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  • Essay / Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights: Setting in Bronte's Novel

    Table of ContentsExploring the Contrast Settings of "Wuthering Heights" in Bronte's NovelThrushcross Grange - Brontë's Contrast with Wuthering HeightsWorks CitedWuthering Heights is a timeless classic in which Emily Brontë presents two opposing settings. Wuthering Heights and its occupants are wild, passionate, and strong while Thrushcross Grange and its inhabitants are calm and refined, and these two opposing forces clash throughout the novel. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayExploring the contrasts of the settings of “Wuthering Heights” in Bronte's novelWuthering Heights is the first setting analyzed in this essay. The manor is located on the moors in an arid landscape. Originally a farmers' cottage, it is located "on that dark hill where the earth was hard with black frost." Because the winds constantly shake the house, “the architect built it solidly; the narrow windows are deeply set into the wall and the corners are defended by large projecting stones.” Even the name suggests its wild side: "'Wuthering' being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed." The bowels of Wuthering Heights “are exposed to the curious eye. Above the fireplace were various old infamous rifles and two horse pistols; and, as decoration, three garishly colored boxes arranged along its edge, the chairs, primitive structures with high backs, painted green; one or two big blacks lurking in the shadows.” The exterior and interior of Wuthering Heights are clearly exposed to tumult and wilderness. Additionally, the people of Wuthering Heights are stormy and wild. Hindley Earnshaw defeats Heathcliff – the adopted “dark-skinned gypsy” – who, with great courage, “would endure Hindley's blows without blinking an eye or shedding a tear”. In one particular instance, Hindley throws an iron weight at Heathcliff, "striking him in the chest, and he falls, but immediately gets up again, out of breath and white." Additionally, as the owner of Wuthering Heights, Hindley has a passion for drunken tantrums. At the sight of Hindley coming home drunk, Nelly Dean removes the shots, "with which he loved to play in his wild excitement" and tries to hide Hareton from his drunken father. As Nelly hides Hareton in the cupboard, Hindley storms home and accuses Nelly of keeping her son away from him, eventually threatening her with a carving knife. And when Hareton neglects to kiss his father, Hindley picks up the frightened boy, denouncing: "I'll break that kid's neck." Then, carrying him up the stairs, Hindley places Hareton over the railing and frees him, barely caught by Heathcliff. Clearly, Hindley acts with mad passion, often resulting in violence. Having grown up in this wild and stormy home, Heathcliff also takes on these attributes. After Hindley plays house and dies, Heathcliff becomes the master, belittling Haretona, the destined gentleman of the region - to a lowly, uneducated, friendless servant, often beating him as Hindley himself did . In addition to beating Hindley's son, Heathcliff also strikes young Cathy in a fit of rage: "with this hand freed, and drawing her upon his knee, he administered with the other a shower of terrible slaps on both sides of the head", and when Nelly tries to stop her, Heathcliff silences her with "a touch on the breast". Like their environment, the occupants of Wuthering Heights are strong, rugged, and stormy. Thrushcross Grange - Brontë's contrast with the,.