Light/Dark

Light and Dark is the most visible motif in Wuthering Heights. It is represented by Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights, respectively. Thrushcross Grange is a haven in the cruel world that these characters live in. It is a place for healing and maturation like when Catherine was bitten by a dog and was there for 5 weeks to heal. Upon her return she also seemed to have matured and dressed more like a woman than before she had left. Wuthering Heights on the other hand is equal to Hell. The ocupants were beaten and treated like dogs. (1)

Doubles

Many elements of the story come in pairs. Catherine and Heathcliff have separate personalities but require each other to function. There are two narrators, Lockwood and Nelly, and there are two houses, the Grange and Wuthering Heights. There are two families, Catherine must choose between Heathcliff and Linton, Heathcliff must choose between Catherine's love and her dislike of his faults. (2)

Repetition

Throughout the story it becomes obvious that Emily Bronte meant to repeat certain things to add depth to the story. While reading it seems that everything runs in cycles instead of ever truly ending. Many things in the characters' pasts seem to resurface including the names they are given. When the Earnshaws adopted the young gypsy boy they named him Heathcliff after one of their children that died when he was younger. Many parts of the plot can be seen as repetition of a prior event. (2)

Nature vs. Culture

Nature and culture are in a heated battle throughout Wuthering Heights. Nature is wild and unpredictable, personified by the Earnshaws, Heathcliff, and Wuthering Heights, the stormy landscape. Culture is personified by the Lintons, prime examples of fine society, and Thrushcross Grange, a more tame land. These two forces clash often in the story. (2)

Wind

The home of the Earnshaws and then Heathcliff's home is called 'Wuthering Heights,' and in the first chapter Mr. Lockwood says that 'wuthering' is a significant adjective, as it is “descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather. Pure, bracing ventilation they must have up there at all times, indeed; one may guess the power of the north wind blowing over the edge, by the excessive slant of a few stunted firs at the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the sun” (page 6). The wind is an important symbol for change in the novel. It is present during many of the significant events in the lives of the characters. When Mr. Earnshaw dies there is a 'high wind,' and the weather is described as 'wild and stormy.' On the night that Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights there is a great storm with wind and rain. (3)

(1) In Class Notes
(2) http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/wuthering/themes.html
(3)http://www.novelguide.com/wutheringheights/index.html&book=448