Did I just yell “aww honey!!” out loud while Heathcliff was waxing about how he couldn’t be as fair skinned and light haired and blue eyed as Edgar no matter what he did? Yes, indeed.

I am currently a wee bit of a Heathcliff apologist I fear 😅.

1. The way the setting mirrors the characters never fails to fascinate. The howling wind & the wild snow drifts and treacherous pathways juxtaposed to Cathy’s wailing & Heathcliff’s growling & Cathy II’s sullenness & Hareton’s cursing…I know it’s an extremely talked-about motif — but there’s a reason for that!

2. Lockwood’s dream where ghost-Cathy grabs his hand through the window and wails to be let in and won’t let go — 10/10 no notes haunting scene, it’s so deliciously creepy. And riveting, bc at that point nobody knows who she is or why she’s begging to be let in 👀! & followed by Heathcliff storming in & then sobbing & trying to contact Cathy…😮‍💨

Ok, I suppose this is an unpopular opinion:

I do think this book is, in part, a love story. Terrible, awful, abusive people can still experience love. It is one of the messy truths of the human experience, I fear. Just bc the lovers in question are fantastically horrific to each other and others doesn’t mean they didn’t have a love story. They did. But there’s a reason why we call it a “compelling but toxic af love story the likes of which I hope never finds me,” and NOT “the greatest love story of all time” or whatever. We certainly don’t classify it as a romance by today’s genre standards. Love story, yes. Romance by modern definitions, no.

I know a lot of folks will disagree with me and that’s okay!

(These musings brought to you by me reading about Cathy & Heathcliff running wild across the moors as children & becoming devoted to each other more and more over time 🫶🏽)

am i about to be a heathcliff apologist? i’m feeling very maternal over this poor little boy and the racism he's no doubt gonna experience

lol Lockwood is such a persistently annoying little gnat. It’s interesting that he’s thought of as this “everyday narrator the audience can enter the story with” bc let me tell you, as a brown woman of the 21st century he is about as accessible to me as Pluto. That said he DOES provide an interesting scenario where we get to see Heathcliff / Catherine II / Hareton interact with each other. Could we have gotten to see that another way? Not in half as intriguing (& somewhat silly) a way, I’d wager!

That said I’m ready for Nelly to show up & start narrating the actual story now

1. The way the setting mirrors the characters never fails to fascinate. The howling wind & the wild snow drifts and treacherous pathways juxtaposed to Cathy’s wailing & Heathcliff’s growling & Cathy II’s sullenness & Hareton’s cursing…I know it’s an extremely talked-about motif — but there’s a reason for that!

2. Lockwood’s dream where ghost-Cathy grabs his hand through the window and wails to be let in and won’t let go — 10/10 no notes haunting scene, it’s so deliciously creepy. And riveting, bc at that point nobody knows who she is or why she’s begging to be let in 👀! & followed by Heathcliff storming in & then sobbing & trying to contact Cathy…😮‍💨

1. Yes, I too am re-reading the book to get the taste of that terrible “movie” out of my mouth 🫠 (see, I can use quotations to denote something is not quite what it’s supposed to be too 🥴)

2. Page 5 in my edition: “But Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast in his abode and style of living. He is a dark skinned [slur for Romani] in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman…” HEATHCLIFF. IS. NOT. WHITE!!!

Also — “singular contrast”? Eep, it’s giving “oh wow you’re really articulate for a …” (unsurprising to hear from Lockwood’s perspective, but still — Eep!). Another point revealing Heathcliff is a POC.