Emily Brontë

A cura di Annabel Pope
 Wuthering Heights is considered to be one of the greatest works in English literature because of its plot, the gallery of characters which spans two generations, the Gothic element and its sentimental and psychological aspects.
 It is the disturbing story of an impossible love from the first childish games on the Yorkshire moors up to Cathy’s death and beyond, in a desperate pursuit of love which transcends life. Grudges, wickedness and cruel revenge, together with bursts of human generosity and passion, all take place inside or not far away from the main character of this novel: the house, i.e. “Wuthering Heights”.
 The numerous in-depth analyses are about the Brontë sisters, the setting of the story, the writer’s poetry, music and works of art inspired by Wuthering Heights, its adaptations for cinema, and the Gothic element present in the novel. 
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Transcripts - Summing-up Activities
 
 Wuthering Heights di Emily Brontë è considerata una delle più grandi opere della letteratura inglese.
 È la storia inquietante di un amore impossibile. Rancori, perfidie e vendette crudeli accanto a slanci di umana partecipazione si svolgono tutti dentro o poco distanti dal protagonista assoluto del romanzo: la casa, chiamata “Wuthering Heights”.
 I numerosi approfondimenti vertono su Emily e le sorelle Brontë, la poesia dell’autrice, i film e la musica e la tematica gotica che il romanzo ha ispirato.

Chapter 1 – A Strange Household

Extension: Who was Emily Brontë?

Chapter 2 – Heathcliff and Cathy

Extension: The Brontë country

Chapter 3 – Separation and Reunion

Extension: Emily and her poetry

Chapter 4 – Cathy’s Decline

Extension: Wuthering Heights: the films

Chapter 5 – Twelve Years Later

Extension: Who has Wuthering Heights inspired?

Chapter 6 – Heathcliff’s Revenge

Extension: Gothic and supernatural elements in Wuthering Heights

Chapter 7 – Epilogue

Extension: Haworth churchyard

Summing-up activities

Glossary

TheEmilyAuthor Bront  Emily Bront  was born on 30th July 1818 in Thornton, Yorkshire, in the north of England. She was the fifth child of Maria Branwell, and Patrick Brunty, an Irish clergyman1 who was such an admirer of Nelson that he changed his name from Brunty to Bront  after the King of Naples created Nelson  Duke of Bronte  (the diaeresis means that  e  must be pronounced). In 1820, he became parson2 of Haworth, a remote village on the Yorkshire moors3. Her mother died when she was only three, followed by her two elder sisters, Marie and Elizabeth, who both caught tuberculosis while at school. Emily and her elder sister Charlotte returned to the parsonage4, where their aunt had come to look after them, with their brother Branwell and their little sister Anne. Here their education was the freedom of the wild, desolate moors and the intense, emotional contact with nature it gave them, as well as easy access to their father s library, where they not only devoured books such as the Bible, Homer, Virgil, Shakespeare, Milton, Scott and Byron, but also magazines on current affairs. Their vivid imaginations were inspired by a box of toy soldiers that their father brought home to Branwell from Leeds. This gift and the lonely childhood they lived led to their invention of a magical, imaginary world in which they played, and about which they began to write plays and poetry. Charlotte and her brother created the island of  Angria  while, in 1834, Emily and Anne branched off5 into  Gondral . Their writing was to find its inspiration in these make-believe6 worlds. Most of Emily s excursions into the outside world ended in disillusionment and retreat home. In 1835 she attended Roe Head 1. clergyman: a minister of the Christian church. 2. parson: a protestant clergyman who looks after a church and its parish. 3. moor: an open area of hills covered with rough grass. 4. parsonage: a parson s house (a parson is a member of the Protestant clergy). 5. branched off: left a path and took another direction. 6. make-believe: imaginary, like a child s game of pretending. 4 

School but became ill and returned to Haworth. Two years later, in 1837, she spent six months as a governess7 at a girls  school near Halifax, but once again came back unwell. Their independence, financial included, was of great importance to the sisters, so in 1842 Charlotte and Emily went to Brussels to learn French and widen their education with the view to opening their own school. However, their aunt died, and she came home after only a few months. The school was never opened. Emily was often alone at home, where she took on the responsibilities of housekeeper after the death of her aunt. She was never without animals, and would never miss an opportunity to escape to the moors to which she was intensely attached and which were her solace8 in times of trouble. In 1845, Charlotte happened to come across a book of Emily s early poems and was deeply impressed by them. With great difficulty she persuaded her to publish a volume of the sisters  joint poems, under the pseudonyms of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, which disguised their female identity. Its publication encouraged them to have faith in their ability to earn a living by writing, so each sister began to write a novel: Emily Wuthering Heights, Charlotte The Professor and Anne Agnes Grey. In the meantime, their beloved, handsome, sensitive brother, Branwell, had become addicted to drink and drugs, unable to cope with personal problems. Emily and her sisters watched his tragic decline, until he finally caught tuberculosis and died on 24th September 1848. It was very probably at his funeral that Emily contracted the same disease, and not long afterwards it became clear that she too had the fatal cough and weakness. Emily s stoicism and quiet, unspoken courage remained with her to the end. On the morning of 19th December 1848, Charlotte took a walk to find a sprig9 of heather10 to place on her sister s pillow. She was deeply moved11 by Emily s  stern, simple, undemonstrative  death later that day, as she helplessly watched her  turning her dying eyes reluctantly from the pleasant sun 12. 7. governess: a lady employed to educate the children of a wealthy family in their own home. 8. solace: something or someone which makes you feel better when you are sad or disappointed. 9. sprig: a very small stem with leaves on it picked from a bush or plant. 10. heather: a wild plant with white or purple flowers which grows on open land and hills. 11. moved: had strong feelings of sadness. 12. from one of Charlotte s letters. 5 

Narrativa inglese, livello B2 intermedio. Il romanzo di Emily Brontë è considerato una delle più grandi opere della letteratura inglese.

Wuthering Heights - Collana RAINBOWS

Level B2 • Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

Wuthering Heights

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