The book that changed me as a teenagerI read Wuthering Heights when I was 12 or 13. Heathcliff fascinates me: enigmatic, brooding, never fully explained. Emily Brontë taught me landscape is character. The moors are a living force, mirroring Cathy and Heathcliff’s emotional lives. That shaped my writing: I’m drawn to unknowable characters and psychologically alive places.
Twin City Theatre Company brings Emily Brontë, Teenage Necromancer to Parkland College’s Second Stage Theatre. When a phantom haunts the Roe Head School for Girls in 1835, star pupil Emily Brontë and her sisters Anne and Charlotte must use their necromantic talents to uncover the truth in this gothic comedy of ghosts, fog, an undead goose, a lovesick spirit, and a talking meat pudding. The production runs through August 9. (Associated Press)
Jane EyreI've always thought Jane Eyre is remembered for the wrong reason. Yes, the romance matters. But Jane's refusal to compromise herself matters even more. That's exactly why the love story works. She chooses love without giving up who she is.
9. Wuthering HeightsAudience Score: 74%Critic Score: 57%Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of the literary classic was met with a 57% critic score, with many purists and reviewers balking at the modern sensibilities and controversial changes made to the source material. Audiences were much more enamored with the chemistry between Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, granting the film a 74% rating. Despite being shaded by critics, the general public enjoyed the bold, stylized take on the toxic romance, prioritizing entertainment value over fidelity to the book. (Leah Collins)
It’s an incredible song, and one where I cannot sing Bush’s high notes without stubbing my toe or something. The music video of her dancing makes me wish that MTV was still a thing and I could just spend my time watching fun music videos on cable television instead of battling stupid ads on YouTube. I wish Silicon Valley could invent a time machine. (Andrea Gutierrez)
Against EMI’s wishes, she insisted on releasing the haunting ballad “Wuthering Heights”—inspired by Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel of the same name—as the album’s first single.It was an early example of Bush seizing full control of her own career, and it certainly paid off.“Wuthering Heights” topped the UK and Australian charts, making her the first British woman to reach number one with an entirely self-written track. (Erinn Callahan)
Bush has continued to earn recognition for her extraordinary career, including induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. Yet nearly five decades after that remarkable debut, it’s still astonishing to remember that one of rock music’s most important milestones was achieved by a 19-year-old who simply believed the world needed to hear “Wuthering Heights” first. (Andrea Reiher)
If Austen and Brontë had a baby with Bridget Jones, she'd be Emma M. Lion. Super charming, super moreish, super short — 150~ pages each - this series has garnered a mega following for a reason. (Charley Vokoun)
Emily (Filmin)La más enigmática de las hermanas Brontë sigue siendo un misterio a día de hoy. ¿Cómo pudo aquella mujer soltera tan tímida y solitaria, recluida en una pequeña casa parroquial en los páramos de Yorkshire, crear una de las novelas más intensas y apasionadas de la literatura inglesa? Con la intención de responder a esa pregunta nace Emily. Es en esa lucha contra los límites de su vida familiar cuando comienza a anhelar esa libertad artística tan personal. Así comienza un viaje para canalizar su potencial creativo en una de las mejores novelas de todos los tiempos: Cumbres borrascosas. (Cristina Blanco Vázquez) (Translation)´
Dunque la Austen disse il vero, mentre per le sorelle Brontë bisognò aspettare al trono la regina Vittoria, moralista e bacchettona; ci voleva forse una regina così per l’ordito narrativo di Cime Tempestose, capolavoro intraducibile al cinema - ne saranno usciti, di film, venticinque e più. (Vincenzo Mazzaccaro) (Translation)
On this episode, Mia and Sam sit down with art historian and writer Eliza Goodpasture! Eliza has written the introduction to a new edition of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, illustrated by British modern artist Edna Clarke Hall.We take a look at the women studying at the Slade School of Fine Art in the 1890s and how Edna Clarke Hall's marriage influenced her obsession with Cathy and Heathcliff...
One of the world's leading Brontë experts is to attend the 2026 Kilkee Bronte Festival, which will take place this coming weekend.Ann Dinsdale, principal curator at the Brontë Society and Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, England will be joining the festival in Kilkee, the place where Charlotte Bronte honeymooned, and where the Atlantic coast made such an impression on the famous author.Ms Dinsdale who has 36 years' experience caring for the museum's collection, organising exhibitions and working on important acquisitions will be making her first visit to the festival in Kilkee.Speaking to The Clare Champion this week, Ann said she is really excited to visit the West Clare seaside town, "I have been reading biographies about the Brontës for years - since I was a child really - so all these names of places in Ireland are really familiar to me. (...) (Sharon Dolan D'Arcy)
Multiple Narratives brings together works by eight gallery artists. The pieces are linked through their use of repetition, series and classification, some are narrative-driven, while others focus on visual exploration. Spanning drawing, sculpture, photography and found objects, the exhibition ranges from the minimal and abstract to the richly figurative.The show includes Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press, Anna Barriball, Tacita Dean, Shilpa Gupta, Cornelia Parker, Raqs Media Collective, Thomas Schütte, and Dayanita Singh. (...)Progressing further into the gallery, the corner features two works by Cornelia Parker. White Cliff Crossings (2024) (...) [and] [a]djacent is Parker’s Brontëan Abstracts (2006) – photographs of Charlotte Brontë’s original manuscripts for Jane Eyre which are held in the British Library. These images give us a direct insight into the immediacy of the progress of the celebrated novel. Here Parker invites the viewer to be present at the author’s elbow, we enter Brontë’s consciousness as she edits her masterpiece and become privy to her ideas as they emerge and recede.
Sam and Mia are joined by their colleague Murray, who is one of the Museum's curators! Before taking on the role, Murray worked at other Museums and historic houses and undertook a PhD specialising in architectural history.In this episode, we ride the highs and lows of Britain's railways during the 1840s, looking at Branwell's time as a Railway Clerk and the investments the family made into this booming industry..
Wuthering Heights is a novel that has never been perfectly adapted, as even the Best Picture-nominated 1939 classic was only based on half of Emily Brontë’s novel. Instead of taking the opportunity to make a more thorough adaption, Emerald Fennell reduced the material even further by cutting out major characters and inserting more raunchiness; this is a complete misreading of the source material, as it is the unfulfilled longing between Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) that is supposed to heighten the sexual tension.Fennell’s film casts actors who are far too old to realistically be playing their characters and uses shock value to visualize Catherine’s sexual awakening; the result is a film that feels made by someone who had only skimmed the novel and didn’t understand what it was actually trying to say about loss and love. (Liam Gaughan)
The Synchro StingRays will be performing to three Kate Bush tracks in the water at Lakeside Adventures in Hartlebury tomorrow (Saturday, July 18).That will be ahead of Kate Bush Day next Sunday, July 26.StingRay choreographer and swim coach Ray Farr will then lead the official Wuthering Heights dance on land before inviting wannabe Kates into the lake to perform the dance there. (Tristan Harris)
It’s classic Hitchcock, but not as a twist but as a pivotal, shocking revelation. When it first came out, I believe it was considered almost a poor man’s Wuthering Heights, but I think Rebecca actually was the more truly gothic one. It’s a masterpiece.
David Canfield: How would you describe that interpretation? I’m curious how you conceive of this character, this scene, when he first presents you with the role, and how it then evolves once you start digging in.Samantha Morton: I did a bit of research into the source material and I bought the Madeline Miller book [Circe]. But I opened that book and then something just stopped me from reading it. The thing about me and my work is, my relationship to a movie script or a play or a TV episode or whatever I’m doing — that’s my special thing. Research is incredibly important for me, but it also depends on who I’m playing. Years ago, I was about 19 years old and I was playing Jane Eyre. It was a big ITV production. It was a TV movie, but they’d spent a lot of money on it. I remember literally carrying the book around with me like the Bible, with passages highlighted and all my notes, and talking to the person who adapted it and going, “Why isn’t this there? This doesn’t make sense.” I was almost in conflict with the script, which was very good, because I had issues with the choices. I vowed to myself moving forward that, while you have to do your research, you have to know what you’re doing, I didn’t want to be bogged down by everybody else’s interpretation, view, opinion, anything.
Aoife Rooney: Who would you most like to go for a pint with?Maggie O'Farrell: I’d like to go for a pint with Charlotte Brontë. I think she’d be very interesting, and it’s probable that she died of extreme morning sickness, so I’d like to talk to her about that. I feel like we lost so many books because she died so young. I’ve also read that she had an Irish accent, and I would love to know if that was true. Her father was Irish and her mother died when she was young.
The contemporary relevance of The Odyssey is a key issue in the film’s potential impact. Mary Beard, professor emerita of classics at Cambridge, says she is hoping for “the Wuthering Heights effect” and suggests there are deeper questions at play behind the surface narrative. “Films always bring people’s attention back to the ancient world and of the whole modern resonance of the classics. What are the big questions raised by the Odyssey and are they still ours? What does it mean to go home? What does war do to those left behind? Where does the boundary between civilisation and barbarity really lie?” (Andrew Pulver)
'Wuthering Heights' (1847)This might seem like it’s establishing a pattern of jumping back 50 years with every new entry, but that’s not the case (promise). Wuthering Heights is a real classic, since it’s not far off being 200 years old, which is wild to think about. It would've been very out there for its time, one would imagine, in terms of how dark and angst-filled it’s willing to get as a story about love… kind of? But not really a love story, being more centered on obsession and a dangerous kind of passion.You get a very strong feeling in your gut from reading Wuthering Heights, and such an experience has proven hard to translate and capture on screen, though that hasn’t stopped various people from trying. With Wuthering Heights, you do just have to read it, or maybe listen to it in full, and then it’s pretty easy to see what all the hype (a hype that has persisted for nearly two centuries) is about. (Jeremy Urquhart)
La produzione Virginy L’Isola Trovata seleziona attori e attrici per le prossime produzioni teatrali, tra cui Cime Tempestose, con Giulio Corso e Federica De Benedittis. Lavoro retribuito. Periodo di lavoro: autunno 2026. (Translation)
Behind The Glass: A Parsonage PodcastSam and Mia are joined by Dr Alessandra Pino, an expert on the intersections of the Gothic, food, and cultural memory. She co-authored The Gothic Cookbook, which digs into food themes and motifs in classic and contemporary novels from the 19th century to the present day.We look at how food is used in the Brontës' Gothic novels Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, and why Margot Robbie's Cathy poked her finger into aspic...Say hi! Let us know if you enjoyed the episode.
"Haworth, forever tied to the Brontë sisters, inspired seminal novels like Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. The village’s cobbled streets preserve its 19th-century grace while its stone-built houses, often constructed from locally quarried gritstone, give the buildings their distinct earthy hue," writes Love Exploring, which placed Haworth at number five on its list of England's prettiest villages."The neighbouring South Pennine moors – central to Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights – feature wild moors, which in summer are painted purple and green by blooming heather and bilberry."The Brontës are the world's most famous literary family and Haworth Parsonage was their home from 1820 to 1861. Charlotte, Emily and Anne were the authors of some of the best-loved books in the English language. The museum holds the world's largest collection of original Brontë items, including furniture, books, paintings and clothes.Haworth's traffic-free high street is glorious, laid with setts and curling down the hill from the church to central park, with the moors rising behind the sandstone houses on the other side of the Worth ValleyThere's surely no more romantic way to travel the moorland of Brontë Country than in a steam-drawn carriage. The railway has strong cultural links too — the beautiful Oakworth Station appeared in the 1970 children's classic The Railway Children.Haworth is surrounded by the moors, making it a great place for walks, with trails leading through landscapes that inspired some of the greatest works in English literature. The most popular walk is to the Brontë Waterfall, easily reached from Penistone Hill country park. It is mainly flat with fantastic views of the moors.Above Haworth, a little way up the Brontë Way from the waterfall, stands the desolate ruin of an old farmhouse. A plaque was placed here by the Brontë Society in 1964, musing that the moors here may have been in Emily Brontë's mind when she chose a location for Wuthering Heights.Haworth is a hub of unique independent shops, from art to clothes, jewellery to fine gifts, fancy toiletries, books and homewares . Its main street is made up of immaculately kept old-fashioned shop fronts and welcoming shopkeepers. Visit BradfordHaworth also has a great pub scene serving traditional Yorkshire ales. Some of the old pubs like the Black Bull are believed to be haunted by Branwell, the only brother of the Brontë sisters and a family black sheep. (Milo Boyd)
Dying for You” by Charli XCX“Charli XCX knows pop music. As one of its hardest-working pioneers, she can alchemize a hook out of any emotion—a skill she wields to great effect on her companion album for Emerald Fennell’s cinematic adaptation of Wuthering Heights. On ‘Dying for You,’ she clearly understood her assignment, deploying frenzied strings and a bombastic chorus to capture the headlong rush of Cathy and Heathcliff’s onscreen relationship. It also wouldn’t sound out of place on The CW’s Gossip Girl, which makes it a perfect soundtrack song.”—Daniel Taroy, director, social and video
The origin of it all is a question: "You, who are so feminist, how is it that you like Jane Austen or the Brontës?" they told her. "Precisely because of that!" Pujals replies. "There was a need to explain that behind the image of teacups there is a lot of feminist activism". "We have talked about economics, class struggle, the position of women, very serious things and with rigor, but adapted to the millennial and Z generations," adds Freixenet. After all, "Jane Austen invented the "ghosting" and Anne Brontë warned of the red flags of toxic masculinity, as we learned on Wednesday, who cited Rosalía and the Starks.The last chapter is an hour and a half of juice about the life and work of the youngest of the Brontë sisters and her "moralistic and raw" Agnes Grey. For Pujals, it is "a great guide to navigating your thirties; there are phrases that seem to be taken from Substack, and as a good millennial, she clearly has imposter syndrome." Despite the literary quality of the work, however, she is not the most popular author. It turns out that it was the elder sister, Charlotte ("Jane Eyre), the last of the Brontës to die, who blurred Anne's image as simply "pious and bland" and curbed the dissemination of her work, especially that inspired by her alcoholic brother. "She was the sister with more class consciousness, the most radical," they argue. And that is why she is chosen to close the podcast, which ended with the same phrase as Agnes Grey": "I feel like I've talked enough." (Laura Serra)
The final twist reveals that the true source of terror is not ghosts, but Marta Carver, a disturbed woman who has been secretly living within the house. This shift from supernatural horror to human menace, similar to renowned gothic stories like Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, makes the story more unsettling and grounded.
Best restorationParnham Park, Dorset(...) Just ten minutes from the Jurassic Coast, the gardens at Parnham are being thoughtfully brought back to life as part of a dramatic restoration of both house and grounds. The house was devastated by a fire several years ago, lending the estate a romantic, distinctly Jane Eyre feel as it slowly returns to glory. (Helen Daly)
8. A young woman falls for the wealthy, mysterious man whose dark secrets threaten their future together. (Joanne Finney)
Don’t expect high fidelity to Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel about lovers brooding on the 19th-century English moors. Only the novel’s first half is covered here with Margot Robbie as the ill-fated Cathy and Jacob Elordi as her paramour Heathcliff. The bold costumes and sets make up for storytelling liberties. Streaming now, HBO Max (Michael Fell)
Bayern 2 Salon – Buchgefühl: Emily Brontë, Sturmhöhe (Saturday 27 June 2026, 14:05–15:00 CET; also available as podcast via ARD Sounds). In this episode of Bayern 2's literary reading-and-conversation format, host Judith Heitkamp talks with prize-winning Dutch author Anjet Daanje — whose novel Das Lied von Storch und Dromedar (recently longlisted for the International Booker Prize) imagines the afterlife of Emily Brontë through literature — about why Wuthering Heights has fascinated her since childhood. Daanje argues that film adaptations almost always cover only the first half of the novel, losing something essential: Brontë's portrait of how the next generation survives after the parental one has burned itself out. She also reflects on Brontë's elusiveness as a biographical subject ("you learn more about the biographers than about Emily Brontë herself"). Readings are performed by Irina Wanka, the German voice of Sophie Marceau. In German.
The first episode of the fourth season of the Behind the Glass podcast is already available: Welcome to series 4 of the Brontë Parsonage Museum's podcast Behind The Glass! For our first episode, Programme Officer Sam and Digital Engagement Officer Mia are joined by writer and scholar Deborah Lutz, to celebrate the publication of her new biography This Dark Night: The Life of Emily Brontë. Listen in as Deborah tells us about her research process and trying to unpick some mysteries behind one of the greatest and fiercest writers...
Kinship is likewise revealed in other documents on view: A letter from Charlotte Brontë to her most frequent correspondent, Ellen Nussey, demonstrates their bond. . . (Hannah Benson)
One of my favorite episodes is The Other Brontë Girl: Anne Bronte's Tenant of Wildfell Hall from February 24, 2025. The hosts tell us: "With all the fuss and fanfare around Wuthering Heights, we’re worried Emily Bronte is getting more than her fair share of attention. So today we shift the SLOB-light to her younger sister Anne, author of the remarkable The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, published in 1848. Anne wrote it in a whirlwind after the successes of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, determined to prove herself a Bronte in talent and spirit.The hosts continue: "And though Anne is now the least celebrated of the Brontë trio, Tenant at the time of its publication, it was considered the most shocking in the Brontë collective oeuvre. Anne had fearlessly pulled back the veil on marital infidelity, domestic violence, alcoholism, and the systemic torments of Victorian masculinity and marriage laws." (Frank Racioppi)
In the latest Hollywood adaptation of “‘Wuthering Heights,’” Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw are tortured soulmates, the moors are wide and barren, everyone is brooding, and the story is reduced to sex, violence, and revenge. The critical points about class, racial otherness, inheritance, and generational destruction Emily Brontë made in her 1847 novel are pushed aside to create a gothic romance film for a date night.Lately, Hollywood’s approach to classic literature feels less like reinterpretation and more like reduction. From “‘Wuthering Heights’” to “Frankenstein” to “Animal Farm,” film studios keep coming back to classic literature, and in theory, this should be a good thing. Adaptations can reintroduce older pieces of literature to new audiences and expand on the themes that remain prevalent in society today.But this doesn’t always seem to work in practice. Hollywood’s problem is using the ethos of classic literature without doing the work of actually engaging with its content. Adaptations don’t need to transcribe the original text, but they do need to understand what the original source material is actually doing to faithfully interpret it. [...]In recent adaptations, studios rely too much on the marketability of recognizable names, characters, and titles. Instead of considering why the book is important, producers often focus on the parts of the book that can sell the fastest, which is how a complicated, nuanced novel is reduced to a gothic romance with elaborate costumes.Emerald Fennell’s “‘Wuthering Heights’” demonstrates how easily this flattening can happen. Fennell described how the novel captivated her when she was 14 years old and how she wanted her adaptation to capture the “primal and sexual” feelings she had when she first read it. But when an adaptation is based on a first impression instead of a deeper reading, it runs the risk of presenting an inaccurate version of the original text.Devin Garofalo, a professor in UCSD’s literature department, explained in an interview with The Guardian that Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights” is not just a romance; it is about “the horror of romance.” Treating violence as passion due to a teenager’s misreading of a novel is what Brontë was critiquing in the first place. [...]In other words, bad adaptations don’t just make audiences misunderstand a book — they can make audiences misunderstand history as a whole. They offer what Garofalo called an “amnesic account of the past”: one that airbrushes historical violence from a present-day vantage point and makes the past seem distant and decorative. Classic literature matters because, as Lu explained, the past is always “infiltrating the present.” These texts help readers understand the current world by showing how language can be manipulated, how class and race shape relationships, how violence gets justified, and how these old systems of power still shape the present. When Hollywood trims these texts down to their most marketable hook, it undermines the reason why these stories mattered in the first place.Hollywood does this because these hooks are easier to sell and produce than a complicated, uncomfortable argument. Sex sells. Jacob Elordi sells. Topical references sell. But a serious critique of power, class, race, and gender? Those are often much harder to package and convince viewers to watch.And that’s where the problem becomes bigger than just the adaptation. Lu described how adaptation debates often focus too much on whether a film is a good or bad rendition of the original source. But the better question, she argues, is: “What does it say about us that this is the adaptation?”The answer is not flattering. These recent adaptations suggest that Hollywood thinks audiences want classics in their easiest, most comfortable versions: recognizable enough to market but not complicated or nuanced enough to encourage thought. They keep the title, the aesthetic, and the basic premise while watering down the harder ideas about power, class, race and violence that made these books important in the first place.When Hollywood strips that away, it isn’t keeping the classics alive: It’s just turning them into marketable content. Brontë is probably rolling over in her grave — because if this is Hollywood’s idea of preserving literature, the classics were better off on the shelf. (Anu Venkatesh)
Renowned Brontë scholar, historian and illustrator Eleanor Houghton joins us to discuss her recently published book Charlotte Brontë's Life Through Clothes.
Eleanor Houghton summarizes the podcast on her Instagram:
What became of Charlotte Brontë’s wedding dress?No photographs survive. No physical trace of the original gown remains. And yet, through descriptions, recollections, sketches, and a long-lost reconstruction, it becomes possible to glimpse the dress she wore in June 1854: white book muslin, softly pleated, unexpectedly romantic.It was an enormous joy to discuss this now shadowy dress and the fascinating emotional logic that lay behind Charlotte’s choice to marry in white, with the brilliant @the_art_of_dress for @dressed_podcast.Our episode aired yesterday, so do go and listen!In our lively chat, we trace Charlotte’s relationship with clothing throughout her life and think about the garments she wore as she grew, taught, travelled, wrote, became famous, loved, grieved, and eventually married.There is so much more to say about this gown than could ever fit into a reel. So, for more, listen to the podcast and read ‘Charlotte Brontë’s Life Through Clothes’ (Bloomsbury, 2026).
Originally broadcast in 1996, this TV period drama deserves recognition amongst the finest examples within the genre - at least according to enthusiastic fans..Drawing from Anne Brontë's 1848 novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a British production made for the BBC under Mike Barker's direction.Spanning three episodes broadcast in 1996, the series presents the novel's narrative in a manner many devotees consider faithful to the source material. (Emily Malia)
This autumn, a powerful reimagining of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre will be staged at Storyhouse in Chester from November 10 to 21, 2026.Helen Redcliffe, Head of Producing at Storyhouse, said: "One of the key themes of Jane Eyre is personal discovery and development, which feels especially fitting as we celebrate the RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award and its commitment to championing the next generation of theatre-makers."At Storyhouse, we are thrilled to be part of this partnership and to support Lily as she takes this exciting step in her career."From the moment we encountered her work, we were struck by her bold, imaginative style and her instinctive understanding of our venues and audiences."Her Jane Eyre promises to be a heightened, deeply theatrical experience, using the very best of storytelling to bring this beloved classic to life — and we are proud to play a part in what we’re certain will be an extraordinary journey for her and a memorable production for our community."Jane Eyre is a co-production between Storyhouse, the Mercury Theatre, Colchester, and Rose Theatre Kingston. (...)Lily Dyble, director, said: "What I see at the heart of this story is courage in the face of the unknown."Jane Eyre reminds us of the risk and enormity of love, but also how uncertainty can breed hope as well as fear; that we can choose to fiercely love each other and ourselves, even within chaos, and even when our old lives have been lost to the fire."I’m thrilled to be bringing Jane’s story to audiences across England this autumn, with the support of four wonderful venues and the RTST." (Josh Price)
Però lo Yorkshire della Emily Brontë e delle sue blande cime vince sul Wessex, sui Cotswolds, sul Somerset e Dorset perché è davvero ruvido, gotico e più selvaggio suscitando introflessioni talvolta dilanianti. Così, come non dire dell'ultima versione hot di "Woundering Heights" girata da Emerald Fennel con Jacob Elordi e Margot Robbie (una Cathy troppo adulta rispetto a Heathcliff) e trasformata in un fiaba nera, piena di sangue, sesso e sospironi? Un adattamento sicuramente meno sognato, rispetto alle storiche precedenti, ma pur sempre infarcito di dimore fatiscenti e scorci strazianti. Non solo cuori infranti ma pure danza amorose, macabre o salvifiche e ad alto tasso erotico. Per cui di grande successo anche in quel pubblico giovane che la Brontë manco sapeva chi fosse. (Andrea Battaglini) (Translation)
Wuthering HeightsSky Cinema Premiere/Now, 8pmEmerald Fennell isn’t mucking about with her adaptation of the Emily Brontë classic. As well as ravishing Aussies in the lead roles (Margot Robbie as Cathy and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliffe), we get eye-popping cinematography, songs courtesy of the hyperpop princess Charli XCX, Martin Clunes as Cathy’s cruel alcoholic father and the young Heathcliff played by Owen Cooper. (2026)
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Talking ScaredThis Valentine’s week, come for a walk up on t’moors with me and Agatha Andrews.I’ve invited Agatha, my friend and sister-in-Gothic, host of She Wore Black podcast, for a conversation about Wuthering Heights.It’s known as “the greatest love story ever told,” but that’s such nonsense. Instead we talk about mania and melancholy, hate and power, cannibalismand necrophilia… and we also look ahead to the Hollywood adaptation with bated (but amused) breath.Enjoy!Other books mentioned:David Copperfield (1850), by Charles DickensThe Brontës (1994), by Juliet BarkerThe Gabriel Hounds (1964), by Mary StewartEast of Eden (1952), by John SteinbeckThe Vampyre (1819), by John PolidoriThe Favourites (2025), by Layne Fargo
The Art of CostumeFebruary 2026Costume nerds... It is time. This week on The Art of Costume Podcast, we brave the windswept Yorkshire moors for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.First, Spencer and Elizabeth call to order the gathering of costume nerds to discuss the debate regarding period films and costume accuracy. Then our hosts dive headfirst into this passionate, chaotic, and beautifully toxic love story, unpacking Heathcliff and Catherine’s destructive devotion, the moody atmosphere, and, of course, the stunning costumes designed by Jacqueline Durran.It’s stormy, it’s dramatic, it’s a little unhinged—and we absolutely have thoughts.
New York-based luxury knitwear brand Lingua Franca — celebrated for its hand-embroidered cashmere pieces and literary sensibility — partnered with Wuthering Heights 2026 for a limited-edition capsule collection launched in January 2025, timed to the film's Valentine's Day release.The collection was on display at the movie's junket in Los Angeles, where Jacob Elordi himself was spotted admiring the logo Maxine Sweater and even asked to purchase one. The collection comprises 15 pieces across three silhouettes: the iconic Maxine Sweater (a cotton-cashmere relaxed crewneck), the Women's Crewneck in pure cashmere, and the Classic Cardigan — all rendered in diferent colours: Black, Cream, Navy, Pale Pink, Oatmeal, Sea, and Smoke.Each piece is hand-embroidered with phrases pulled straight from the soul of Brontë's story and the film's script:
- "be with me always — take any form"
- "so kiss me again"
- "come undone"
- "drive me mad"
- "forever after"
- The Wuthering Heights logo motif
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Cannonball with Wesley MorrisValentine’s Day weekend is over, and we’re left with a new film adaptation of Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights.” Audiences are hot, bothered and swooning. Can you blame them? The trailer had promised — and the film delivers — a stunning Margot Robbie, a seductive Jacob Elordi and a lot of sticky substances (like, a lot.) Wesley Morris knows sex and shock to be the director Emerald Fennell’s specialty, and this flick is no different. But where’s the actual substance? To confront his suspicion head on, Wesley takes a movie buddy, the culture editor Sasha Weiss, to see the film that’s got everybody and their lovers in knots.
Wuthering Heights Obsessed"Heathcliff! It's me, I'm Cathy, I've come home and I got you a really good birthday card. Let me in your windowwww". If you're willing to walk across the foggy moors of North Yorkshire for someone because you're totally obsessed with them, this is the card for you. Whatever your souls are made of, yours and theirs are the same. Duh.
- Environmental Board
- Eco Ink
- Repurposed Envelopes
Inklings Book ClubFebruary 2026Well, it’s safe to say the whole world is talking about Wuthering Heights. Hello and welcome back to the Inklings Book Club where this month we are reading Emily Brontë’s gothic classic, just in time for the release of Emerald Fennell’s adaptation. And so… who better to speak to than Emerald herself? I caught up with Emerald to chat all things Wuthering Heights, as well as her favourite books and poems.
"Wuthering Heights" Velvet Girls Corset Tank TopReturn to the Yorkshire moors with a corset top that's certain to break and betray hearts! This "Wuthering Heights" corset top has a velvety body with embroidered vines, hearts and a skull at the center chest. Comes with red contrast stitching, buckles at the straps and ribbon lace-up on the back."Wuthering Heights" Silhouettes Girls Off-Shoulder T-ShirtHeathcliff and Catherine's story is one for the ages. This off-shoulder tee features lace trim at the sleeves and the two's silhouette under a tree, with a heart framing them that's decorated with flowers and birds. "My Darling Pain" is printed above them."Wuthering Heights" Quote Girls Oversized HoodieGet angsty by the moors with the perfect hoodie on! This "Wuthering Heights" hoodie features Heathcliff's iconic quote printed on the chest with filigree details, and the film's logo printed on the back and framed with roses, skulls and more filigree. Comes with front pockets, center zipper closure and a drawstring hood.
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The New York Times Book ReviewEmily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights” is a tale of star-crossed lovers: Catherine, the wild daughter of an aristocratic family, and Heathcliff, an orphan whom Catherine’s father brings home unexpectedly. While Catherine’s brother and mother denigrate Heathcliff, depriving him of an education and forcing him into a servant-like role, Catherine forms an intense, almost spiritual bond with her family’s new charge.Despite their deep connection, however, she marries the scion of a nearby wealthy family — a decision that leaves Catherine yearning, Heathcliff bent on revenge and everybody in their orbit on a path to calamity.Brontë’s classic has long been a favorite among readers, and the novel is back in the zeitgeist thanks to Emerald Fennell’s recent film adaptation. On this week’s episode, host MJ Franklin discusses “Wuthering Heights” with colleagues from the New York Times Book Review.Other works discussed:“Wuthering Heights,” the song by Kate Bush“Twilight,” by Stephenie Meyer“But Daddy I Love Him,” by Taylor Swift“Wuthering Heights,” the 2026 film directed by Emerald Fennell“The Safekeep,” by Yael van der Wouden“Mexican Gothic,” by Silvia Moreno-GarciaThe “Wuthering Heights” comics in Kate Beaton’s “Hark! A Vagrant” series“Villette,” by Charlotte Brontë“Rebecca,” by Daphne du Maurier“The Idiot,” by Elif Batuman“The Great Gatsby,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald“The Count of Monte Cristo,” by Alexandre Dumas
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When Emily Brontë published “Wuthering Heights,” in 1847, critics were baffled, alarmed, and mostly unimpressed. James Lorimer, writing in the North British Review, promised that the novel would “never be generally read.” Nearly two centuries later, it’s regarded as one of the great works of English literature. In a live taping of Critics at Large at the 92nd Street Y, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss the staying power of the original text and the countless adaptations it’s inspired, from the 1939 film featuring Laurence Olivier to Andrea Arnold’s 2011 version. The most recent attempt comes from the director Emerald Fennell, whose new “Wuthering Heights,” starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, reads as a romantic fever dream. The movie has been polarizing in part for the way it excises some of the weirder and wilder aspects of its source material. But what’s discarded—or emphasized—can also be revealing. “It’s an audacious proposition to adapt a great novel … I don’t think it needs to be faithful, necessarily,” Fry says. “The adaptation itself becomes a portrait of the time in which it’s made.”Read, watch, and listen with the critics:“Wuthering Heights,” by Emily BrontëKate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights”Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” (2026)“Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ Never Plumbs the Depths,” by Justin Chang (The New Yorker)“Barbie” (2023)“Saltburn” (2023)“Promising Young Woman” (2020)“Jane Eyre,” by Charlotte Brontë“The Communist Manifesto,” by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx (1848)Peter Kosminsky’s “Wuthering Heights” (1992)William Wyler’s “Wuthering Heights” (1939)Andrea Arnold’s “Wuthering Heights” (2011)“All the King’s Men,” by Robert Penn Warren“I Love L.A.” (2025–)
All the passion of "Wuthering Heights" but none of the shattered-screen heartbreak!Inspired by "Wuthering Heights", this ultra-protective iPhone case serves romantic main-character energy with shockproof, drop-resistant protection!Meet the Wuthering Heights Black Lace Ultra-Protective iPhone Case Moody, dramatic, and tougher than Heathcliff’s emotional baggage.Inspired by "Wuthering Heights", the His and Mine Are the Same Ultra-Protective iPhone Case serves gothic romance with real drop protection, perfect for matching aesthetics
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Soft, comfy, and emotionally dramatic. This white baby tee serves gothic main-character energy without the tragic consequencesRomantic literature, but make it wearable. Cute tee, dramatic quote, zero emotional damage included.Looks minimal, feels soft, reads emotionally complicated. The "Wuthering Heights" x Skinnydip baby tee in black is perfect for low-effort outfits with high-drama energy
InSession Film PodcastOn this episode, JD and Brendan discuss Emerald Fennell's latest film Wuthering Heights! As it has been with Fennell, this film has been quite polarizing and given her approach to the material, it's quite understanding why fans of the book would find it off-putting. But she does have cinematic flair that's undeniable.
The CathyAntique pink roses. Burning oranges. Dramatic windswept foliage. Created in celebration of the bold reimagining of "Wuthering Heights", in cinemas February 13, we've brought the drama of the moors indoors.What's in the box?18 stems including roses, alstroemeria and antirrhinumArrives in bud, blooms over 48 hours.Flower food and our florists’ arranging tips included, to keep your blooms fresh and happy.
Emerald Fennell On The Music Of Wuthering HeightsEpisode 584, 13 feb, 2026After Bradley Cooper netted his hat-trick a couple of weeks back, Emerald Fennell becomes the latest guest to take the Soundtracking match ball home, as she joins us for a third time - on this occasion to discuss her thrilling adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Based on Emily Bronte's classic novel, it stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi and has all the wit and subversiveness one has come to expect from Emerald's work
If you’ve been properly blown away by Margot Robbie’s Brontëesque style throughout her “Wuthering Heights” press tour, you’re in luck. H&M has debuted its own limited-edition collection inspired by Emerald Fennell’s upcoming adaption of the Gothic classic. And don’t worry, despite the Victorian Era’s obsession with hair, it doesn’t include any pieces made out of human locks.The collection is a modern, ready-to-wear take on the film’s wild, grand costuming created by Oscar-winning Jacqueline Durran, who took an unconventional approach with non-period-accurate ensembles for the period piece. The 11-piece lineup includes white peplum blouses, lace-trimmed maxi skirts and prairie-style babydoll dresses — all feminine, bridal-inspired pieces nodding to Cathy’s pivotal wedding to Edgar in the gothic romance. Other pieces include graphic tees with Gothic lettering and illustrations featuring famous quotes from the Emily Brontë novel. In general, the capsule is chock-full of the bold reds, pastel pinks and brooding blacks that build out the film’s visual landscape. (Anna Tingley in Variety)
Also in E Online and Liverpool Echo.
Wuthering Heights: Passion, Violence, and Revenge on the MoorsWhy does Emily Brontë's novel, Wuthering Heights, have such an enduring romantic association? Is Heathcliff a romantic lead, or an abusive antihero? Are the characters aspirational in any way, or irredeemable?Join Dominic Sandbrook and Tabitha Syrett as they discuss all this and more.
And regardless of what you made of Emerald Fennell’s controversial take on Wuthering Heights, the news that another Brontë sister classic is coming to our screens is surely an exciting one.According to reports, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre is being adapted for TV, with Aimee Lou Wood set to star in the title role. And as someone who loved her warm and witty performance in Film Club (which was also her writing debut), I couldn’t be more thrilled. We know from her previous characters that she can be both bold and demanding, while still tender and gentle. Whether she’s portraying an outspoken schoolgirl in Sex Education or a free-spirited hotel guest in The White Lotus, she’s able to bring so much expression and intensity to her roles that she feels more than well-equipped to play such a steely heroine. [...]Regardless, I can’t wait to see Wood shine in such a classic role, one I have no doubt she’ll really make her own. (Amy Beecham)
A few days after Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation of “Wuthering Heights” came out, a friend sent me an Onion headline about a bookseller frantically pulling classics off the shelf before Fennell enters the store. No beloved novel could be safe from the dangers of the director introducing anachronistic costumes, original songs by Charli XCX, selectively color-blind casting, and explicit B.D.S.M. scenes for its Byronic hero.In the case of “Wuthering Heights,” though, there was no further need to worry. The books had already flown off the shelves. In mid-February, Publishers Weekly reported that a hundred thousand copies of Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel had sold in the first two months of this year, compared with a hundred and eighty thousand total last year, attributing the increase to book clubs and influencers of all stripes embracing it. People I spoke to who’d never read it before confessed their omission as a sin tantamount to not yet having watched “Heated Rivalry.” My own confession was that I’d never much liked “Wuthering Heights.” The nihilistic attachment between its doomed lovers, Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, was too stormy and unruly for my tastes. But in rereading it for my own Substack book club, in advance of the release of Fennell’s film, I came to respect both its discipline and its perversity, though not in the way Fennell’s movie might make you think.In a certain light, “Wuthering Heights” is a respectable, conservative tale. (Hear me out.) At the beginning of the novel, we meet the cantankerous middle-aged Heathcliff and his two wards, Hareton Earnshaw and Catherine Heathcliff. The relationships eventually become clear: Hareton is the son of Hindley Earnshaw, Heathcliff’s chief childhood tormentor (and the original Cathy Earnshaw’s brother); Catherine is Cathy’s daughter and the young widow of Heathcliff’s son. The novel closes with the news that Hareton and Catherine will marry, united by a bond of true affection. Thus, the Earnshaw line survives and thrives, and the social order remains much the same at the end as it ever was.But, to get there, Brontë enlists some of the ubiquitous tropes of her time—the foundling hero, for example—only to ruthlessly unravel them. The orphan is a Chekhov’s gun of Victorian fiction: if there’s an unattached child, expect an eventual reunion with a long-lost relative, or a sudden serendipitous inheritance that enfolds the orphan into a family line. Both of those things happen in “Jane Eyre,” also published in 1847, by Emily’s sister Charlotte Brontë. Jane stumbles upon three kind people who turn out to be her cousins, and into a fortuitous bequest of twenty thousand pounds from their shared late uncle. Emily Brontë resists such a dénouement for Heathcliff. He is introduced when Mr. Earnshaw, Cathy’s father, deposits him unceremoniously in front of his wife and his two children at Wuthering Heights, having picked the boy up off the streets of Liverpool and bundled him into his coat: “a gift of God; though it’s as dark almost as if it came from the devil.” (“It,” to be clear, refers to Heathcliff.) His origins are unknown, and they stay that way. There’s no explanation for his heritage, no clarity as to the nature of his darkness. As a young adult, he disappears after Cathy declares her intention to marry Edgar Linton, the son of their wealthy neighbors at Thrushcross Grange. Heathcliff comes back three years later a gentleman, in affect and appearance if not at heart. But that time away and the source of his changed fortune also remain a mystery.There’s no ending for Heathcliff that reconciles him to the cruelty shown to him by Hindley Earnshaw, who hates him from the moment that his father brings him home. (Some fault lies with Mr. Earnshaw, who had favored Heathcliff when the children were growing up but failed to legitimatize him within the family.) There’s no one left in the novel’s closing chapters to apologize to Heathcliff for the abuse that he suffered—Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley, Cathy, and Edgar are all dead—nor does he apologize to those he brutalizes in turn: his wife Isabella, whom he marries to spite her brother, Edgar, and their poor, fretful son, Linton, whom he simply abhors on principle. There’s no language for him to fully acknowledge or profit from the genuine love that his ward, Hindley’s son, Hareton, feels for him. The happiest state Heathcliff can achieve is being haunted by the ghost of Cathy, and when, at the end of the novel, he recognizes her trademark Earnshaw eyes in the two young people of his household (not surprisingly, given that they are her daughter and her nephew), the best he can do is send them out of the room, as they cause him “pain, amounting to agony.”If Victorian fiction ordinarily treats the orphan as an engine of social mobility, whose path involves finding his place in the world, “Wuthering Heights” asserts that any such progress is temporary. At the end, Heathcliff stands alone and “unredeemed,” as Charlotte Brontë wrote of him in 1850. He destroys all his relationships, such that he can’t think of how to write his will and bequeath all the property he’s spent his life vengefully acquiring. Emily Brontë, instead, writes him out of it altogether. He has nothing to show for all of his actions. His sole biological heir predeceases him, and, once he has gone, the two homes in question, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, will pass to Hareton and young Catherine, who continue the Earnshaw family lineage. By the standards of the Victorian novel, Heathcliff, who leaves neither descendants nor legacy behind him, is a dead end.In this way, Brontë demonstrates that not all trauma has a resolution, that belonging is a gift that not even the most powerful of novelists can readily bestow. She does not tame, contain, or tidy Heathcliff’s wild energy. It shapes his outlook even in death. When Nelly, the Earnshaw family’s longtime servant, finds his body, his eyes are wide open, with a stare both “keen and fierce.” She says, “I tried to close his eyes: to extinguish, if possible, that frightful, life-like gaze of exultation, before any one else beheld it. They would not shut.” His tombstone reminds us one last time of how little we know him. “As he had no surname, and we could not tell his age,” Nelly says, “we were obliged to content ourselves with the single word, ‘Heathcliff.’ ”Whenever a fuss arises over the adaptation of a literary text to screen, I think of what James M. Cain told an interviewer for The Paris Review who asked him what he thought of the film that Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler made of his novel “Double Indemnity.” Their version made significant changes to the plot. Cain replied that he didn’t like movies. “I don’t go,” he said. “People tell me, don’t you care what they’ve done to your book? I tell them, they haven’t done anything to my book. It’s right there on the shelf.”“Double Indemnity” ’s plot was reworked, in part, to sanitize the story for screen audiences. The Hays Code, a precursor to the motion-picture rating system that gave Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” an R for its depictions of violence, sex, and death, required that Hollywood movies eschew profanity, obscenity, and other indicators of low morals, and also stipulated that “the sympathy of the audience shall never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil, or sin.” Among other potential issues, in Cain’s ending, the lovers who commit the insurance fraud at the center of the story escape the country, with plans for a double suicide. The film closes, instead, with a confession scene.It’s hard these days to imagine a situation in which, through a self-imposed agreement among all the major studios, movies and television series would need to be tamer than their source material specifically so as not to corrupt the audience. If anything, in our visual culture, we tend to expect—indeed, anticipate—the opposite. But the impulse behind the Hays Code aligns with a truism of nineteenth-century fiction that its successful writers well knew: that characters who transgress within the pages of a novel could not be allowed to prosper without punishment. It doesn’t take a literary scholar to notice, for example, that adulterous women in nineteenth-century novels—English, French, Russian—meet tragic ends, no matter how sympathetically or charismatically their creators portray them. Even the men must square their accounts. In “Jane Eyre,” Mr. Rochester, Jane’s employer at Thornfield Hall, where she goes to work as a governess, fails in his initial attempt to marry her when the existence of his first wife, Bertha, locked up in the attic, is revealed. He gets Jane in the end, but only after being maimed and partially blinded in a fire set by Bertha, in which she perishes. It’s not exactly an eye for an eye, but it reflects the belief that actions have moral consequences.“Wuthering Heights” abides by that convention. Heathcliff and Cathy both must suffer and die, lest readers make the mistake of believing it’s acceptable to profess undying love for your childhood companion while you’re seven months pregnant and married to another man (as Cathy does) or to try to kill your wife’s dog (as Heathcliff does), to name but two of their many offenses. The placid romance of Hareton and young Catherine leaves us, superficially, in a peaceful, even hopeful place.But it is Heathcliff’s passionate declarations and shocking acts that stay in the mind and color our lasting impression of “Wuthering Heights” as strange and uncontainable. They will outlive the blood-red, entertaining raunch of Fennell’s movie, too, in spite of the recency bias that kicks in when we’re confronted with contemporary interpretations of classics. It’s humbling to admit that an isolated nineteenth-century Yorkshirewoman, of whom her sister wrote that “she had scarcely more practical knowledge of the peasantry amongst whom she lived, than a nun has of the country people who sometimes pass her convent gates,” could possibly harbor thoughts as wild or knowing or kinky as we do now. But Brontë’s novel easily checks the first and third of those R-rated boxes. (As for the second, we can make our own assumptions.)In Fennell’s previous film, “Saltburn,” she cemented her reputation as a provocateur with a sequence in which the main character strips down and humps his former friend’s grave. I see that scene and counter it with this one from Brontë: seventeen years after Cathy’s death, as her husband, Edgar, is being laid to rest beside her, Heathcliff persuades the sexton to open up Cathy’s grave, ascertains that she has not yet begun to decompose (“I saw her face again—it is hers yet . . . but he said it would change, if the air blew on it”), and then bribes the sexton to remove a side from each of their coffins once he is buried there, too, so that they can commingle for eternity. It’s a deliciously subversive image, and diabolically timeless. (Radhika Jones)
When Emily Brontë published “Wuthering Heights,” in 1847, critics were baffled, alarmed, and mostly unimpressed. James Lorimer, writing in the North British Review, promised that the novel would “never be generally read.” Nearly two centuries later, it’s regarded as one of the great works of English literature. In a live taping of Critics at Large at the 92nd Street Y, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss the staying power of the original text and the countless adaptations it’s inspired, from the 1939 film featuring Laurence Olivier to Andrea Arnold’s 2011 version. The most recent attempt comes from the director Emerald Fennell, whose new “Wuthering Heights,” starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, reads as a romantic fever dream. The movie has been polarizing in part for the way it excises some of the weirder and wilder aspects of its source material. But what’s discarded—or emphasized—can also be revealing. “It’s an audacious proposition to adapt a great novel . . . I don’t think it needs to be faithful, necessarily,” Fry says. “The adaptation itself becomes a portrait of the time in which it’s made.”
A fresh wave of "Brontëmania" has swept through the historic home of the literary sisters, following the release of a new film adaptation of Wuthering Heights.The Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, West Yorkshire, a global hub for enthusiasts, reports a "mind-blowing" response to Emerald Fennell’s take on Emily Brontë's classic. [...]Mia Ferullo, the museum’s digital engagement officer, said that this surge is the most recent in a long line of renewed fascinations with the lives and works of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë.With discussions now circulating about an international television adaptation of Jane Eyre, starring Aimee Lou Wood, Ms Ferullo sees no sign of the literary fervour abating.“I’ve never seen so many people talk about Emily Brontë and Wuthering Heights,” she said.“It’s been quite mind-blowing – really, very surreal.“We talk about the Brontës every day and everyone else is kind of joining in on this conversation, and it is everywhere.“So many people are picking up the book for the first time and discovering the Brontës for the first time.“It does feel like a very big, special, special moment.”Ms Ferullo has been giving talks over the last two weeks at the museum on Brontëmania, the literary pilgrimages to the sisters’ home in Haworth which began in the late 19th century – even when the sisters’ father, the Reverend Patrick Bronte, who outlived them, was still living in the building.he said: “People from as far as America were coming to Haworth to try and see the place where Charlotte Brontë wrote Jane Eyre and lived.“So it kind of started really early on, before the museum was actually at the parsonage.”She said: “Even when Patrick was still living there, people would come, and he would take out Charlotte’s signature from letters and stuff to give to people as souvenirs.“People would go into the church to look at the marriage register book where Charlotte had written in.“So, there was a lot of interest.“And, I think that’s partly why the church decided to sell the parsonage, because people were getting bothered too much by by tourists.”Fellow literary great Virginia Woolf visited the house in 1904 and remarked on how understanding where the books were written added to readers’ appreciation of the works.Ms Ferullo said the influx of new visitors is partly down to the long-standing phenomenon of people wanting to see where literary and movie works are created.Few writers are as rooted to a specific place as the Brontës are with Haworth and its surrounding moors, she said.“People come to the house because they want to learn about the Brontës’ lives but, actually, it’s the moors surrounding them that make people feel as if they’re stepping into the novels themselves.“I don’t think they would have written things like Wuthering Heights without living in this area.”Ms Ferullo said: “With the film, it’s obviously prompted a lot of people to buy the book, and we’ve sold a lot of copies of Wuthering Heights in the shop.“But I think, as well, people want to feel like they’re getting a bit closer.“And, it’s more of an authentic experience of visiting the actual place where everything started, where this novel was written.”She said: “There’s definitely a lot of people who love the books, and that is what’s motivated them to visit.“A lot of people read them when they’re teenagers, and kind of grow up with them.“But we do have people who are just visiting Haworth for a day out, and the museum’s here, and they visit and, hopefully, learn more.”She said: “What we quite like is that it starts the conversation, allows us to talk to people and then, hopefully, they’ll learn more.“It’s kind of like an entry point into the Brontës.” (Dave Higgens)
I am sure you have heard the discourse surrounding Emerald Fennell’s now infamous, “Wuthering Heights”: ‘As a fan of the novel I could never enjoy this film,’ ‘This film is a disgrace to Emily Brontë,’ and so on. Dr Claire O’Callaghan, literary scholar and Senior Lecturer in English at Loughborough University, is one of the most qualified people to address these concerns. Claire specialises in the Brontës, being Editor-In-Chief of the official journal of the Brontë Society and even publishing an extensive biography of Emily Brontë herself, Emily Brontë Reappraised. It is safe to say that Dr O’Callaghan is far more than simply a fan of the novel, she is an expert, and here is what she had to say.Upon viewing the film immediately on the Friday morning of its release, Dr O’Callaghan detailed her initial reaction, ‘I just couldn’t stop laughing’, stating that her overall opinion of the film was that it was extremely entertaining and refreshing in comparison to the myriads of bad adaptations of the novel that exist. Talking of the film’s striking opening sequence, O’Callaghan stated that ‘it was just so tongue in cheek, setting the tone for the whole film’ being a ‘visual feast for the eyes’ that she was still processing when I came to speak to her the following Wednesday after the films release.One of the most divisive elements surrounding Fennell’s adaptation is the issue of casting. Dr O’Callaghan stated, ‘I have read and written about a million spin offs of ‘Wuthering Heights’, I don’t take them in this very pure way that people seem to, particularly with the Brontës…people get very protective over it and their Cathy and Heathcliff is the only Cathy and Heathcliff…I went in with a really open mind.’ Despite this open mindedness, on the issues of race surrounding the casting of Heathcliff, Claire stated that she can definitely see why people are upset, ‘In the book he is described by and large ambiguously but as a person of colour, that is what the commonality is between the descriptions of him.’ Claire suggested that the public reaction to the casting of Heathcliff is reflective of the time in which we are living and she agrees that there have not been enough diverse representations of Heathcliff on screen.On the widely shared viewpoint that Fennell’s film disgraces Emily Brontë herself, Claire stated that she believes that making that comment in and of itself is slightly disrespectful taking Emily’s name in vain due to one’s own dislike of a film adaptation. O’Callaghan, also being a scholar of the Victorians more broadly, suggested that one of the reasons for people’s strong reactions towards the adaptation is people’s views of the Victorian era as strictly puritan even though elements like what is included in Fennell’s adaptation were encoded within the original work.On the more provocative elements of the film, Claire stated that the fish scene was the only thing that made her feel sick, all the rest between Cathy and Heathcliff got repetitive, however getting to listen to the Charlie XCX soundtrack overlayed in the background made it all worth it. To conclude on her opinions surrounding the strong reactions to this adaptation, Claire stated, ‘It’s a kind of echo…of how horrified the Victorians were about this book…there’s a complete correlation between what we are seeing now and what we were seeing then and that’s what is fascinating.’Another topic that fans of the novel have been divided by is the representation and different interpretation of such beloved characters. Claire remarked on Isabella’s characterisation, ‘Isabella was interesting…I have got some research that’s not published…on representations of Isabella on screen…she has always been presented as this naïve character…Fennell does this…’ however she also stated that she ‘kind of liked the fact that Fennell gave agency to Isabella…it was really different…I was left a bit like, I’m not sure what to think here’. On the character of Cathy, Claire approved of Margot Robbie’s performance stating that ‘she really brought out the kind of brat like Cathy.’ The main issue that O’Callaghan shared surrounding the film was to do with the characterisation of Heathcliff, ‘The only thing I didn’t like about this film is that we are told in the book that Heathcliff is a man who will love and hate in equal measure, his emotional engine is grief, misery and sorrow but I felt that in the film he was a bit more of a romantic…that’s less interesting than something a bit more emotionally complex’. Claire also stated that so many adaptations cut off the second part of the book as well as moving around and condensing characters, ‘I think it’s really hard to adapt a complex, layered book like ‘Wuthering Heights’, it moves about in time… it’s hard to do that.’ She went on to suggest that ‘Wuthering Heights’ is full of ‘competing plotlines and ambiguity … with screen, adaptation can’t deal with ambiguity, it has to disambiguate,’ this being the reason for many of Fennell’s choices to condense elements of the novel.Overall, Dr Claire O’Callaghan shared a viewpoint that I myself am inclined to agree with, ‘If you’re going to do an adaptation…you can’t just keep doing the same thing…this is hopefully opening up a whole new world of readers to that book…take it with a pinch of salt and just enjoy the madness for a couple of hours.’ (Malise Johnson)
UNG Gainesville English Professor Shannon Gilstrap has read “Wuthering Heights” countless times and plans to see the movie at some point. He finds that modernization isn’t necessarily a negative thing, “a long as the strength of the story remains in the characters and not in how ‘hip’ the movie can be.” [...]As a reader, Gilstrap says, “It’s a story of emotional manipulation, emotional and physical abuse, abduction, forced marriages, child abuse, stealing, greed, revenge, the persistence of emotional memory. And, of course, one realizes that the “love story” story between Catherine and Heathcliff…Brontë forces us to think – Good lord, what did we – and these characters – have to go through to get it?” That is translated quite well into the film, and Fennell did a great job translating those feelings and themes onto screen. The audience leaves the theater concerned and saddened about what these characters endured in the time span of 2 hours, 16 min.Go check out the film “Wuthering Heights” and read the book to compare and contrast the difference between Brontë’s written words and Fennell’s adaptation. Decide among yourselves if the modernization was taken too far or if it adds depth to the story. (Amelia Anderson)
But Emily has had historical payback after those disapproving reviews. “Wuthering Heights” stays reliably in print, thanks to people like me, who teach it, and thanks to the film makers, who periodically boost it lucratively into the headlines.The new film beckons. But I hope that moviegoers will turn again to the book: a real Gothic shocker, which entertains while inviting us to ponder the dangerous and wonderful strength of human feeling, to consider the possibility that individual human identity is permeable, and that we may really be able to live in each other’s hearts and minds – perhaps forever. (Rosemary Haskell)
As a great and eternal admirer of the Brontë sisters, with the novel “Wuthering Heights” in my heart, I went to the cinema to watch the 2026 film “Wuthering Heights” expecting nothing other than “an Emerald Fennell”: a film by the director of “Promising Young Woman” and “Saltburn,” a mad, transgressive, decidedly pop film. I entered the theater expecting crazy costumes and a more exciting-than-ever Jacob Elordi. I entered the theater expecting a very sad love story, but also slightly ironic and mischievous. I entered the theater expecting to laugh and mock and not think for a couple of hours. The result is that I left the theater satisfied to have rediscovered the characters of one of my adolescent novels, to have visualized them more beautiful than I had imagined them, to have amusingly confirmed my belief that Jacob Elordi is as tall as he is, let’s say, still learning; I left the theater with beautiful shots and set designs in my eyes and in my head several thoughts about the general difficulty of living love fully. I left that cinema having seen a film that entertained me, without killing a single neuron.A film, in short, a “phenomenon” in the best sense of the word: saturated colors, iconic costumes, quotable, parodyable, and ultimately shareable by women and men who can equally ask themselves: “I wonder if they will manage to love each other (I wonder if we will manage to love each other?).” (Maria Luisa Fasano)
Nonetheless, one thing is uncontestedly certain — Fennell’s version will be the one solidified in history as the adaptation with its own original Charli XCX original soundtrack. (Tessa Kang)
Overall, this movie is well worth watching. Local Wimbledon resident Ada Onur comments that: "This movie skilfully conveyed the ambiguous darkness of Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights' through a new and modern angle, making it fast-paced and gripping. Despite the unexpected nature of certain scenes, I enjoyed the movie immensely!" (Marisa Shand)
Don’t get me wrong, Fennell’s cinematography is nothing short of breathtaking. But an abundance of style can only compensate so much for what is an utter dearth of substance.Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” uses the guise of interpretation as an excuse to circumvent grappling with the actual issues of what is otherwise one of the most emotionally fraught and bleak stories ever written. Vaguely referencing a couple of plot points and throwing in some direct quotes isn’t enough to capture the colliding forces of class, race, gender, recurrence, civilization and nature at the core of the novel.The only thing tragic about this story is that it takes 136 minutes to realize there isn’t one. (Isabella Garcia)
“Wuthering Heights” is neither a good adaptation nor a good film. It is a confusing, erratic and gratuitously sex-filled disaster that does no justice to Brontë’s masterpiece. However, if you want a dumb movie to watch with friends, Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” just might be for you. (Augusta Cooper)
The aesthetics and visual symbolism become increasingly absurd as the film progresses — in one scene, comically high stacks of empty green liquor bottles indicate the depths of Mr. Earnshaw’s alcoholism. Choices like these emphasize the importance of hedonism and over-indulgence in Fennell’s characters. I’ve seen criticism that her characters, especially Heathcliff and Catherine, are lacking in depth, and while I think this is fair, I worry it misses the rather blunt thesis Fennell presents about humanity as a whole: every person is essentially amoral and even cruel in the pursuit of pleasure. To this end, her characters do not require individuality or even unique motivations, since it is taken for granted that they are all driven by the universal primal instincts.This is one of the reasons I struggle to take the film’s romance seriously, and I almost wonder whether, through no intention of the director's, it could subvert the romance genre entirely. Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship perfectly demonstrates the kind of emotionally hollow but sexually driven and possessive ‘romance’ that is so archetypal at the moment. In this way, the film seems to agree more with the work of the more moralistic Brontë sister, Charlotte (I say that as someone who prefers “Jane Eyre”) than the nuanced character examinations of Emily’s novel.There are, however, two scenes that challenge this reading. In childhood, Heathcliff lies beside Catherine as she pretends to sleep, and he swears that he will always love her. Later, Heathcliff lies over a dead Catherine and begs her not to leave him, to ‘haunt’ him even in death (this does come from the book). These instances of tenderness might imply that the real tragedy of their relationship is that, beyond pleasure-driven and destructive exchanges, there was an unselfish love that was never fully realized. (Virginia Frau)
The movie has an immersive quality; however, viewers must accept one fact before they watch: Whatever their souls are made of, Brontë’s novel and Fennell’s film adaptation are not the same. (Amelie Galbraith)
I’m looking forward to Fennell’s next effort, and if you’re wondering if I watched it all the way through, I did. But it was a major slog. (Don Morton)
The movie left me with a heavy heart and intense sadness. It broke my heart that their love story was doomed from the start.If you’re in the mood for a devastating love story with hints of disturbing gothic literature, this is still worth a watch or two. Just know it has some weird scenes littered throughout. (Yosselyn Garcia Rodas)
I have so many conflicting feelings about “Wuthering Heights” that it’s hard to know whether I even liked it or not. Visually dazzling, emotionally inert. Maximalist production, minimalist writing. Prurient and chaste. Decadent, but hollow. Messy and mannered. I know I was entertained, but I’m not sure it’s actually a good movie or says anything about romance, obsessive love, or the human condition.The film is like a deceptively shallow pool. You’ll break your neck trying to dive in because the water looks refreshing and sure seems deep from far away. But maybe you’ll die with a smile. (Jared Rasic)
I need hardly remind you that Emily Brontë was not a Catholic, nor was she particularly fond of us. We have inherited no writing from her year teaching young ladies in Brussels, but her refusal to return there while her sister Charlotte did suggests she despised the spell. If Emily did not hate the foreignness of what her elder sister termed the “Romish system”, she was far from charmed by it. It’s no surprise then that the sole novel she produced before her death, aged just 30, has become synonymous with the mystical, windswept moors adjacent to the West Yorkshire home she so hated to be away from.Emerald Fennell’s new film adaptation of this classic – inspired by her half-remembered teenage encounter with it – does not so much take liberties with Brontë’s material as indulge in full-scaled libertinism. Fennell hasn’t just edited Wuthering Heights – she’s murdered it, and like some deranged criminal is now wearing its skin as a mask. (...)Brontë’s story is at once more enchanting and more moral. Fennell’s sterile, soapy sexcapade will be quickly forgotten, while Brontë’s genius never will, at least while men roam this Earth. Still, if this lavish charade encourages at least a few viewers to interrogate the original novel and its deep Christian themes, perhaps it has served some upright purpose. (Georgia L. Gilholy)
The time has come to revisit the evidence and set the record straight, for Charlotte Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell, in tribute to the spirit of those truth-tellers who ought to be heard long after their detractors have worked to silence them.
Unless explicitly said
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