Nelly Dean in Wuthering Heights

Nelly Dean is a central character in Emily Brontë‘s classic novel Wuthering Heights, serving as the primary narrator and witness to the events that engulf the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Through her eyes, readers experience the intense emotions and turbulent relationships that define the novel. Her role as housekeeper places her in a unique position to observe the intimate details of the characters’ lives, making her narration indispensable to the unfolding of the story.

Despite not being the protagonist, Nelly Dean’s narration is crucial in shaping the reader’s understanding of the novel’s complex characters and events. As she recounts the history and tragedies of the Earnshaw and Linton families to Mr. Lockwood, her narrative becomes a pivotal thread that weaves together the main themes of love, revenge, and the socio-economic tensions of the time. However, her reliability as a narrator is often debated among scholars and readers, as her personal biases and involvement in the events she narrates can sometimes color her account, leading some to consider her an unreliable narrator.

The novel’s structure is also shaped by the framing narrative of Mr. Lockwood, whose interactions with Nelly and his experiences at Thrushcross Grange bookend the main story. This layered narrative structure, with Nelly’s story nested within Lockwood’s, contributes to the novel’s complexity and its exploration of perspective and storytelling.

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1. Nelly Dean Character Analysis

Nelly Dean serves as a central character and a crucial narrator in Wuthering Heights, giving readers an insight into the intimate details of both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange households. While she is a primary narrator, it’s important to note that the novel’s narrative structure is layered, with Mr. Lockwood framing the story and Nelly recounting her experiences within that frame.

Role in ‘Wuthering Heights’

Nelly Dean is first introduced as the housekeeper at Thrushcross Grange. Throughout the novel, she transitions between being a servant at Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Dean is not a mere observer; she plays an integral role in the unfolding drama, influencing the lives of the other characters and often being directly involved in key events.

• Job Positions:
  • Servant at Wuthering Heights
  • Housekeeper at Thrushcross Grange

She is considered by some to be a confidante to many characters, providing them with comfort and advice. Her role extends beyond that of a typical servant, placing her at the heart of the family’s affairs.

Relationship with Other Characters

Nelly Dean has complex relationships with the novel’s other characters, often filled with nuanced dynamics.

• Relationships with:
  • Catherine Earnshaw: Nelly acts as a motherly figure and confidante.
  • Heathcliff: She has a complicated dynamic, with Dean expressing both sympathy and disapproval towards him.
  • Edgar Linton: Nelly maintains a professional but caring relationship.

Her position in the household(s) allows her a unique vantage point, fostering a closeness that influences her perceptions and the story she relays to the reader.

Nelly Dean as the Narrator

As the narrator, Nelly Dean has the power to shape the story’s narrative, which significantly affects how the characters and events are presented to the reader. Some label her as an unreliable narrator due to her deep involvement in the story and personal biases that may color her recounting. However, her involvement and longevity in the households provide not only a comprehensive history but also a unique perspective that blends intimacy with detachment. Her narration is not just a recounting of events but also an interpretation, which adds depth to the novel’s exploration of themes such as love, revenge, and social class.

Despite potential biases, she remains a key narrative device, whose account provides depth and layers to Emily Brontë’s complex story, allowing the reader to engage with the multi-generational saga in a direct and personal way.

2. Major Relationships and Conflicts

Nelly Dean is central to the unfolding of major relationships and conflicts within the Earnshaw and Linton families. Her intimate connection with various characters is pivotal, influencing pivotal moments that drive the narrative.

Nelly’s Interaction with the Earnshaws

Nelly Dean serves primarily as a nursemaid and confidante for the Earnshaw family at Wuthering Heights and later for the Linton family at Thrushcross Grange. She is deeply involved with the Earnshaw family, experiencing their inner turmoil firsthand. The siblings Catherine and Hindley Earnshaw are under her care after the death of Mr. Earnshaw, placing her in a supportive role. Hareton Earnshaw, Hindley’s son, also becomes a concern for Nelly following Hindley’s descent into despair and alcoholism. Her interactions are characterized by a blend of affection and frustration:

• Hindley’s Hostility: While Hindley’s hostility is primarily directed towards Heathcliff, Nelly witnesses and navigates the turbulent atmosphere he creates during his periods of heavy drinking.

Involvement with the Lintons

Nelly transfers to Thrushcross Grange and intertwines with the Linton family. Here, she becomes a confidante to Isabella Linton and her brother Edgar Linton. Edgar’s marriage to Catherine Earnshaw forges a link between the two households that Nelly navigates with insight:

• Isabella’s Affections: Once infatuated with Heathcliff, Isabella turns to Nelly for counsel.
• Edgar’s Stability: Edgar Linton finds in Nelly a stable presence amidst the emotional upheaval caused by his wife, Catherine.

Influence on Catherine and Heathcliff’s Relationship

Nelly Dean’s role in the relationship of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff is significant, acting as both observer and confidante. Throughout the novel, her influence is seen in her attempts to mediate the turbulent love between them, although she often disapproves of Heathcliff. Here is how she engages:

• Catherine’s Confidante: Nelly is a keeper of secrets and a sounding board for Catherine’s deep emotions towards Heathcliff.
• Heathcliff’s Complex Relationship: While Heathcliff confides in Nelly, she is also a source of cautionary advice to the others about his vengeful nature. However, her relationship with Heathcliff is more nuanced than that of a simple antagonist, as she serves as a mediator at different points in the novel.

Through her unique position, Nelly Dean affects the underlying threads of love and loyalty that entangle the lives of the characters, making her a linchpin in the saga of two families intertwined by fate and choice.

3. Themes and Literary Significance

Nelly Dean serves as a pivotal figure whose narration impacts the novel’s themes and frames the events through her unique perspective. Her influence and reliability are central to understanding the literary significance of the work.

Nelly Dean’s Influence on Themes

Nelly Dean’s role as the primary narrator in Wuthering Heights is instrumental in shaping the novel’s core themes. Through her storytelling, she emphasizes themes of love, specifically the tumultuous and often destructive relationships between characters like Heathcliff and Catherine. Nelly’s descriptions provide insights into loyalty and compassion, which are exhibited through her long-term commitment to the families at Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. However, it’s important to note that she is not the sole influence on the novel’s themes. The complex narrative structure, the Gothic elements, and Emily Brontë’s exploration of social class and the supernatural also contribute significantly to the thematic depth of the novel.

• Religion: Nelly often infuses her narrative with a Christian perspective, reflecting the moral and ethical standards of the era and influencing the characters’ development as well as the novel’s thematic underpinnings.
• Education and Spoken Word: Through her spoken accounts, it becomes evident that Nelly’s formal education shapes her storytelling, giving her a unique authority among the other characters.

Citations of Nelly’s conversations with characters like Catherine Earnshaw allow readers to explore the private and intimate aspects of human nature in a rigid, socially constrained environment.

Reliability and Perspective

Nelly Dean’s reliability as a narrator is frequently called into question, making her a classic example of an unreliable narrator. Her intimate involvement in the story’s events and her personal biases allow readers to challenge her narrative and uncover alternate layers of interpretation within the plot.

• Narrator’s Bias: Analysis of Nelly’s narration reveals her personal biases, which affect how events are portrayed and the descriptions she gives of other characters.
• Aid and Compassion: Nelly’s provision of aid and compassion, while at face value is benevolent, sometimes leads to her overstepping boundaries and meddling in others’ affairs, which influences the outcomes of numerous situations. However, it’s also important to recognize that Nelly’s actions are often driven by her genuine concern for the well-being of the characters, and her involvement is usually requested or accepted by them.

Evaluating her reliability entails scrutinizing her motivations, her selective omission or emphasis on certain details, and the potential impact of her own emotions and intentions on the storytelling.