You Asked For It! Presenting 'Wuthering Heights: Annotated Edition'

In response to many a reader request, I'm proud to present my annotated edition of Emily Brontë's bleak but beautiful classic, Wuthering Heights. I'd never actually read it before this year, and I must say, it was rather surprising.

If you came here by way of Jane Eyre--written by Emily's big sister, Charlotte--or via Jacob Elordi's cheekbones, you're in for a rough landing. The former is an inspiring story about a mistreated but plucky little heroine who (mostly) wins in the end, and the 2026 movie featuring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi might be better classified as fan fiction than a faithful adaptation.

The real Wuthering Heights offers readers so little hope, and so few likable characters, that one contemporary reviewer declared it "a mystery" how anyone could have written "such a book as the present without committing suicide before he had finished a dozen chapters."

Had I not done a fair amount of research on the Brontë sisters before beginning the book, I might have agreed. However, after learning a bit more about their lives, I begrudge them no pages of gothic drama. If anything, their lives outdo the terrors of their novels.

Did you know the Brontës lived at the edge of an overflowing graveyard, and bacteria from the bodies was seeping into the local water supply? Life expectancy in town was approximately 25 years, compared to the national average of 40. People were dying of tuberculosis, or "consumption," left and right. The most common sight from Emily's window was probably a funeral.

I mean...honestly.

What About the Movie(s)?

Part of the reason I've been so dilatory in releasing the annotated edition of Wuthering Heights is because I wanted to watch the 1939 and 2026 movies before hitting "publish." Though they aren't mentioned in the annotations, it felt like having a big blind spot not to have seen them.

I'm bound to offend in wading into any of these discussions, so I'll keep it short. My general conclusions are:

1. Hot stalkers are more socially acceptable - Heathcliff is not a good person, but for whatever reason, society is more sympathetic towards aesthetically-pleasing monomaniacs. The 1939 movie starring Laurence Olivier solidified Heathcliff's reputation as a handsome heartthrob, and Jacob Elordi carries on the tradition. Though Heathcliff is vile, both movies soften his rougher edges, and because he's hot, audiences seem to forget those edges even exist. One inescapable conclusion from the movies is this: though inner beauty is all that should matter, society will tolerate a whole lot of crazy if you're hot.

2. The 1939 version is a more faithful adaptation - But as I mentioned above, it smooths over some of Heathcliff's rougher edges.

3. The 2026 movie did have some pretty visuals - There were definitely some beautiful scenes in the 2026 movie. The aesthetics and advertising were reminiscent of Gone With the Wind, which is very fun, and the costumes and actors were great.

4. But I did almost walk out in the first scene - The first scene of the 2026 movie is just disgusting. It's nowhere in the book, and I felt dirty even sitting there.

5. Why does there always have to be weird s-x stuff? - I simply do not understand why modern adaptations always feel the need to insert a bunch of weird s-x stuff into the classics. Like...the whole scene with Joseph, the maid, and bestial bondage gear? Not in the book, obviously, and nobody wants to watch that. My least-generous characterization of the 2026 movie is that it's just smut with the veneer of respectability in the form of a borrowed title. I said the same thing about the adaptation of Brave New World that came out a few years ago. "I've seen cleaner episodes of Game of Thrones," I wrote at the time. I want so badly to like the modern adaptations of classics, but why, oh why, must they always make it weird?

You can probably already tell that this isn't my favorite classic, but I am glad to have read it. To this day, I remember Alicia Silverstone calling someone "Heathcliff" in a movie from the 90's (either Clueless or Blast From the Past), and my literary FOMO meant I'd never be satisfied until I'd read the book behind her quip.

My suggestion? Read this book on a cloudy day. If there's wind and rain, even better. And let me know what you think when you're done!

-Erica

Wuthering Heights: Annotated Edition (Ebook)

$9.99

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Definitions:

Dilatory - Slow to act

Zeitgeist - Something very popular in the moment; the defining mood of a period as shown by the ideas or beliefs of the time

Monomaniac - Someone obsessed with one thing

Vile - Despicable; wicked