Ghosts, Magic & Witches ¦ Wuthering Heights Guide Ep.10

In this video we look at the supernatural elements in Wuthering Heights. Is Catherine's ghost real? Is Catherine a witch? How did Heathcliff die?

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MUSIC USED:

[teresamagnusson]

Cathy returns to bang on the window of her old room, not necessarily to off Lockwood

[nadinemuhlhaus]

I finished reading the book yesterday and was a bit sad cause I had nobody to discuss it with, but today I discovered your series and watched it entirely. It gave me so many new interesting perspectives and thought-provoking connections! Thank you so much for making this, I'm definitely looking forward to your future videos! :)

[julieross]

Lockwood has Catherine on his mind because he's been reading her diary, but at this point he does not know she's dead. She says she's been wandering for twenty years, which almost corresponds to the amount of time she's been dead (I think it's more like 16 years, but maybe ghosts aren't great at keeping track of time!) and I think points to her being a ghost rather than a dream as it is something else that Lockwood didn't know.

[alfredosolari]

I have just finished watching your series of videos on the novel Wuthering Heights. I can only describe it as absolutely outstanding. You say that it took a lot of time and effort. Well, that is clear. You have really done your research well and worked very hard to put all this together. You have a very professional way of making this densely packed novel easier to understand. I will recommend your videos to my colleagues and students.
Thank you very much indeed.

[davebonello]

(Melanie here) I just read Wuthering Heights for the first time. Your videos are excellent. I really enjoyed your insights.

[KarenSDR]

Wow! Thanks for this series. I've read Wuthering Heights about once a year for 53 years; I just finished another re-read when I found your videos. And you've given me some new things to think about. "The Earnshaws have won; when Cathy marries Hareton she'll take his name." That was like a thunderclap after all these decades.

And I never thought of Catherine possessing Heathcliff or pressing him to take revenge (on her own daughter? I suppose it's possible; she died in childbirth, so in a sense her daughter killed her. That's really dark, but I kind of like it.)

By the way, it's easy to forget that Catherine was only 19 or 20 when she died, so she wasn't much past childhood. But as you say, her true childhood came to an end when she was 12 and met the Lintons. I loved your interpretation of why her ghost was a child.

When I was 12 and first read WH, I thought it was a romance (I watched the Laurence Olivier movie the night before.) But when I grew up I realized it's more of a psychological thriller and gothic horror story. And a rousingly good one. At this stage in my life I probably keep coming back to it out of nostalgia as much as anything.

Thanks again for giving me some twists to think about!

[Hnry]

My theory/interpretation is that the strong bond between the souls of Catherine and Heathcliff is keeping Catherine's spirit bound to earth until he dies himself, she keeps haunting Heathcliff, whereas he will not let her rest in peace.

Througout the book there are some hints to this: Heathcliff says he "has a strong faith in ghosts" and has been praying for her spirit to return. In the 3th chapter Zillah puts mr Lockwood in a room, but asks him to not reveal him being there, because the master would "never let anyone lodge there willingly." Later, after mr. Lockwood's experience, Heathcliff gets on the bed and cries "Cathy, do come, oh do come once more...hear me this time, Catherine, at last" So apparently Heathcliff has had a similar experience.

The first time he digs up her coffin he stops before opening it, because he has a feeling her spirit is present, confirming that she is not yet gone. After Edgar dies, Heathcliff has Catherine's coffin dug up again, and when he opens it he discoveres that her body is not that much corrupted yet. Is she waiting for him? He then removes one side of the coffin, so that when he dies their coffins can be linked and their bodies can decompose together.


What I really like about this book is that it leaves a lot of room for speculation, the supernatural elements are never confirmed as real.

[TheCo]

We have just finished your in-depth dissemination of Wuthering Heights and would like to congratulate you on a job well done.
We have used your videos within our English literature class as a fabulous resource after having read the book in home schooling.
It was fabulous to have someone young, interesting, and relatable for the kids.
Thank you.

[SandrineDamfino]

I have always thought Hareton and Cathy's love redeemed Catherine and Heathcliff's love. Thank you for this amazing video 🖤

[marijeangalloway]

If I understand accurately what you are saying here about the mystical/supernatural relationship between Heathcliff and Cathy, the revenge plot, and the function of Cathy's ghost, I must disagree with some aspects of your interpretation. In the first place, I don't see how Cathy's spirit can exist within Heathcliff, driving his revenge, and at the same time be the elusive ghostly presence on the moors with whom he constantly strives to connect----a connection which is not achieved until his death. In his last days, he describes feeling tortured by a vision of her which only he can see, and her appearance drains away his drive to complete his revenge on Hareton and Cathy, as Bronte makes clear. Far from being the avenging spirit within him, she intervenes to PREVENT his ultimate vengeance, for it is only when he relinquishes that goal that his spirit is free to reunite with hers. Revenge has been his only object for twenty years, and I think that has separated him from Cathy. If Cathy's spirit were already within him, partaking in his revenge, his anguished cry of "How can I live without my soul!" is rendered meaningless. She IS his soul, and he needs to find it again to be whole and complete, just as her restless spirit needs to reclaim his for the same reason.

[ani_kiku]

I don't think it's necessarily true that the Earnshaws won in the end. It's true that their name survives but Hareton and Cathy actually made the decision to live at Thrushcross Grange and therefore abandoning Wuthering Heights. That's rather interesting when you think of what both of these places and names stand for in terms of the civilized world and nature. The Earnshaws living at Thrushcross Grange. Although the wild natural place is abandoned, it's core still lives on and although the place of the civilized world lives on, there is still nature at it's core.

Maybe that's Emily Bronte telling us that no matter how you think that you are living in a civilized world, there is still always nature underneath it. Or that you can't abandon the nature in your very being no matter how civilized the world is.

On another note though, I absolutely agree that Cathrine wasn't a maternal figure. At all. If she cared even a little bit for the life of her daughter she wouldn't have tried to starve herself to death. Or at the very least put her plan on hold until the baby was born. She didn't do any of that though. She actively withhold food and nutrition from the fetus growing inside of her which could not have had disastrous consequences for little Cathy. I don't think it's a stretch to say that she could have died along with her mother. Or later since she was born two whole months early (at least that's what my translation implied) I'm actually surprised she survived at all.

The way Cathrine treated her child makes a great parallel to how Heathcliff treated his own son though. They both didn't really about them at all. They didn't love them and they didn't help them growing up. They didn't even do the basic necessities to keep them alive. In Heathcliff's case he let his son die by don't calling the doctor so Lintons illness got worse and worse and in Cathrines case she withhold the food and nutrition her daughter desperately needed to stay alive. They killed or risked killing their children in the very same way, namely through neglect.

This also goes to show how hopeless Heathcliff and Cathrine were as characters (and how unable to change they were) cause if their own children can't even make an impact on them, nobody would be able to. They only ever knew each other and that wasn't going to change no matter what.

Last but not least tough I want to thank you for all of these great videos on Wuthering Heights! They helped me so much in understanding what all of this was about and the meanings behind Emily Brontes wonderful novel. I just finished reading it for the first time recently and I was absolutely stunned by how amazing it is.

[rosselladelfrate]

Thanks for the different explanations of the ghost's appearance and for the image of the twin-monster. I agree with you: I prefer "the darkest" interprentations, but all of them are really interesting, along with Heathcliff's "fantastic" origins All my compliments!

[risingmoon]

I watched all your WH videos. Now, I have to reread the novel. You threw spotlights that make it so much more interesting.

[violaodesafinado]

Man, this serie was so great! When I picked up this book, at a donation fair in Rio de Janeiro, I could never have imagined that I would've come across something so impactful and absolutely brilliant! And the most amazing and fantastic thing is that your videos were still able to add more points to think about and could show me things that I didn't got before. Man I am very grateful for your work and I want to give you my most sincere congratulations! You're the man! :D (so sorry for my poor english...)

[edithaquino-jspf]

Withering Heights are full of crazy characters…disturbed and traumatise all their lives…crazy.

[gazellesdancepolka]

Thank you for your series! Your work really helped to understand the book on so many levels. And it is really important with the classic books because there is so much more than just a plot and it's not always easy to see beyond it. Especially when it comes to religion or history. I have never read the Bible and i wouldn't understand all the religious references though i think they are really important here. Your interpretations were clever, well structured, easy to listen to and very interesting! Thanks again and good luck with your future works!

[אסתרעמית]

Magnificent! I have really enjoyed your book analyzing. Thank you!
From somebody who have read the book in Hebrew.

[Peaceharmony-xr]

I am inclined to believe that Lockward saw the ghost of Catherine rather than dream it not only because she introduced herself as Linton but also because she says that she has wondered as a ghost for 20 years. Lockward had no previous knowledge that Catherine had been dead for 20 years.

[oocarolinaoo]

Thank you very much for this amazing series of videos!

[freitheit]

Thank you so much for making these videos! I read Wuthering Heights a few months ago and you just made me want to read it again. You are very eloquent and excellent at explaining each part of your analysis, and I could notice you're as passionate about this book as I am. Bravo! Keep up the amazing job. Greetings from Argentina!