Nelly Dean of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights - Nelly

In the book Wuthering Heights, the author, Emily Bronte, made Nelly the narrator. Many have questioned why Bronte would do so. Nelly never really had a life of her own because she lived at Wuthering Heights all her life. Therefore, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange was her life. Nelly was more than a servant, and had a personal relationship with most of the characters,which is why her story is so efficient, and her lack of knowledge not as important. She really loved them, and she shows it when she says, "I kissed Hareton good-bye; and since then he has been a stranger: and it's queer to think it, but I've no doubt he has completely forgotten all about Ellen Dean, and that he was ever more than all the world to her and she to him!" (Wuthering Heights Pg. 81) Hareton probably doesn't remember her, but that shows the lack of appreciation everyone had for her. No one praised her like

Heathcliff and Edgar praised Catherine, but no one hated her like Hindly hated

Heathcliff. In fact, she's the "middle man" that makes the transition from Wuthering Heights to Thrushcross Grange so smooth. If she had not been the narrator we wouldn't know what went on at Thrushcross Grange. Nelly manages to know what went on at Wuthering Heights because of her good relationship with everyone. So even though Nelly is not present there, she still has the capabilities to know what's going on.

There really isn't a mother figure in the story, but Nelly's role sure imply that she's the mother. It's odd that every time a lad is born, the mother died during the birth, which led to Nelly's "mother like" role. She didn't only play her "mother like" role with Hareton and Cathy, (the two lads who's mothers died during labor) but she also played her role with Heathcliff and Catherine. When Heathcliff retaliated against Hindly and decided not to eat due to his pride; Nelly brought him some food and made sure he was okay. She also aided Catherine when she was mad at Edgar. Nelly's role is so important, and an example of it is when Nelly visited Wuthering Heights and Hareton was throwing

rocks at her and cursing at her. This would not have happened if Nelly was there, and Hareton would have learned how to read.