Wuthering Heights

I love this book! Its classic nature and grotesque aura just captivate me. I so enjoy the diabolical nature of Heathcliff and Catherine, while I so despise the annoyingly whinny disposition of Linton, and at times, the young Catherine. What I find amazing is that I think I just figured out why I love it so much. I have taught it for the past three years to my AP class and of course read it in college. But the new aspect of the book that I just discovered is that Heathcliff and Catherine are the anti-archetypal characters. Okay, shocker, I know for those of you who study literature 'for real'. But, honestly, I just got it. They aren't traditional lovers or haters. To say they have a love-hate relationship is an understatement. They subsist on torturing each other. That is their purpose. What I find the most intriguing is that Catherine does marry Edgar and seems happy. Heathcliff is gone and she actually does find a way to be happy and content. Why does his presence along make her nasty? She is such a strange creation that I often wonder why Bronte created her. I understand Heathcliff to be the villain, but Catherine? She enjoys the torture and strife, plain and simple.

Teaching this book always proves interesting. Despite the high diction of Lockwood in the beginning, students end up loving this book too. I believe that any book which provokes such strong feelings from its readers is meant to be a classic. That is the key. Even the most reluctant reader falls in love with the unnatural romance in the pages of this book. I think we all have the instinct to rubber-neck at an accident, and I believe this book is much like that. The relationships are morbid and haunting but we can't look away.