Overrated

[Nobody]

my dear sir, WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? You are reading this book from a developed, predictable, and logical point of view. Unfortunately, the Bronte sisters were none of the sorts. They grew up on an old graveyard for heavens sake and were locked up for most of the time, they were dreamers. Did the book SAY it was going to be a romantic one? The book deals with perceptions of love, not romance. Romance is not always put in the category of love, "Romance uses sexual intimacy to create or amplify closeness and mutual fulfillment" (Breggin). OK, so maybe the book does not include many physical actions, the importance of the book is the mental game that each character plays within himself and within others. The book consists of 4 different loves, Catherine's for Heathcliff, Heathcliff for Catherine, Isabella for Heathcliff, and Cathy and Hareton for each other, now that's alot of love in the air. Each reacts to their love differently, all ending disastrously except for Cathy and Hareton, who, GROW together and are honest with their feelings. And actually, it appears that nobody really HATES except for Hindley and Heathcliff, only two of many characters. And yes, i am 20- years out of high school.

[Dave Vikinghat]

So I read the book, as a well-read, 20+years out of high school adult.<br><br>The book is about people hating each other. None of the characters is worth much; they spend their entire lives "sitting around" hating the others, themselves, and allowing consumption to take them. There's no romance in this book, not a bit... well, OK, the last couple of pages finally someone is happy (Hareton and Cathy II, not Heathcliff). With the money someone like Linton I should have had, you'd think he'd have at least taken Cathy I on a cruise to the Isle of Whight or something, jeez, what a bunch of sourpusses.<br><br>

[Rachy]

Can I also say that at the end it also says how a little boy refused to go over the hill as he saw the ghosts of two people dancing together! That sounds a bit romantic to me to say that even AFTER death they were still in love!! I think that's pretty romantic don't you? Also, their love runs throughout the whole book, because even though she married she still loved him, and that love was the basis for the WHOLE book! If they hadn't have been in love there wouldn't have been a story!

[scruffy_danny]

Well said Rachy. Just because there isn't any sex scenes or anything of that sort that definately does not mean there is no romance. Far from it. The romance is just in a different way. Maybe it could be described as even grotesque, eg Heathcliff digging to Cathy's grave so he could embrace her one last time but this sort of passion and love is often the most powerful - it being the most desperate.
And what about on Cathy's death bed when she and Heathcliff finally let show their deep love for each other - if that isn't romance, I don't know what is...

[Sarah's_Chanson]

I agree with Rachy, Danny and Nobody. Romance doesn't have to be extravagant dates or expensive gifts. It doesn't even have to be a gesture. Romance is all about depth of feeling and displaying that feeling, which I think just before Catherine Earnshaw died her and Heathcliff displayed pretty well!

Their love was one of passion and depth. Catherine admitted that her love for him were like rocks, that have and will stand for all time. She knew that her love wouldn't change, despite her marriage to Edgar. She recognised that she could never love someone else they way she loved Heathcliff. That I'd say is romantic.

Heathcliff was obsessed in a way, but in another way he was simply a human who loved. All humans who love someone else in a self-sacrificing way are liable to become like him. He dug up her grave just to see her face once more, and went to extreme lengths to demonstrate his revenge on Edgar for taking her away from him. If that isn't romantic in a fierce way then I don't know what is!

[shortysweetp]

i dont think the book is overrated at all. It is a intriguing tale of love and hatred. I find that it is romantic (the love between Catherine and Heathcliff) and also the ending where hindley and Catherine Heathcliff fall in love. I love the plot and think this book is worthy of all the praise it receives.

[esmerelda]

Having read "Wuthering Heights" many, many years ago, I still say it is the most erotic piece I have ever read. The depth of Heathcliff, his torrid, bestial self is sensational, never more than in his death scene. Heathcliff truly is Cathy's desire in all its flames (her subconscious). She says "I am Heathcliff" and means it. When Emily Bronte wrote of him, she spoke of her wild self, the one that longed to be a metaphysical glory.

[we_rum]

metaphysical glory...that's beautiful.