginning awe and appreciation of the genius of Emily Brontë. My third reading…Wuthering Heights has become “mine.” It will affect the way I understand and navigate through life, and I will come back to it again and again. It has me contemplating why a book is “great,” and what causes us to form these deep attachments. For me, it is when it touches on eternal themes both in the world-at-large and within ourselves. Wuthering Heights certainly does that. Written over 150 years ago, we yet and always will grapple with the ferocity of the natural world and our nature vs. the order and civilization we try to impose on both, masculine vs. feminine (highest and lowest ideals), raw emotion vs. restrained or tempered emotion, class and otherness vs. common humanity, power politics vs. consensus and diplomacy. I appreciate the encouragement to read the book focused on a particular lens. What a wonderful way to challenge ourselves and the text. When I first heard of the Hardcore Literature Book Club, I was intrigued. Although I love books and BookTube, the shear volume of books I wish I could read is oppressive, and in many ways not satisfying, like going to a happy hour and just sampling a variety of hor d’oeuvres as opposed to a leisurely and complete dinner with friends. I appreciate what you, Ben, are encouraging us to do with deep reading, and I look forward to many full course meals with you all, my new deep reading friends.

Scott W

This will be my first read of Wuthering Heights. I didn't know if I'd fit this one in but it looks achievable. I recently read Jane Eyre and really enjoyed it, especially the tumultuous romance at the heart of that novel and the later sections out on the moors.. I suppose I might be looking for more of that, more exploration of the destructive power of love, more of the sublime English moors, more Bronte.. Yes, very much looking forward to this one even though I'll be reading behind the group a little way.