Much has been written about the narrative technique of
this outstanding novel, and in particular the Gothic characteristics that it employs.
Firstly, let us note that a framing narrative is used, where the main story, that of
Heathcliff and Catherine, is framed by another story, which is Lockwood's sojourn in the
Yorkshire moors. Let us also realise that the main narrator, Lockwood, is one that is
shown to be completely unreliable from almost his opening words. Note the way he
misinterprets Heathcliff as a character:
A perfect misanthropist's heaven: and Mr.
Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us. A capital
fellow! He little imagined how my heart warmed towards him when I beheld his black eyes
withdraw so suspiciously under their brows, as I rode up, and when his fingers sheltered
themselves, with a jealous resolution, still further in his waistcoat, when I announced
my name.
As we go on to
discover, Heathcliff is anything but a "capital fellow," and thus the vague
indistinctness of this Gothic narrative is established, as not only are we narrated the
tale overall by an unreliable narrator who does not come from Yorkshire and knows
nothing of the manners and culture of the place, but the story also involves multiple
narrators, creating different layers of narrative that add to the nebulous nature of the
narrative. We have Lockwood telling us what Nelly tells him, but at times, Nelly only
reports what others tell her, such as when Isabella flees Wuthering Heights. We need to
penetrate through three or so layers of narration to try and discern the "truth" of what
happened.
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