Wuthering Heights: The Movie

After reading the novel, I was able to watch Wuthering Heights the movie. The version I found to be most helpful was the one filmed in 1992. The scene I chose to write about was the when in which Heathcliff goes to see Catherine's body soon after she dies. Though this may not have been one of the longest or most important scenes in the novel, it was the one that caught my attention while watching the movie. I felt that it differed significantly from that in the novel but it also gave me a new perspective on what I perceived to be Heathcliff and Catherine's relationship. After viewing the scene, I was able to understand it in a completely different way.

Throughout the novel, I found very little evidence relating to the true chemistry assumed to be shared between Heathcliff and Catherine. I think the reader assumes automatically that Heathcliff's love for Catherine is intense. Unfortunately, the actions to convey this are typically negative, vengeful acts. I interpreted Heathcliff marrying Isabella as him seeking revenge on Catherine for marrying Edgar. His mistreatment of his new wife was revenge against Edgar for Catherine getting sick. It was through these methods that Heathcliff's love for Catherine is assumed. The scene where Heathcliff visits Catherine's body is somewhat the opposite. It was the first time since early in the novel that I noticed Heathcliff show real emotion. His sadness in this scene was overwhelming to me.

For some reason, while reading the novel itself, it was truly difficult for me to feel for Heathcliff and believe that his love for this women was genuine. The most convincing part of the novel for me was the description of their relationship as children. To be honest, I did not really believe the two of them could be soulmates. This one scene in the movie was enough to make me change my mind. The scene itself begins with Edgar placing the locket into Catherine's hand as she lies in a plain wooden coffin. He then gives her a sad look and leaves the room. Almost immediately Heathcliff breaks into the room and quickly approaches Catherine. He rips off her veil and the flowers surrounding her and grabs her entire body out of the coffin. He hugs her passionately and cries.

Part of the reason this scene had such a huge impact on me was because it clearly shows the difference between the love Edgar has for Catherine and the love Heathcliff has for her. Edgar's face looked sad but he was accepting of her death. Heathcliff on the other hand looked distraught. By hugging her corpse, it is clear that he loves her on a whole different level. To actually see the sadness on his face made the scene more emotion for me. The reaction I felt was different from when I had originally read the scene in the novel.

Though I believe there are many instances where directors make changes to the original stories in order to make them more appealing to audiences, in this case it was helpful. Throughout the novel I felt anger towards Heathcliff as well as Catherine for some of her actions. It was not until I watched the movie did I consider the story of Wuthering Heights to be one of the greatest love stories of all time. In our class discussion, I was baffled by the comment made that this story could be thought of as one of the best. Once I watched the movie, and faces were put to names, I began to see how truly heartbreaking and wonderful this story really is. It made a difference to me and changed the way I interpreted some of the characters' actions. This scene at Catherine's coffin helped me to realize that this is a story about heartbreak and misery. The characters, no matter how hard they try, are caught in lives they despise. The rules of the time combined with Heathcliff's vengeful acts against others create a sad and confusing atmosphere. This atmosphere became less confusing but even more sad when translated into movie form. Through watching the film I was able to not only gain a new understanding of the scenes, I was able to gain a new appreciation for the story all together.