msjones Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 This question is coming from someone who has read it twice as an adult and seen 2 versions of it on film. Why am I drawn to this horrible tale? Every time I watch or read it, I feel sort of sick-ish at the end. (Anyone who saw last night's incredible version of it on PBS must have felt sick-ish at the end!) What about you? Are you a fan of Wuthering Heights? Are you like me -- simultaneously attracted and repelled? Do you love/hate Cathy? Do you have any pity for Heathcliff? I don't watch or read modern drama of this sort, so what is it about this book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) I read the book a few years ago and found it depressing. Yes, I must be just like you because I was going to watch last night but forgot. I don't know about seeing it on film, but in the book I felt a little sorry for Heathcliff. Edited January 26, 2009 by Blessedfamily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I love the one w/Ralph Feinnes. I just think its a tragic love story, kind of like Jane Eyre. I do feel sorry for Heathcliff, I think Cathy is selfish and foolish. I love watching that version over and over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I have tried to read it...several times...and just have never been able to keep going. :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I love the one w/Ralph Feinnes. I just think its a tragic love story, kind of like Jane Eyre. I do feel sorry for Heathcliff, I think Cathy is selfish and foolish. I love watching that version over and over. Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Tess of the D'urbervilles :nopity: Heavy Stuff. Why do we watch/read them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 The same reason I do, I guess. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanessaS Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I've read the book multiple times and the Fiennes-Binoche version is fantastic. I'm a bit in love with Heathcliff (although he's such a monster) and I always felt so sorry for him. I always sympathized with Jane Eyre, as well. I think it's hard for modern fiction to be this engrossing. Too much sex and not enough story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Darcy Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are two of my favorite books. I grew up not to far from Haworth, where the Brontes lived. Living life on the moors is a hard life, more so back then. I think their books reflect so well the feeling and attitudes of the people who grew up on the isolated moor. When ever I read Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre I can imagine myself back home and it's like visiting an old friend. Or may be I'm just weird and like dark depressing books that feed on your emotions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Fairy Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I got about halfway through Wuthering Heights before I threw in the towel. It was just so ugly, and I don't need ugly. I didn't read many classics growing up, but I love Jane Austen, so a couple of years ago I thought I'd give this a try. In my case, classic and well-written don't necessarily equal enjoyment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I love the one w/Ralph Feinnes. I just think its a tragic love story, kind of like Jane Eyre. I do feel sorry for Heathcliff, I think Cathy is selfish and foolish. I love watching that version over and over. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JVA Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 But at least, Jane Eyre has a happy ending. Heathcliff and Cathy are tragic and depressing. I can't see anything good from them. Jane, on the other hand, has such integrity and faith that drawing out a moral to that story is beneficial. The moral to Wuthering Heights is 'stop before you waste your time'.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I have a tremendous amount of empathy for Heathcliff.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Now, Tess, I can't stand! I'll never forget seeing the movie version of that as a teen and what a tremendously depressing let down it was that nothing ever *did* work out in the end, geesh..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 But at least, Jane Eyre has a happy ending. Heathcliff and Cathy are tragic and depressing. I can't see anything good from them. Jane, on the other hand, has such integrity and faith that drawing out a moral to that story is beneficial. The moral to Wuthering Heights is 'stop before you waste your time'.:tongue_smilie: What about the poor 'wife'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demal Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I had forgotten how young Catherine and Heathcliff were. They were 18 and 19, respectively, when Catherine died. http://www.wuthering-heights.co.uk/timeline.htm Makes their behavior somewhat more believable. I was an idiot at their ages! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msjones Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 Good points about their ages. Now I'll have to put myself through watching it again with their ages in mind. I think I'm somewhat intrigued by Heathcliff in that he is just BAD. I keep wanting him to be good, thinking next time he'll turn around. Isn't that just like a classic abused woman? Just like Cathy, who I despise. So what does that say about me? I just find it odd that I'm attracted to the story. I suppose it's not often that I read a story where a sympathetic character is also so, so bad. I'm also drawn to poor Linton -- he's such an attractive character. So devoted and frustrated and sad. I thought the acting in last night's PBS version was fantastic. The fights between Cathy and Heathcliff were so crazed and desperate. And poor, desperate Linton. Sigh...what can I read or watch tonight that will even compare? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Good points about their ages. Now I'll have to put myself through watching it again with their ages in mind. ... *sigh* Me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacqui in mo Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 That reminds me of the movie "The Mayor of Casterbridge". Things seemed to have turned around for a drunkard who sold his wife and child 18 years ago, then things spiral down, down, down & you sit there watching thinking "This doesn't have to happen this way. Wake up guy!" Ugg, after watching that one my brain spent hours trying to "fix" things that went wrong in that movie. Maybe I'd better rethink watching Wuthering Heights which we recorded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 That reminds me of the movie "The Mayor of Casterbridge". Things seemed to have turned around for a drunkard who sold his wife and child 18 years ago, then things spiral down, down, down & you sit there watching thinking "This doesn't have to happen this way. Wake up guy!" Ugg, after watching that one my brain spent hours trying to "fix" things that went wrong in that movie. Maybe I'd better rethink watching Wuthering Heights which we recorded. I bought "The Mayor of Casterbridge" on dvd from Border's(full priced!), watched it once, and gave it away to my mother. Do you mean the one with Cirian Hinds? (sp) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacqui in mo Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I bought "The Mayor of Casterbridge" on dvd from Border's(full priced!), watched it once, and gave it away to my mother. Do you mean the one with Cirian Hinds? (sp) Yes, it was the one with Cirian Hinds. He was the main reason I watched the movie and his acting, of course, was very good. He made a very believable person bent on self destruction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontier Mom Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Well, I can only speak for myself but I find the fact that the Bronte's never really "socialized with society" in a traditional sense makes the book even better. I think she really cuts to the heart of the human emotions of love and hate, illustrating perfectly how quickly one can become the other. I like to ponder upon the fact that life doesn't always work out perfectly in the end and that all our decisions affect us in one manner or another. Heathcliff begins as an innocent victim but is continually pushed down by others. Never being raised in the socially correct way to handle one's feelings, he lets them control him and they drive him to take control of others. Life doesn't always work out the way we want and "Wuthering Heights" is just such an account. I read it for its character development, wonderful use of the English language, and truthfulness as to the feebleness of the human heart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret in GA Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Wuthering Heights is total misery. Also, I deliberately skipped Tess of the D'ubervilles when it was on the past week. Nothing remotely good about that book in my opinion. I like happy endings, people. Happy endings! Margaret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Readsalot Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 My feeling, as I watched this is, that women love the story because we want a man to feel as passionately about us as Heathcliff feels for Cathy and to show those feeling as Heathcliff does(although not always to Cathy) When I watched the other night and he was banging his head against the wall all I could think of was:banghead: this smilie. I love the rawness of Heathcliff's feelings.Now as for Cathy she signifies that mistake many of us have made in love. Personally I let a guy get away that I thought left town and I didn't hear from for some time and I thought he just wasn't interested anymore. Turns out he was but I "thought" I had given my heart to someone else when really I let obligation and a promise to my new love keep me from being with the person I knew my heart wanted me to be with. I can relate to Cathy because of my own personal experience. I love Wuthering Heights because of the raw emotions it brings out even if they are painful. Sometimes it is good to know you can feel something so deeply even if it is painful. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paisley Hedgehog Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Tess of the D'urbervilles :nopity: Heavy Stuff. Why do we watch/read them? I LOVED Jane Eyre when I read it in high school. The others I only read because they were required by my English teacher. In those years I learned to hate anything written by Thomas Hardy because had to read Tess, Return of the Native AND The Mayor of Casterbridge during my high school career. :ack2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Yes, it was the one with Cirian Hinds. He was the main reason I watched the movie and his acting, of course, was very good. He made a very believable person bent on self destruction. Yes. Cirian Hinds is always excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 What about the poor 'wife'? Yes. In a way, the wife is seen as a unfair "problem", but it's not her fault her mind us gone. Or is it? I forgot how she went mad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I saw a version of Withering Heights maybe 27 years ago. I don't remember much about it but thought it was very boring. I also Tess D'Ubervilles when it came out as a movie long ago. (the Wuthering Heights version I saw was probably from the 40's or 50:s). I liked and remembered Tess much more. The story line was depressing but the scenery was nice. It wasn't as depressing as many more modern stories. Sophie's Choice comes to mind as an example. I actually love the moors. I just thought they sounded neat when I was child reading first The Secret Garden and then mysteries set in the moors. Then when I got to visit moors I got my confirmation that I did really like them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 "soap opera-like"! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slug hollow Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 ...Or may be I'm just weird and like dark depressing books that feed on your emotions. This is me, only there is no maybe about it. :) Same reason I love reading my dead Russians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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