Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights?

I have to admit that I liked Jane Eyre more than I liked Wuthering Heights, BUT at the same time, I finished Jane Eyre and barely got through the sixth chapter of Wuthering Heights. And, I read Wuthering Heights as a freshman in high school; I read Jane Eyre as a sophomore in college. I can say my tastes have probably changed (though I do have to admit that that may not be entirely true because I've been reading classics since I was in the seventh grade).

I detested the characters in Wuthering Heights. I get a lot of criticism for that, because a lot of people who didn't enjoy WH didn't like the characters and it seems to be the "go-to" excuse for not enjoying the novel. In my case, though, it's completely true for me. I've had this discussion with many of my friends and tell those who did like it this: I like the plot of Wuthering Heights, but I didn't like the characters. For me, the characters make it.

That's not to say, however, that "good" characters are necessary for me to enjoy a book. I like villains, too, but to me, Heathcliff and Cathy were too self-absorbed for me to ever connect with them. If they were real people I'd have avoided them altogether.

As for Jane Eyre, I really liked the book as well as the characters, even though I have a few qualms with both Rochester and Jane. No one is perfect, after all, but that's proof that I don't need completely Mary-Sue characters, I think.

I can't make a sound judgement because I haven't read WH in so long, but I have told myself that I will pick it up again and I will finish it and then draw new conclusions. Even though I know the story, perhaps something in there might change my mind.

Hope this answers your question; I know it's extremely biased, but that's how my answer must remain formulated until I go back and read Emily's novel.

Both are great, but WH is by far my favorite. Jane Eyre is really romantic, but I sort of felt like that was it. Wuthering Heights has much more passion and drama. It has love in it but is not just about love. I sort of liked the fact that none of the characters are likeable, it made the book more interesting.

Didn't charlotte bronte publically say that she did not like wuthering heights because it was so dark? I think she said that she did not think that characters as evil as Heathcliff should be written. The credit for the book should be attributed to the writer, Emily, who is most talented in my opinion.

edit: I agree with you about charlotte promoting the book, I just find her views on it interesting. I guess I felt that in JE all of the characters were almost too "good" and moral to the point where it was almost boring. Someone mentioned once that they liked JE because they were an optimist, and good can be seen in all of the characters. I'll admit that im a pessimist, and maybe I like WH because it demonstrates shows a world where all of the characters are "bad". Its also interesting to think that maybe charlotte and emily had different views on life, positive or negative, and that is why they had such different works. Just a thought...

I loved both books but love Wuthering Heights just a little better. I was captivated by Heathcliff, he's probably one of the most interesting characters i've read. And I love Charlotte Bronte's way of writing. The only thing I didn't like about it was Cathy, I didn't like her at all.

I enjoyed reading Jane Eyre and I thought the story was really good, but I prefer the darker theme of Wuthering Heights.

Neither book is among my favourites, I prefer my fiction on the lighter side, and if any of the Brontes had a sense of humour, they kept it to themselves.

I think though I actually enjoyed Wuthering Heights more than Jane Eyre. Heathcliff and Cathy seem to me to be very well matched, they were both nutcases, and I think made for each other. And I like the way the second generation manage to rescue something from the awful mess of their parents' lives and have some hope of future happiness.

Jane Eyre for some reason does not appeal to me so much. Jane is an interesting character in her way, but she is obviously an intelligent and rational girl, and therefore her attachment to the deplorable Mr Rochester is quite inexplicable. I think she made a huge mistake in marrying him. A man who can keep one wife chained up in the attic can do it again, if you ask me.

However, when it comes to classical fiction I am really more of a Jane Austen fan myself.

I loved Wuthering Heights and hated Jane Eyre. Wuthering Heights just spoke to me more. I identified with the characters more than I ever did with those in Jane Eyre and I felt that Emily really got the brooding and otherworldy feeling of the moors. I grew up in an environment very much like the Yorkshire moors so I felt like I could really connect with the story and the environment.

ADD: You usually can't choose a Best Answer right away. Wait a couple of hours or at the end of the day and yahoo should let you choose one.

I like both, but prefer Wuthering Heights. I agree that Charlotte was the better writer and Emily's novel was widely criticised after it's publication, unlike her sister who had great reviews about hers, but I like the darkness of Wuthering Heights, it was an eery love story - a bitter love triangle between the main characters - disguised in so much hatred and evil. And I was so mesmerised by Heathcliff, there was so much mystery surrounding him and who he really was and in a strange way I felt sorry for him yet I detested Catherine (Edgar Lintons wife, not the daughter), her attitude and the way she treated those around her, even though Heathcliff treated those around him with far more contempt than she ever did...

I guess I just got more into the characters of WH, and loved the morbidness of it. I think this novel is a dark horse, which appealed to me. I liked how something that was so heavily criticised and overshadowed by the authors' sister's novels, yet grew to become legendary over a century later.

Edit: Yes I was aware that Charlotte took it upon herself to edit WH after Emily's death and I guess I can see how she (Charlotte) was responsible for the success of WH, but still, it is such a great novel in it's own right, which is owed directly to it's author, Emily.

PS. I have no idea in regards to the "choose as best answer" button! I've noticed it disappears every now and again!

I'm not that fan of "Wuthering Heights"...

I gather I should be more careful about what I'm going to write next, but I must confess I find it very hard to understand what notion Emily Brontë really had of love. The love between Catherine and Heathcliff seems to me to be rather sickly, almost (if not truly) abnormal (at least from a psychiatric point of view).

In my humble opinion, although it is an excellent novel, "Wuthering Heights" is not at all as good "Jane Eyre".

I like Jane Eyre.

I couldn't get into Wuthering Heights.

" North and South "

by Elizabeth Gaskell

Is very good. Watch the Movie to, Richard Armitage

Is the Man. xxooxx

Personally I enjoyed Jane Eyre more than Wuthering Heights. Charlotte Bronte was a far more talented author than her sister Emily, who had only a limited ability to express herself on paper.

I haven't yet read Wuthering Heights (though I hope to in the near future), but Jane Eyre is probably my favorite book, ever, or close to it. It was very good and I hope to read Villette soon too :)