Analysis Pages

Historical Context in Wuthering Heights

Historical Context Examples in Wuthering Heights:

Chapter I

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"ranks of immense pewter dishes, interspersed with silver jugs and tankards, towering row after row..."   (Chapter I)

A common feature of upper class and upper middle class houses was a display of pewter and silver serving ware, a sign of the owner's wealth.

 

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"I detected the date “1500,” and the name “Hareton Earnshaw.”..."   (Chapter I)

It is common in this part of northern England to see plaques on important houses memorializing the date of construction and the builder(s).  In many cases, substantial remodelings or reconstructions are also recorded.

 

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"Thrushcross Grange..."   (Chapter I)

Although the location of Thrushcross Grange has never been discovered with any certainty, a large manor house called Shibden Hall, located near the school where Emily Bronte worked, may have served as Bronte's model.

 

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"gipsy..."   (Chapter I)

By likening Heathcliff to a "gipsy," Lockwood implies that Heathcliff is not a normal Englishman. Gypsies were considered outcasts—untrustworthy and violent.

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"I'll have you all modelled in wax and clay..."   (Chapter II)

Witches were thought to model a person in wax or clay in order to curse them.

 

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"the three kingdoms..."   (Chapter IV)

The phrase "the three kingdoms" refers to England, Scotland, and Ireland, before the United Kingdom was created.

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"Chevy Chase..."   (Chapter XXXI)

Here, the phrase "Chevy Chase" refers to an English ballad which describes the Battle of Otterburn in 1388.

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