The Role Of Nature And Culture In Gothic Literature

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights explores many motifs and themes that are typically found in gothic literature. A distinctive motif within the novel was the conflict of nature and culture. In many forms of literature, nature and culture have clashed just as they did in Wuthering Heights. This motif is recognizable with the use of literary terms such as symbolism, metaphor, and allegory. The amount of symbolism pertaining to nature versus culture is overwhelming, with many characters and settings symbolizing either “nature” or “culture”. For example, Wuthering Heights and its residents are meant to symbolize nature. Alternatively, Thrushcross Grange and the Lintons symbolize culture. The Earnshaws, Catherine and Heathcliff in particular, represent nature because they are governed by passion and emotion. Additionally, Wuthering Heights comes to symbolize wilderness; it is at one point described as looking more like a farmhouse rather than the home of a member of the gentry. The moors, which surround the Heights represent the wild threat posed by nature. It is mentioned many times throughout the novel that people are easily lost within them, and are

When Isabella (culture) fell in love with Heathcliff (nature), Catherine used metaphors to try to dissuade Isabella, describing Heathcliff as “...an unreclaimed creature, without refinement, without cultivation; an arid wilderness of furze and whinstone.” She alluded to Heathcliff as a brute of nature, stubborn and crude. However, Isabella desired those qualities and romanticized Catherine’s metaphor by describing Heathcliff as “a rough diamond - a pearl-containing oyster of a rustic.” Here, the influence of nature over culture is evident. Catherine described her fear for Isabella by comparing her to Heathcliff as a “little canary into the park on a winter’s day.” She concluded the metaphor with the sombering statement, “he’d crush you like a sparrow’s