Modern vs. contemporary attitudes

Wuthering Heights received some pretty harsh reviews at the time of its publication. Here are a few examples:

“We rise from the perusal of Wuthering Heights as if we had come fresh from a pest-house. Read Jane Eyre is our advice, but burn Wuthering Heights…”
– Paterson’s Magazine (USA), March 1848 (via The Reader’s Guide to Wuthering Heights)

“How a human being could have attempted such a book as the present without committing suicide before he had finished a dozen chapters, is a mystery. “
– Graham’s Lady’s Magazine (USA), July 1848 (via The Reader’s Guide to Wuthering Heights)

“”Wuthering Heights is a strange, inartistic story. There are evidences in every chapter of a sort of rugged power–an unconscious strength–which the possessor seems never to think of turning to the best advantage. The general effect is inexpressibly painful.”
– Atlas, 1848 (via Lilia Melani’s “The 19th Century English Novel“)

Now compare that with selection from Alice Hoffman’s introduction to the 2004 Signet Classics edition of Wuthering Heights:

“Wuthering Heights is one of the greatest novels of all time, and arguably the greatest psychological novel ever written… The ultimate rebel’s treatise written by a woman who rarely ventured farther than her own village and whose own life was tragically short, Wuthering Heights is a domestic drama, a ghost story, a romance, a spiritual journey, a diary of dreams and visions, and above all else, an examination of the nature of humanity.”

What changes in attitude between mid-19th century and now may have revised public and critical opinion of the book? Was the book’s contemporary criticism justified in any way?

Why “Wuthering Heights”?

Why do you think Emily Bronte’s book is titled “Wuthering Heights” and not something that refers more to the characters, like “Heathcliff” or “Heathcliff and Cathy” or “Some Undying Love” or something similar? How much does the physical setting — the geography of the moors, the estates of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange — matter to the novel?

Beginning Wuthering Heights

As we begin reading Wuthering Heights, here are a few resources you might find helpful for getting into the book:

Flickr photos of the Bronte Parsonage, where Emily Bronte lived and wrote.

A genealogical table of the characters  from The Reader’s Guide to Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights (I really appreciated this when I realized there were two Catherines, plus trying to keep track of Hindley and Hareton, who married whom, etc.)

A 360-degree view of the parsonage and surrounding areas:

The moors near the parsonage:

More on the moors and what they look like

Know of any good Emily Bronte-or Wuthering Heights-related links? Please feel free to share them below.