Outside(rs) and Inside(rs). Belonging and Alienation in Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights" (PDF)

Essay from the year 2004 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: D+, James Cook University (James Cook University), course: Critical Reading, language: English, abstract: Man-made barriers such as windows, doorways and fences, and the harsh nature of the Yorkshire moors are presented as physical boundaries that delineate the state of being 'inside' or 'outside', which is indicative of the characters' status: whether they inhabit their respective environments as either 'insiders' or 'outsiders'. Symbolically, these thresholds between 'culture' and 'nature' separate different ways of life.

The people and the landscape in which they live are set in stark contrast: conventional gentile civilisation against the actions of the elements, the forces of the natural world. Brontë applies boundaries to show the conflicting states of attraction and repulsion that make up the drama - the story of two families caught in a feud. The main characters are caught in a struggle either to overcome their alienation in a particular setting or to escape from a forced inclusion: the child Heathcliff suffers from being excluded from the Earnshaw family as an unwelcomed outsider; as an adult, he will spend his life taking revenge on the ones that once mistreated and deprived him of his position. Isabella Linton rushes into a miserable marriage with Heathcliff and becomes his prisoner at the Heights until she manages to escape. Cathy Earnshaw is much closer to Heathcliff than to her brother Hindley; they are soulmates, inseparable and tied by a spiritual bond that transcends time and place. Their relationship is tempestuous but exclusive. When Cathy accepts Edgars' proposal, she chooses the cultured life and thereby voluntarily removes herself from the influence of her family and Heathcliff. Once inside the Grange, she soon realizes that she has lost her freedom as well as her place at the Heights.