EMILY BRONTE: Wuthering Heights
Comment on the importance of setting in the novel
Explanation
The novel is set in the nineteenth century in the middle of the industrial revolution. Events related to the revolution take place in distant places but the major characters are affected, even if indirectly. Heathcliff is picked up in Liverpool, a city which, as a result of the industrial revolution, si so busy that people no longer care for each other. The industrial revolution could also account for Heathcliff's sudden riches. The winds which blow across the moors during the storms may represent the conflicts that occur so often in Wuthering Heights between the characters, The settings lend themselves to the supernatural aspects of a Gothic novel (Cathering's appearance at Lockwood's window). They create a sense of horror and act as a sanctuary.