Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte = disturbing and creepy

When I began reading Wuthering Heights, all I knew was that 1- it's a classic (duh) and 2- the characters are supposedly awful people. I honestly was not expecting much, but after the first few pages, I could not put it down!
The story is so fascinating! And most of the characters are truly evil. Not just mean evil, but demonic evil. I'm not sure why people call it a love story, as the only normal healthy, real love is found in the young Kathy's relationship with Hareton (which I was so happy about, by the way!). So, here's what I thought of the characters:

Catherine: snobby, annoying, mean, selfish, rude, cruel. She dies pretty quickly which is a big plus but she's still in it enough to make readers hate her. She is apparently in love with Heathcliff but she marries her neighbor after being bit by a dog. (Maybe rabies had something to do with her unstable nature? No, disease is no excuse for being an idiot.) So she is really mean to her husband who is somehow brainwashed into being nice to her. I didn't hate her that much, but when she died I was so glad.

Heathcliff: Oh my goodness. Where do I begin with this crazy sadist? He is one of the most disturbing literary characters I have come across so far! He is just so evil and he has no reason to be. The man hangs dogs, beats children, burns books, ruins pretty much everyone's lives, and sleeps with corpses. Yep, he digs up Cathy and spends the night with her skeleton. Huge creeper! I have NO IDEA why nobody shot the dang man- it would have taken two seconds and shortened the book by about 33 chapters. Some people say he was such a jerk because his life was so rough. BAH! If his life sucked so bad why didn't he run away to a gypsy camp and find his mom? No one wanted him to stay anyways. My verdict is that Heathcliff is demon-possessed and I'm not joking. He is not human, that's for sure. I think any sane person will agree with me in the notion that nothing would be more satisfactory than taking a big dump on his fat head.

Edgar Linton: So, supposedly he is a pale weakling. Whatever. He is nice, loving, compassionate, HUMANE, cheerful.

Isabella Linton: This poor girl has the saddest story in my opinion. If I could rewrite the book, I would have her get back at Heathcliff.

Linton: pale, sickly, weak, ANNOYING, creeper, swollen, pathetic, clammy, finally dies, thank God, but I feel bad that his dad was such a freak

Hareton: illiterate hottie

Cathy Linton: Her character is so interesting because her life changes drastically in the course of the novel. Her life is awful and Heathcliff is the cause of all her misery. But she ultimately wins because Heathcliff realizes he has no power over her. (However, this victory is clearly not as satisfying as dumping on his head, as we discussed earlier). I would love to play her character!

Ellen Dean: probably the only character who doesn't need lifelong therapy. She is normal and kind and smart. She is the one telling the story, but the reader does not learn much about her.

So those are the characters worth discussing. Also, the idea occurred to me: what if Cathy Linton is really Heathcliff's daughter? Hmm...

We watched the 2004 Masterpiece Theater version of Wuthering Heights. It grew on me as we watched it. At first, I could not get over the puffiness of Heathcliff's face. Had he been stung by 57 bees? Alas, he had not, and it was just the way his face looked.