Question 8 EMILY BRONTE: Wuthering Heights
Discuss the use of ‘the weather’, ‘the windows’ and ‘the setting’ as symbols in the novel.
This question was a popular question. Most candidates only narrated parts of the story that shows these symbols without discussing the significance of their usage in the novel.
Candidates were expected to discuss:
- The theme of love and revenge.
- Explanation of symbol
- The ‘weather’: Lockwood visits Wuthering Heights in the middle of a snowstorm. The weather makes him spend the night there, and he sees Catherine’s ghost in his dream. The name of Earnshaw’s abode ‘Wuthering’ symbolizes ‘the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather’. On the night that Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights, there is a violent storm, which symbolizes the raging storms of emotion within Catherine and Heathcliff. This symbolizes the return of Hindley to Wuthering Heights to exact his revenge on Heathcliff.
- The ‘windows’: the ‘windows’ symbolize the social class barrier that exists between Catherine and Heathcliff. The ‘windows’ symbolize Catherine’s separation from Heathcliff through death.
- The ‘setting’: The moors, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange are presented as symbols of the bareness of relationships and the dark side of man. Heathcliff lives in Wuthering Heights and his quest for revenge on all characters who have hurt him or discriminated against him shows the dark side of him. The moors symbolize the heartache and freedom that Catherine and Heathcliff experience.
Candidates performance was average.