The only novel written by Emily Brontë before her untimely death, Wuthering Heights occupies a distinctive position between Gothic and Romantic fiction, and it reflects the central thematic interests of both of these genres. Its melodramatic story spans more than three decades, but it is the supranatural passion between Catherine (Cathy) Earnshaw and Heathcliff that dominates the entire book, exerting a controlling influence over the lives of Brontë's …showed first 75 words of 1652 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1652 total…values landed wealth and the privileges that it confers upon him. Indeed, his tangible motive in trying to force Catherine to marry Linton is to add Thrushcross Grange to his unholy family's estate. The class conflicts that surface in Wuthering Heights comprise a secondary thematic strand, but it is one that raises additional doubts about whether we are reading a Gothic horror story, a Romantic melodrama, or something that is entirely unique within English fiction.