The
Brontë family seemed to have some stellar writing genes in their blood, for the
sisters Charlotte and Emily produced two of the most influential pieces of
literature, the novels Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, respectively. It therefore makes sense that the two
novels have several similar characteristics. Both novels incorporate gothic
elements as well as similar geographic settings. For instance, both novels
include ghosts, a classic gothic element. The ghost of Jane’s uncle, Mr. Reed,
seems to appear to her in the second chapter of Jane Eyre: “All looked colder and darker in that visionary hollow
than in reality: and the strange little figure there gazing at me, with a white
face and arms specking the gloom, and glittering eyes of fear moving where all
else was still, had the effect of a real spirit…” (Brontë 28). Wuthering Heights also includes ghostly
figures. The ghost of Catherine Earnshaw appears to Mr. Lockwood when he stays
over at Wuthering Heights for the night. The novels also include settings that
have moors. Jane finds herself at the doorstep of the moor house when she runs
away from Thornfield and to the comfort of the Rivers siblings. In Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff and Catherine
fall in love on the moors next to Wuthering Heights.
However, the novels also have their own
distinct style; the narrator in Jane Eyre
addresses the reader directly in many instances, while Emily Brontë frequently
changes its narrator within the frame narrative. Charlotte Brontë is very
abrupt in addressing the reader when she declares that Jane married Mr.
Rochester. Jane uses the very short and to-the-point sentence, “Reader, I
married him” (Brontë 915). Emily Brontë doesn’t directly address the reader
like her sister, but she very uniquely changes who narrates Wuthering Heights. Initially, Lockwood
is the narrator, but then Nelly becomes the narrator for some time with shifts
between Lockwood and Nelly as the narrator; at some points, even Heathcliff
narrates. The novels are different in terms of message as well. Emily Brontë’s
message is that love triumphs over revenge, as evidence by the fact that at the
end of the novel Cathy and Hareton marry despite the intrusions of the vengeful
Heathcliff. The message of Jane Eyre has
not to do with revenge, but to do with the importance of autonomy and
independence; Jane starts as an orphan with no autonomy and eventually becomes an
independent woman who has a large sum of money and is on an equal footing with
her husband.
In many ways, Jane Eyre and Wuthering
Heights grew from the same soil. They each have their own distinct style,
but they share many of the same elements.
Work Cited
Brontë,
Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Bookbyte
Digital, 1847. iBooks.
