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Teaching Wuthering Heights

Let's get Gothic.

  • Activities: 14
  • Quiz Questions: 170

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Students love melodrama, and Wuthering Heights is dripping with it. We can help you zero in on the good stuff without wanting to bang your head against a tree.

In this guide you will find

  • an activity spoofing this spooky Gothic classic.
  • reading quizzes making sure students can tell all the Lockwoods, Lintons, and Earnshaws apart.
  • pop culture connections to reality TV and, of course, Twilight.

With our teaching guide, you can persuade your students that Edward Cullen wasn't the first gothic hero.

What's Inside Shmoop's Literature Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring literature to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 13-18 Common Core-aligned activities to complete in class with your students, including detailed instructions for you and your students. 
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students.
  • Reading quizzes for every chapter, act, or part of the text.
  • Resources to help make the book feel more relevant to your 21st-century students.
  • A note from Shmoop's teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the text and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching Wuthering Heights?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: Students read the essay describing and analyzing the Byronic hero, and then comment on Heathcliff's reputation as such a hero in Wuthering Heights. Students answer critical questions about the piece, participate in classroom discussion, and write their own skit in which they apply a Byronic perspective to another character from the novel. Teachers can expect to spend about 30-50 minutes on classroom discussion and possibly one or two more class periods for students to present original work.

Step 1: As homework, students read "The Satanic and Byronic Hero" from the Norton Anthology of English Literature website.

Step 2: While reading the essay, students take notes on and answer critical questions (found below in the student instructions).

Step 3: In class, the teacher reviews the essay before leading students in a discussion of their responses to the study questions.

Step 4: Students write their own skits about another character in the novel (besides Heathcliff) who has "gone Byronic."

Prompt: Keeping in mind the characteristics of a Byronic hero and how Heathcliff embodies these, write a skit about a different character from Wuthering Heights that centers around what hypothetical actions that hero (or heroine) would have taken had he/she "gone Byronic." Use outside research to supplement your knowledge about Byronic heroes and cite this accordingly.

As students work on their skits, have them think about and be prepared to address the following questions:

  1. What Byronic characteristics does your new protagonist have? Why did you select to focus on these?
  2. How do the hero's actions exemplify those of a Byronic hero?
  3. Do you think there is room for more than one Byronic hero per text?

Step 5: (Optional) Students present or act out their skits for the class and answer questions from Step 4. Teacher facilitates performance, if so desired.

(California English Language Arts Standards Met: 9th & 10th grade Reading 1.1, 1.2, 2.2, 2.3, 2.5, 2.6, 2.8, 3.3, 3.4, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8; Writing 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 2.2, 2.4; Listening & Speaking 1.5, 1.7, 1.11, 1.14, 2.1, 2.4. 11th & 12th grade Reading 1.1, 2.3, 2.5, 3.3, 3.4, 3.6, 3.7; Writing 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.9, 2.2; Listening & Speaking 1.1, 1.7, 1.10, 2.3, 2.5.)

Instructions for Your Students

Um, who's Byron? And what's a Byronic hero? And why is Heathcliff so Byronic?! (As in, a little bit of Emo crossed with a little bit of Goth.) Time to learn what a Byronic hero is, and to rewrite history and give someone else on the moors the chance to brood and storm their life away. Give it a go by writing your own Byronic skit, and giving someone else in Wuthering Heights the chance to "go Byronic" for a day.

Step 1: As homework, read "The Satanic and Byronic Hero" from the Norton Anthology of English Literature website.

Step 2: While reading the essay, take notes on and answer the following critical questions:

  1. Who was an attractive model for Byron as the author worked on myth-making? Why?
  2. For what two purposes does Byron use the Byronic hero?
  3. What are some examples of Byronic heroes? Can you think of some examples from books or movies that aren't included in the article?
  4. Where did Byron first sketch out his Byronic hero? What did this hero look like? How did this hero act?
  5. What are some characteristics of the Byronic hero that you gather from the essay?
  6. Who is the main Byronic hero in Wuthering Heights? How does this character embody the Byronic hero? Give specific examples of qualities, actions, events, etc.
  7. Do you think that any of the other characters in the novel have the potential to go Byronic? If so, who and how? How would you depict their actions?

Step 3: Discuss your responses to the article and the above study questions in class.

Step 4: With a group, write you own skit about another character in the novel (besides Heathcliff) who has "gone Byronic."

Prompt: Keeping in mind the characteristics of a Byronic hero and how Heathcliff embodies these, write a skit about a different character from Wuthering Heights that centers around what hypothetical actions that hero (or heroine) would have taken had he/she "gone Byronic." Use outside research to supplement your knowledge about Byronic heroes and cite this accordingly.

As you work on your skit, think about and be prepared to address the following questions:

  1. What Byronic characteristics does your new protagonist have? Why did you select to focus on these?
  2. How do the hero's actions exemplify those of a Byronic hero?
  3. Do you think there is room for more than one Byronic hero per text?

Step 5: (Optional) Present or act out your skit for the class and answer questions from Step 4.