WAEC Literature in English 2021 Theory — Question 7

Model answer

Points to develop: relation to theme; scene identification; description of Wuthering Heights; description of Thrushcross Grange; influence of each setting on its inhabitants. Wuthering Heights is set in nineteenth-century England, straddling the Romantic and Industrial periods. The theme of love and revenge is played out through the relationship between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, two settings that concretise the novel's thematic concerns. Wuthering Heights is exposed to stormy weather and has a wild, passionate, violent influence on its inhabitants (e.g. Heathcliff, Hindley); Thrushcross Grange is calm, light, more pleasant and 'splendid', influencing its calm, refined residents (e.g. Edgar and Isabella Linton). The contrast in settings symbolizes the traditional links to the push and pull of the novel's plot and events.