A new production of Emily Brontë’s gothic classic Wuthering Heights has been confirmed, set to start filming in 2025. The film is to be reimagined by the writer-director Emerald Fennell who gained popularity after her film Saltburn, a black comedy psychological thriller. Fennell may be at an advantage in directing a new Wuthering Heights after her success with Saltburn as there are parallels between the two stories: the balance between love and obsession, revenge, class disparities. Even the scene in which Heathcliff crawls into Cathy’s grave to embrace her is paralleled in the main character Oliver’s “love-making” scene to Felix’s dead body.
However, the controversy surrounding this new adaptation is that the character of Heathcliff has been revealed to be portrayed by Jacob Elordi. Elordi played the role of Felix in Saltburn so it is logical that he would be in future productions of Fennell’s. Him being allocated the role of Heathcliff sparks judgement because Emily Brontë, writing Wuthering Heights in 1840s Yorkshire England, made it clear that Heathcliff’s character was of ethnic minority—which Elordi is not. Writing Heathcliff as a person of colour was incredibly important to the context of the story as well as the context of the reality in which Brontë wrote.
Brontë inserted herself into the novel; coming from a wealthy English family she wrote about one that mirrored her own. The characters of the alcoholic brother, the mother who dies when her children are young, and the consistent theme of religious superstition were all a reality for Brontë. Therefore, her choice to insert someone of a less fortunate background, writing about his passion for greed and vengeance, was intentional. Heathcliff’s character is written as someone who has been wronged by society, much like ethnic minorities in Victorian England. As soon as Heathcliff enters the novel, there is something about his appearance that bothers many members of the Earnshaw residence. He is referred to as the “imp of satan” and “gipsy brat”, there is also no telling of where he came from or who his family are—only that Mr. Earnshaw “picked it (Heathcliff) up and inquired for its owner”. This level of dehumanisation, at the time, would have been reserved for newly freed slaves, servants and the extremely poor. Heathcliff is described as a “dark skinned gypsy”, whilst Elordi is not dark skinned, so is it right for him to take on the role?
There are many roles of white men in the novel that may have been better suited to Elordi—the roles of Cathy’s husband Edgar or her brother Hindley both carry significance in the novel. It is also revealed that Elordi is to take the lead in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein adaptation. So it could be that Elordi is aiming to cement his name in contemporary gothic cinema, first with Saltburn and now with Victorian remakes—but does Victorian gothic literature still need reinterpretation?
It is unsurprising that Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is still being reinterpreted nearly 200 years later. Her writing has lasted the test of time because readers can still relate to her characters—the troubled abrasive teenage girl who cannot pick a suitor is a role that has been repeatedly echoed throughout film and literature. The forefront storyline in the novel is of two lovers Cathy and Heathcliff who are unable to be together due to class differences and societal expectations. When Cathy dies during childbirth, Heathcliff becomes dead inside and begins a life of hatred and destruction—eventually keeping her daughter entrapped in his property Wuthering Heights. Whilst societal expectations are no longer the same, and keeping a girl who is described as “scarcely passed girlhood” captive in a gothic mansion is no longer normalised, there are still relatable aspects of the story. Unbridled passion, loneliness, restriction and mental illness still reign true in the 2020s.
Victorian gothic literature is consistently being reimagined in contemporary media, from The Picture of Dorian Grey to House of Usher. Historically, gothic uses hyperbole to romanticise the macabre, often with pathetic fallacy. This is notable because in 2024 when individuals have the world’s knowledge at their fingertips, there is often an overwhelming feeling of dread in how much of the world seems to be filled with macabre troublesomeness.
It is a trend of inclusion to cast ethnic actors in roles that are traditionally white in order to make up for the historical lack of diversity in writing—seen in the new The Little Mermaid and Hamilton. Is Jacob Elordi the antithesis of this trend? It can be debated whether this casting is saying that the film industry should make more roles for white actors or even antagonising the actors of colour who paved their way in traditionally white roles. Whilst modern reinterpretation of gothic novels can bring up consistent relevancies and societal parallels, whitewashing is a trend that should be cemented in the past.
Image courtesy of Katya Roberts, @katyaillustrates