Well done to Samantha Ellis for recognising that Wuthering Heights is not a conventional love story, nor was it ever meant to be (‘It’s no romcom’: why the real Wuthering Heights is too extreme for the screen, 28 December). If it had been published in Greek, contemporary critics would have hailed it as comparable with Aeschylus, since the structure is in three, not two, parts – like a classical Greek tragedy, the revenge/resolution comes at the end.
The parallels include Lockwood and Nelly Dean narrating most of the story, much as a Greek chorus would do; most (though not all) of the violence takes place offstage; the setting is otherworldly at times, but relatable to the audience; the wellspring is Heathcliff and Cathy declaring their unity at a very young age and claiming to be damned for it. Which they are, thus tempting fate.
The whole should be filmed as a trilogy – novels of the 19th century were often referred to as a three‑volume novel, as that was the convention even for gothic horror.
John Starbuck
Lepton, West Yorkshire
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