Emerald Fennell has weighed in on a long-running fan theory about her upcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation, and it’s all to do with the exciting topic of… grammar?
ICYMI, Fennell’s take on the Emily Brontë novel has been getting all kinds of attention ahead of its premiere next month, but one of the buzziest tidbits has been the creative decision to put the film’s title in quotation marks.
The simple grammatical trick spawned a popular TikTok theory that Fennell, by way of quote marks, was choosing to focus the movie on a character who is imagining herself in the book, as opposed to simply adapting the book’s original storyline for the screen.
Now, the director has addressed the stylised title while elaborating her own vision for the project.
Why does Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights have quotation marks?
When asked why Wuthering Heights was in quotation marks during a recent interview, Fennell explained that her movie is an adaptation, not an exact replica.
“You can’t adapt a book as dense and complicated and difficult as this book. I can’t say I’m making Wuthering Heights. It’s not possible,” Fennell told Fandango.
Fennell added that her own interpretation of the novel, as well as that of many OG fans, was infused into the script, meaning it won’t be the carbon copy some bookworms are hoping for.
“What I can say is I’m making a version of it. There’s a version I remembered reading, which isn’t quite real, and there’s a version where I wanted stuff to happen that never happened,” Fennell said. “So it is Wuthering Heights, and it isn’t.”
Fennell’s explanation debunks the theory that Wuthering Heights will focus on a character far removed from the story of Catherine and Heathcliff, but it does warn audiences that the movie will be a specific spin on the classic novel… hence the quotation marks.
“I’d say any adaptation of a novel, and especially a novel like this, should have quotation marks around it,” Fennell said.
The quote marks might explain why the trailer for Wuthering Heights mentioned it being “inspired by the greatest love story” and not ‘based on’, but anyone who watched it would’ve noticed that Fennell is taking her own path in bringing the story to screen.
From the raunchy sex scenes to the anachronistic costumes, the movie has copped major criticism around its creative direction compared to the book.
Last year, casting director Kharmel Cochrane defended the decision to cast 34-year-old Margot Robbie in the role of a teenage Catherine, as well as Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, who is described as “dark-skinned” in the book.
Add in some searing early reactions and a divisive trailer and we’ve got ourselves the first controversial movie of the year. Or should I say “controversial movie”?
Lead images: YouTube and X
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