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Dogs In Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights

802 Words4 Pages

Animals are not often considered important characters in novels. However, dogs in novels are just as important of characters as humans. Dogs often add detail to the story and can further or add to the plot. They can add similar aspects to novels that humans can. In Wuthering Heights, there are many dogs that live in Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. Reflecting the atmospheres of the two houses, the dogs in the novel range from aggressive guard dogs at Wuthering Heights to harmless lap dogs at Thrushcross Grange. In Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, dogs serve not only to intensify a scene or to foreshadow, but also to highlight Heathcliff’s animalistic characteristics.
The dogs’ behaviors and characteristics during a scene often highlight …show more content…

Early on in the novel, Heathcliff and Catherine snuck over to Thrushcross Grange when they were children to spy on the Linton children. They saw the two fighting over a dog and nearly pulling it apart. This foreshadows that later in the story, there will be a tension between Edgar and Isabella when Isabella goes against Edgar's wishes and marries Heathcliff. In Wuthering Heights, how a visitor will be greeted by the person they are visiting can often be foreshadowed by how the visitor is greeted by the dogs guarding the property (Rena-Dozier 770). When Heathcliff goes to visit Catherine after many years, the dog at Thrushcross Grange greets Heathcliff by wagging its tail at him rather than barking. This foreshadows the accepting reception that Heathcliff will receive from Catherine. One of the most prominent usages of dogs as foreshadowing tool is the hanging of Isabella’s dog, Fanny. The disturbing scene symbolizes and foreshadows the tragic outcome of Heathcliff and Isabella’s relationship. On the night that Heathcliff and Isabella elope, he hangs Fanny in a rage as an act of revenge against the Linton family. Heathcliff’s cruelty towards the dog foreshadows his abusive and neglectful treatment towards Isabella and their son, Hareton (Adams). Later on in the novel, Catherine and Edgar’s daughter, Catherine, is attacked by Hareton's dogs while she is out with her

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