The first time I read Wuthering Heights, I was in high school, and I struggled to follow the plot and storyline. This time through, however, I am captivated and intrigued. I don't know if it's perhaps maturity on my part or perhaps and new-found patience that I've acquired, but I understood and appreciated the unfolding love story. I struggle to state whether or not Heathcliff and Cathy were truly in Romeo and Juliet-esque love, but they did have a magnetic force attraction to each other, and no one can deny that.
While watching the movie, I struggled to find any sympathy inside of me for Heathcliff's character. When I read the book, I felt that Bronte made him more of a sympathetic creature, and I hurt with him each time he was mocked and ridiculed by the Linton's or by Hindley. Perhaps it was the way that the director of the film made the actor of Heathcliff look: this Heathcliff was cold and brash, almost from the start. The film did not develop Heathcliff's early life, and I did not see anyone ever treat Heathcliff poorly. In the very beginning, Hindley merely closes the door on Heathcliff's face and informs him that he will now be sleeping in the stables. The next time we see Heathcliff, he is a grown man covorting with Cathy.
The point at which I really see Heathcliff's anger and violence that did not translate the same way for me as through the book is after Cathy has given birth to the baby and has died, Heathcliff is shown physically beating Isabella with Nelly watching directly. He calls her a slut, and she is shown with cuts and bruises all over her face. During the book, Isabella comes to Nelly for help and merely hints at what is going on at Wuthering Heights, but to personally see him hit her makes me struggle to find any soft side of him. I guess this, however, is merely the power of modern film....
As the story is unfolding even more, Heathcliff just becomes a colder anad crueler person. I think, because of this, I prefer the book version. I feel I have more emotion invested with the book because I am sympathetic toward Heathcliff; I want him to win and to be treated right. I see the other characters with whom he is interacting as almost completely docile in comparison to him. The book made Hindley much more violent and terrible, and during the movie, he had some one-liners, but he was more in the shadows.
Overall, I'm glad I could compare the book and the movie. I watched the 1992 version, and I found it rather enjoyable. I think it is interesting to compare original thoughts on the text to a movie production. It shows all the different ways of interpreting the same text.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment