Weeping and Wailing in Wuthering Heights

Abstract

Amid our absorption in the story of Wuthering Heights (1847), we might find ourselves paying but scant attention to certain features forming an essential part of the structure of this masterpiece. One such feature is the use of crying or the shedding of tears as means whereby the author throws light not only on characters subject to such emotional reactions, but also on those who hold specific attitudes to weeping in general. Thus our impressions of Catherine, Heathcliff, and Nelly Dean may be modified or confirmed by the tears they are given to, as much as by their responses to the tears of others. Especially interesting are the ways in which the second Catherine and Hareton Earnshaw, each of whom is memorable for crying on occasion, are practically alone in feeling compassion for those about to cry or already in a tearful state. And perhaps it is partly for this reason that they may both be said to have justifiably achieved no little heroic status by the end of the novel.