I have a confession to make. This could get me into a lot of trouble with my colleagues and students, but I’m going to be brave and confess it anyway. I’m reading Wuthering Heights. For the first time.
Ok, maybe this is not such a big deal to all you non-English major types out there (oh be real, Lynn – if anyone’s reading this blog it’s certainly only going to be English-major types) but I just never read it before. Never even saw a movie of it. I’ve started it numerous times, but just never got past the first few pages. Didn’t like it. Of course I’ve heard people talk about it – Heathcliff and Cathy, tragic romance, so beautiful, so sad, blah blah blah. So finally, inspired by you, blog readers, and my desire to be a well-informed guide to literature on your behalf, I decided it was time to plug this hole in my reading.
I still don’t like it. I don’t like him—Heathcliff, that is. Am I supposed to? He’s a nasty fellow. Of course the way the book is written, from the point of view of the servant, Ellen Dean, and a few other points of view – letters, Mr. Lockwood’s, Isabella Linton – he is purposely presented as awful, mean, hardhearted, cruel – downright despicable in fact (except where Cathy is concerned – well, maybe even then). So I’m thinking, ok, Brontë is going to present Heathcliff as unlikeable but it’s going to turn out he was just misunderstood and a good guy after all. But that ain’t happening yet. And Cathy’s no great shakes herself—she’s self-centered, hot-tempered, and condescending. But we’ll see – right now I’m in the superficial mode – just reading it for the story. I’ll finish, analyze, rethink, look at some criticism – gotta do all those good English major things to make up for my negligence!
One thing that puts me off is the art on the cover of the edition I’m reading. It’s an old edition (dates from my childhood – the first time I was supposed to have read it and didn’t) – a New American Library pocket-sized hardcover – they don’t make those anymore. And the cover price is $1.60 – that certainly marks it as being old! It has the two figures of Heathcliff &Cathy on the front, him in front in a big black cloak and cravat, she in back, only her upper torso and head showing above his shoulder, in a black gown with a low décolletage, her head turned away from him. Not very compelling. And his hair is red! Heathcliff is described over and over as black – his moods, his scowls, and certainly his hair!
It would be interesting to make a study of the various covers of this book. Perhaps I shall do so…
Oh look! It’s already done for me on Google – a collection of Wuthering Heights images:
http://www.google.com/images?hl=&q=wuthering+heights&rlz=1B2RNFA_enUS262US363&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=Zh9cTJGqO8L78Abl09yuAg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=16&ved=0CHoQsAQwDw&biw=1280&bih=578
Ooh, a movie version with Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche – I’d watch that. I think I’ll skip the Laurence Olivier/Merle Oberon 1939 version – I just watched a trailer from it and it’s too overwrought for me (although Olivier was very handsome then and does look the part).
Back to my reading…
(written 7/23, posted 10/14 – still catching up on writing about my summer reading!)
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