Test of time

Young lovers run across a windswept moor. A ghost claws at the window of a remote farmhouse. Cathy Earnshaw, the capriciousGiven to sudden and unexplained changes in mood and behaviour.  teenage heroine, declares, "I am Heathcliff!"

In the 200 years since Emily Bronte's birth, these iconic scenes from her only novel, Wuthering Heights, have inspired TV and film adaptations, operas and a song. The tale of intertwined families in the Yorkshire moors is often called one of our greatest love stories, with its ByronicCan be used to refer to a male hero who is dark, mysterious and brooding. The term is derived from the romantic poet Lord Byron and his works.  hero, Heathcliff, topping polls of the most romantic heroes.

Is the reputation deserved? Bronte's Heathcliff is a brutish man who abuses his wife and hangs her dog. Cathy is self-centred, manipulating those around her.

Many reviewers took a strong dislike to the book when it was published under the pseudonymA false name used to protect a person's identity. Ellis Bell. "Read Jane Eyre is our advice, but burn Wuthering Heights," said one magazine.

Despite its fame, the book is still attacked for its unlikeable characters and complex narrative structure. Academic John Mullan describes it as the "clumsy first novel of a genius". 

After Emily's early death at the age of 30 from tuberculosisA bacterial infection that usually affects the lungs. , Charlotte Bronte tried to defend her sister.

We now know that Emily was skilled with a gun, travelled to concerts and even invested money in the railways.

Today, despite its tumultuous beginning, Wuthering Heights is still a bestseller. Its popularity has stood the test of time. The life and works of the Bronte sisters continue to fascinate literary enthusiasts around the world. Emily, a new biopic about the life of Emily Bronte starring actress Emma MackeyA French-British actress who is best known for her role as Maeve Wiley in Netflix series Sex Education. , is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this September. 

Emily Bronte's "fire" still "roars across the centuries", says journalist Ron Charles. The key to appreciating her novel, adds writer Constance Grady, is to stop looking at it like a love story. 

Rather, Wuthering Heights is an "undeniably well-crafted nightmare of deep psychological resonance, and it is rich and immersive, so that when you read it, you feel that you are trapped on the moors and there are people screaming all around you." 

For Grady, Emily Bronte's incredible talent is clear. She, like John Mullan, is happy to declare that Emily was "probably a genius".

Yes: Wuthering Heights is one of the most wild, beguiling, powerful stories in history. Film adaptations have encouraged a misleading view of Heathcliff, but art is not always about nice people.

No: The structure is untidy and confusing, the characters are vile and the subject matter is grim. We cannot doubt Emily Bronte's poetic skill, but she did not have time to fulfil her potential.

Or... Wuthering Heights is loved by some and loathed by others. But we should all admire the dedication of the Bronte sisters, who wrote under male pen names at a time when few women succeeded in literature.

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