Book Anatomy · Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights: Prose style
17 lenses on prose style for Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17
H1. Readability score per chapter. Count
Flesch reading ease for the whole book is about 70 (higher is easier; 60 to 70 is plain English).
Reading ease per chapter, chapter by chapter
H2. Vocabulary range. Count
9,350 different words. On average 56 in every 100 words are new within a 500 word stretch. 4,040 words appear only once.
H3. Signature words: what this author uses far more than others. Count
catherine, joseph, ellen, heights, grange. See the full lens on the book page.
H4. Adverb and adjective rates. Count
About 14.42 words ending in 'ly' and 8.79 likely adjectives per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
'ly' words per 1,000, chapter by chapter
H5. Share of weak verbs such as "was" and "had". Count
'Was', 'were', 'had', 'is' and 'are' make up 2.7% of all words.
H6. Passive voice rate. Count
About 6.1% of sentences use a passive form such as 'was taken'. (rough estimate from word lists)
H7. Variety of sentence openings. Count
The five most common first words start 32% of sentences: i, he, the, and, heathcliff.
| First word | Sentences |
|---|---|
| i | 1065 |
| he | 354 |
| the | 259 |
| and | 258 |
| heathcliff | 202 |
| you | 184 |
| she | 179 |
| it | 168 |
| but | 158 |
| linton | 131 |
H8. Rhythm: how much sentence length varies. Count
Sentence length varies by 0.77 of its mean on average (higher means a more varied rhythm).
Variation per chapter, chapter by chapter
H9. Similes and metaphors: how many, and of what kind. Both
229 likely similes ('like a', 'as ... as'): 1.96 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 1, para 4: “Mr. Lockwood, your new tenant, sir. I do myself the honour of calling as soon as possible after my arrival, to express the hope that I have not …
Ch 1, para 14: While enjoying a month of fine weather at the sea-coast, I was thrown into the company of a most fascinating creature: a real goddess in my eyes, as …
Ch 1, para 14: While enjoying a month of fine weather at the sea-coast, I was thrown into the company of a most fascinating creature: a real goddess in my eyes, as …
Ch 1, para 18: Joseph mumbled indistinctly in the depths of the cellar, but gave no intimation of ascending; so his master dived down to him, leaving me vis-à-vis the ruffianly bitch …
Ch 1, para 19: Mr. Heathcliff and his man climbed the cellar steps with vexatious phlegm: I don’t think they moved one second faster than usual, though the hearth was an absolute …
Ch 2, para 27: She flung the tea back, spoon and all, and resumed her chair in a pet; her forehead corrugated, and her red under-lip pushed out, like a child’s ready …
Abundant similes and metaphors throughout. Catherine's soul compared to eternal rocks and moonbeams versus lightning; Heathcliff's love described as killing by fractions of hairbreadths; Hareton as a tree twisted by wind. Mostly emotional and spiritual rather than visual.
Chapters: Ch 9, Ch 13, Ch 17, Ch 33
he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire. (Ch 9, para 83)
My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. (Ch 9, para 91)
I have no pity! I have no pity! The more the worms writhe, the more I yearn to crush out their entrails! (Ch 14, para 28)
H10. Senses used: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Both
Share of sense words. sight 50%, sound 25%, touch 19%, taste 6%, smell 0%. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Sense | Words |
|---|---|
| sight | 652 |
| sound | 317 |
| touch | 243 |
| taste | 75 |
| smell | 6 |
Sight dominates: faces, expressions, physical appearance. Sound crucial for dialogue and emotional tone. Touch used for violence and rare tenderness. Smell and taste minimal. Moorland wind and rain create sensory atmosphere.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 15, Ch 30, Ch 33
She was slender, and apparently scarcely past girlhood: an admirable form, and the most exquisite little face that I have ever had the pleasure of beholding (Ch 2, para 20)
Come in! come in!” he sobbed. “Cathy, do come. Oh, do—once more! Oh! my heart’s darling! hear me this time, Catherine, at last! (Ch 3, para 54)
Why, how very black and cross you look! and how—how funny and grim! (Ch 7, para 5)
H11. Repetition, lists of three and other patterns. Both
94 lists of three in the pattern 'a, b and c': 0.8 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Repetition of Catherine's names across forms (Earnshaw, Heathcliff, Linton) signals identity fracture. Lists of three appear in emotional climaxes. Heathcliff's obsessive phrases repeated: 'I cannot live without my soul.' Patterns reinforce cyclical revenge and haunting.
Chapters: Ch 3, Ch 9, Ch 15, Ch 33, Ch 34
Catherine Earnshaw, here and there varied to Catherine Heathcliff, and then again to Catherine Linton. (Ch 3, para 4)
Come in! come in!” he sobbed. “Cathy, do come. Oh, do—once more! Oh! my heart’s darling! hear me this time, Catherine, at last! (Ch 3, para 54)
he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire. (Ch 9, para 83)
H12. Old words that may trip modern readers. Count
Old forms that may trip a modern reader: nay, ere, thy, thee, thou, art.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| nay | 26 |
| ere | 16 |
| thy | 12 |
| thee | 12 |
| thou | 9 |
| art | 4 |
| hither | 4 |
| anon | 2 |
| whence | 2 |
| thither | 2 |
H13. Showing against telling, with examples. AI
Heavy use of showing through dialogue and scene. Heathcliff's cruelty shown through actions rather than narration. Catherine's internal conflict revealed through her own words and Nelly's observations of her behaviour. Telling used sparingly for summary between major scenes.
Chapters: Ch 6, Ch 11, Ch 14, Ch 27, Ch 33
and if you fancy I’ll suffer unrevenged, I’ll convince you of the contrary, in a very little while! Meantime, thank you for telling me your sister-in-law’s secret: I swear I’ll make the most of it. (Ch 11, para 36)
I have no pity! I have no pity! The more the worms writhe, the more I yearn to crush out their entrails! (Ch 14, para 28)
It lasted so long that it frightened even me. As to his cousin, she wept with all her might, aghast at the mischief she had done (Ch 23, para 38)
H14. How much description comes before action. Both
Description woven into action rather than preceding it. Lockwood's first visit mixes setting details with immediate conflict. Nelly's narrative describes places as characters move through them. Minimal static description; atmosphere emerges from events.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 6, Ch 18, Ch 21
Both of us were able to look in by standing on the basement, and clinging to the ledge, and we saw—ah! it was beautiful—a splendid place carpeted with crimson (Ch 6, para 6)
He had grown a tall, athletic, well-formed man; beside whom my master seemed quite slender and youth-like. (Ch 10, para 38)
Her appearance was altered, as I had told Heathcliff; but when she was calm, there seemed unearthly beauty in the change. (Ch 15, para 3)
H15. Filter words such as "saw", "felt", "heard". Count
Filter words ('saw', 'felt', 'heard' and so on): 4.1 per 1,000 words.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| thought | 119 |
| saw | 80 |
| heard | 79 |
| seemed | 69 |
| felt | 62 |
| knew | 40 |
| noticed | 12 |
| watched | 12 |
| wondered | 7 |
H16. Shifts in tone. AI
Tone shifts from Lockwood's ironic detachment to Nelly's maternal concern to Heathcliff's obsessive anguish. Gothic horror alternates with domestic realism. Climax moves from violent revenge to spiritual torment. Final chapters shift toward redemption and hope.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 9, Ch 16, Ch 29, Ch 33, Ch 34
A perfect misanthropist’s Heaven—and Mr. Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us. (Ch 1, para 1)
The tone in which the words were said revealed a genuine bad nature. I no longer felt inclined to call Heathcliff a capital fellow. (Ch 2, para 37)
Oh, Cathy! Oh, my life! how can I bear it?” was the first sentence he uttered, in a tone that did not seek to disguise his despair. (Ch 15, para 11)
H17. How the comedy works. AI
Comedy sparse and dark. Lockwood's misadventures with dogs and hostile household provide ironic humour. Nelly's dry observations about character folly. Joseph's dialect speech offers comic relief. Humour undercuts rather than relieves tension.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 4, Ch 31
A perfect misanthropist’s Heaven—and Mr. Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us. (Ch 1, para 1)
It is astonishing how sociable I feel myself compared with him. (Ch 1, para 27)
The tone in which the words were said revealed a genuine bad nature. I no longer felt inclined to call Heathcliff a capital fellow. (Ch 2, para 37)
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