Wuthering Heights: A Timeless Tale of Love and Heartbreak - Essay Sample

Introduction

Why is it that Wuthering Heights is receiving so many adaptations to films even after many years of publishing? Wuthering Heights is a gothic novel written by Emily Bronte in the 19th century. The book revolves around the theme of love incorporating various twisted relationships that lead to unprecedented heartbreaks and evil endings. Two main characters featured are Heathcliff and Catherine, who are supported by several others to present intriguing scenarios successfully. In most cases, the interaction with these other characters plays a role in keeping Heathcliff and Catherine apart. Given its captivating nature, the book has been read widely and translated to multiple moves. One of the good versions of Wuthering Heights’ masterpieces of theatre production is that of 1996. However, there are notable differences and similarities between the book and its movie version.

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Thesis: The novel has successfully triggered significant interest among readers and filmmakers who make some alterations to improve it, hence the increased number of adaptations even after so many years of publishing.

The book presents Heathcliff’s character as an individual with intricate personality traits. He is angry, loving, brooding and compassionate. Whereas in the movie, Heathcliff’s character is a bit softer as portrayed by the actor Tom Hardy. Equally, the choice of Hardy brought a physical distinction to the description of the book. Bronte describes Heathcliff as a dark skin gipsy and brood character while Hardy is a modern, softer and mellower individual. Bronte uses a narrator character called Lockwood, who she uses to progress the story along. Lockwood rents Heathcliff’s Manor House, and he is displayed as an ignorant gentleman who is not keen on boundaries hence surpasses Wuthering Heights. The movie does not use a narrator, but to progress the story, it uses flashbacks. In the book, Heathcliff’s emotions are represented by ghosts. For instance, Bronte uses a ghost of the dead Catherine to represent Heathcliff’s shame and guilt.

On the other hand, the director of the movie opted to utilize visual effects, music and nightmares to achieve the same effect. This alteration is critical because of the architectural differences prone to when reading and watching. Sometimes, an act that is described in reading may not present a similar effect when watched on a screen, hence the validity of the distinctive features. Even though the author and movie director uses different criteria to reach the audience, they both achieve the same effect. The audience understood Heathcliff’s shame and guilt. The film maintained the theme as presented in the book, and the conversations between the many characters in the book spur the story in the film. Although some aspects of the movie are deliberately altered to achieve specific goals, most attributes of the book are maintained in the film. The most event, such as the death of Catherine, is well articulated in the film version. For instance, the circumstances within which Catherine died are similarly articulated. The director might have wanted to maintain this aspect since it shows the overall significance of the allegations on the main characters and the suffering the caused Catherine.

Conclusion

The several adaptations to the book reveal that there is something adorable in the novel even after many years of publishing. Major differences occur in the representation of characters such as Heathcliff who is represented by Hardy in the film. His appearance and character do not represent what is described in the book. The other dissimilar aspects occur due to the architectural traits of film making that are critical. The film was a compelling adaptation of the novel. It plays along with the direction and intention of the author but provides further entertainment hence making it even better.