Index Exploring the Settings of "Wuthering Heights" Contrasts in Bronte's Novel Thrushcross Grange - Brontë's Contrast with Wuthering Heights Works Cited Wuthering Heights is a timeless classic in in which Emily Brontë presents two opposing settings. Wuthering Heights and its occupants are wild, passionate, and strong while Thrushcross Grange and its inhabitants are calm and refined, and these two opposing forces struggle throughout the novel. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Exploring the Settings of "Wuthering Heights" Contrasts in Bronte's Novel Wuthering Heights is the first setting analyzed in this essay. The villa is located on moorland in an arid landscape. Originally a peasant family, it stands "on that barren hill where the earth was hard and black with frost". Since the winds constantly whip the house, “the architect built it strong; the narrow windows are deeply set in the wall, and the corners are defended with large jutting stones”. Even the name suggests its wild nature: “'Tempestuous' is a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric turmoil to which its station is exposed”. The bowels of Wuthering Heights “are exposed to the inquiring eye. Above the fireplace were several wicked old rifles and a couple of horse pistols: and for ornament, three garishly painted containers arranged along the ledge, the chairs, primitive high-backed structures, painted green; one or two heavy blacks hidden in the shadows.” Both the exterior and interior of Wuthering Heights are clearly exposed to turmoil and wilderness. Furthermore, the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights are stormy and wild. Hindley Earnshaw beats Heathcliff – the adopted “dark-skinned gypsy” – who, with great fortitude, “endured Hindley's blows without flinching or shedding a tear”. In one particular instance, Hindley throws an iron weight at Heathcliff, "striking him on the chest, and he falls, but staggers immediately, breathless and white." Furthermore, as the owner of Wuthering Heights, Hindley is passionate about drunken rage. At the sight of Hindley returning home drunk, Nelly Dean takes out shots from the pistol, "with which he liked to play in his wild excitement" and tries to hide Hareton from his drunken father. Just as Nelly is hiding Hareton in the locker, Hindley bursts into the house and accuses Nelly of keeping his son away from him, finally threatening her with a carving knife. And when Hareton neglects to kiss his father, Hindley picks up the frightened boy, denouncing, “I'll break his neck.” Then, carrying him up the stairs, Hindley puts Hareton over the railing and releases him, only barely caught by Heathcliff. Obviously, Hindley acts with wild passion, which often leads to violence. Growing up in this wild and stormy family, Heathcliff also takes on these attributes. After Hindley gambles on the house and dies, Heathcliff becomes the master, belittling Haretona, the area's intended gentleman, to a lowly, ignorant, and friendless servant, often beating him as Hindley himself did. As well as beating Hindley's son, Heathcliff also strikes young Cathy in a fit of rage: "with this free hand, and, drawing her down upon his knee, administered with the other a shower of terrifying slaps on both sides of the head" , and when Nelly tries to stop him, Heathcliff silences her with “a touch on the chest.” Like their surroundings, the occupants of Wuthering Heights are strong, harsh, and stormy. Thrushcross Grange - Brontë's contrast with Wuthering Heights Unlike the isolated Wuthering Heights, Thrushcross Grange is close,.