Pride and Prejudice
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Which book did you enjoy more P&P or Wuthering Heights?
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Jennifer
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rated it 5 stars
Jan 05, 2014 09:47PM
Most definitely Pride and Prejudice.
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Hahaha I hope it was intentional, otherwise I must be laughing at weird stuff as well.But yeah, I do think Wuthering Heights has become bogged down by its reputation as a "tragic gothic romance". I guess the tragic romance aspect of Wuthering Heights has been its most marketable aspect. I guess it aint so bad as what Hollywood did to Shelley's Frankenstein.
Allison wrote: "I avoid comparing Austen to the Bronte sisters simply because the styles are so different. In general, I like Austen's novels better than any of the Bronte sister novels (though I've yet to read An..."Agree.
hated WH, love P&P, easy pick! Jane Austen FTW!
Marika wrote: "I like Wuthering Heights, but I LOVE Pride & Prejudice. The difference is Jane Austen's sense of humor, and by comparison WH seems so bleak and lacking in the full range of human emotions."I couldn't stand Heathcliff's violence.
Loved them both; hard to choose
I like Pride & Prejudice more. Wuthering Heights gave me too much frustration, angst and distress, without any real resolution for Heathcliff and Catherine. Also, I hated the fact there were no POV for their characters. P & P, on the other hand, showed that our protagonists can have consequences for their actions, no matter how innocently they are.
POV for the main characters would distort the story of WH, and be much too biased. Heathcliff would call Hindley out on being a bastard, Cathy would call Isabella out on being a spoilt wench, Joseph would call everyone out for being a sinner......etc etc etc.Life isn't always supposed to have fairy-tale endings, and I feel Emily Bronte was wise in not resorting to that cliché in WH. The succeeding generation were the ones who learnt from the mistakes of the previous, they would redeem that bitterness and madness. It was a converging of the classes so to speak.
Peter made a good comment in message 10, about the differences of setting in WH and P&P.The consequences of WH are a different nature to P&P, you won't see Officer Smith knocking on Heathcliff's door and warranting an arrest because he intruded Thrushcross Grange, that would go against what Wuthering Heights is about, and the world Emily Bronte conceived.
There are most certainly consequences for the characters actions, but I don't think EB was concerned about little minor consequences, hers was more a concern in the grand scheme of things. Spiritual could be a word for it.
Strangely, Pride and Prejudice just didn't do it for me. I wanted to love it, but I just couldn't help being bored. Wuthering Heights I found much more interesting. Most of the characters were quite unlikeable - and I liked that.
Both. Why should I have to pick either? They aren't football teams. I read and enjoyed both.
The structure of P&P is wonderful and near flawless. But that subtleness and structure would constrict the world and characters in Wuthering Heights. It needed an experimental and more spontaneous structure to capture it. On the surface Wuthering Heights seems wild, uninhibited and pulling no punches, but the many themes and criticisms are interwoven brilliantly, they go over many people's heads. And she achieves this in an isolated setting mind you! A vast complexity is captured within the space of two houses. No attending balls, military officers to lust after, overbearing mothers. Jane Austen had a society to work with, people to bring in, places to go.
I think to express what Bronte did, in a confined setting, to give it life, vastness and realism, even in an almost alien setting. It's pretty damn special.
Definitely pride and prejudice. WH bored me to death
Pride and Prejudice definitely. The emerging love story pulls me.
I haven't read Wuthering Heights since high school. I thought it was interesting, but almost all the relationships were dysfunctional. Realistic, perhaps, but not as pleasant to read as something like Pride and Prejudice (where the dysfunctional relationships are at least a source of comedy).
Well I love Pride and Prejudice. In fact I read it about once a year, in a leatherbound edition -- I love it that much. I like it better than wuthering heights, I think because it has a happy ending -- I'm a sucker for things that turn out well. Also I love the sappy modern movie version "clueless". Not sure why, just a fell-good thing. :)
Both are wonderful and for such different qualities. Pride and Prejudice is like an old friend with a great sense of humor whom I visit from time to time. Wuthering Heights is more exciting and beautiful, but also more disturbing, more like someone I love and hate because they are fascinating but destructive.
Both Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights rank among my favorite books, but to be honest, it's hard to say which I "enjoyed more" because I enjoyed and appreciated them in completely different ways for completely different reasons.
I preferred P&P. I read Wuthering Heights, and understand why people appreciate the book, but it was too dark for my tastes.
Pride and Prejudice - I read it again every year.
I am firmly convinced Wuthering Heights is the greatest love story of all time. I love the Brontes though. I strongly dislike Pride and Prejudice.
I just don't understand why all the Wuthering Heights hate. Maybe I can just enjoy a darker story better than most.
I am going to be in the minority here and say neither! I just recently read Pride and Prejudice for the first time. I wanted to like it - so many people had told me how much they loved it and how often they re-read it. I just did not enjoy it.
Wuthering Heights I read back in high school, but did not enjoy it either.
I love them both, however, Wuthering Heights is my favorite.
I think WH being labelled a "great love story" is what irks a lot of people. Wuthering Heights is an incredible novel, but that label is like saying Animal Farm by George Orwell is the greatest novel about farm animals of all time. The magic of Wuthering Heights is everything it encompasses, and how Emily Bronte weaves it all together. Wuthering Heights really should be discussed alongside works such as Paradise Lost, Crime and Punishment or Macbeth. Interestingly, the first movie adaptation of Wuthering Heights in 1920 doesn't mention anything about it being a great romance or love story in the tagline. It seems to feel that the theme of revenge was most predominant:
Michael wrote: "I think WH being labelled a "great love story" is what irks a lot of people. Wuthering Heights is an incredible novel, but that label is like saying Animal Farm by George Orwell is the greatest nov..."You're right, it's far more interesting to think about WH as you suggest. Heathcliff was obsessed with Cathy, but that is more about getting even than it is about love.
The Gothic atmosphere of Wuthering Heights and the passionate love story it incorporates make it a compelling read. It inspires some of us with fear, as we progress on a bumpy ride towards the ending. Pride and Prejudice, on the other hand, makes for an uplifting read, as it were. Smoothly we can ease to the happy ending our heart has wished for. When it comes to grammatical structures, both writers have made the best of their linguistic skills. Notwithstanding, there is no denying that the Brontes had an eye for detail and the knack to depict it in words.
Wuthering Heights!!!
P & P, I found Wuthering Height too scary.
Pride and Prejudice----I like the style and humor of this novel!!
I read Wuthering Heights in high school and again in my early 30s. I loved it both times. I can appreciate Pride and Prejudice as artful, but it is not a book I would recommend.
P&P. Wuthering Heights is outstanding, but so dark.
I liked Pride and Prejudice the best.
P & P. More than once. Would not bother with W H.
Both books are great . They are different books as far it concerns the content , the characters and the outcome . Personally I love "Pride and Prejudice" , but "Wuthering Heights" is also an appealing book .
Pride and Prejudice
I'm in my 60's now. As a younger woman, I ranked Wuthering Heights as one of my favorite books. I still hold it in high stead, but think that Pride and Prejudice has more a universal theme.
Cemre wrote: "I like them both, but ı like Wuthering Heights better. I think it's a useless comparaison. Austen writes you and your cousins going to a tea party in a witty and emotionally subtle way. Her nove..."
Interesting. These are two brilliant artists with two very different attitudes toward life and characters. We don't, or at least not altogether, create our own attitudes; circumstances and influences beyond our control are involved. I think my enjoyment depends a lot on the aspects of life, the thoughts and feelings, that interest me and draw me to this or that book at a given time.
P&P- I couldn't stand WH
I love them both in different waysPride and Prejudice for the humour and social satire.
Wuthering Heights for the darkness, passion and brooding hate. And because Joseph speaks my language, or at least my grand-parents' language.
I've always been slightly embarrassed that I failed to connect with Wuthering Heights, what didn't I get...? All that gloom and doom without redemption... I adored Pride & Prejudice though, really kind of slyly subversive and cheeky to boot. As for the Brontë sisters...I'd take Charlotte and good old Jane Eyre any day. Talk about a woman (Jane) before her time! In fact, Jane Eyre was the first book I ever defied my bedtime over. I hid out in the closet with a flashlight to keep reading when I was 10 years old. Reread it two years ago and still felt very fond of her.
kellyjane wrote: "I've already offered an opinion in this thread, but want to flesh it out a little more. What I detest about 'Wuthering Heights' is that it portrays love in a shape that is insufferably grotesque t..."That's what makes it so revolutionary. We don't get the usual bed of roses view of love. And that's fascinating. It's definitely one of my favorite books.
Cemre wrote: "I never liked Jane Eyre that much. Don't get me wrongly, it's definitely ahead of its time and Jane is a very well written character, but ı think it's weak plotwise. I really liked the first few ch..."I love this novel every time I re-read it (and for me, the first read may have been at 11 or 12). Bronte subverts the Victorian female ideal, which has hung over us like a hungry stupid ghost for yea these many decades. Though Jane believes in love and duty, she is a self-determined female who knows people like Brocklehurst and her adopted Aunt are tyrannical liars holding on to unearned status. She learns a lot about what she wants and doesn't want during her separation from Rochester; mainly, that she loves him warts and all and though St. John is much more admirable, he is dry and prim in all his perfection, so she doesn't marry him though many would advise that she prefer him to R. Yes, that's romantic but many could say love is simply that: romantic.
It would have to be Pride and Prejudice for me. Reading Wuthering Heights is like watching a spectacle, all grand operatic passions, mesmerizing to watch. But Cathy and Heathcliff are both so hateful I can't sympathize with them, and other characters that I feel some pity for are so blindly stupid I can't help feeling that they get what they deserve. So for all the passions of the characters I have little emotional investment in the story.
When I read Pride and Prejudice, I am completely invested in what will happen to Lizzie and Darcy (even though, after multiple re-readings I already know).
As for me, I can't compare these books because both of them different and marvelous. They have two amazing plots that thrill me. "Wuthering Heights" has a plot which is more darker but that's why I like this book. We have differents stories in the world and not all of them are so happy.
P&P definitely!! Couldnt get into Wuthering Heights
Allison wrote: "I avoid comparing Austen to the Bronte sisters simply because the styles are so different. In general, I like Austen's novels better than any of the Bronte sister novels (though I've yet to read An..."I have to say thank you. This may be the first time I've ever heard anyone speak of (write of) these books with the same feelings I have. Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre are probably my favorite books. I would throw Wuthering Heights against a wall but my aim is so bad, I'd break a window. I have read Wuthering Heights more times than I wanted too because people whose opinion I value tell me it is wonderful. I just cannot get past the personalities.
I enjoyed both of them...but i actually love Wuthering Heights more than Pride and Prejudice!maybe because i was in a good mood when i was reading it!
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