Nelly Dean: Changing Tactics

Abstract

In one of the many stunning misreadings in her 1850 preface to her sister’s novel, Charlotte Bronte writes: “For a specimen of true benevolence and homely fidelity, look at the character of Nelly Dean … ”1 While critics have suspected Charlotte’s other characterizations — “Heathcliff, indeed, stands unredeemed”2 — they have too readily accepted this judgment of Nelly. Indeed, her apparent innocuousness has rendered her unworthy of much critical attention at all. But Wuthering Heights is as much the story of Nelly Dean as it is of Heathcliff. From chapters 4 through 34 Nelly appears in and plays a crucial part in virtually every scene of the novel. Why then do we not read her as a, possibly the, major character in Wuthering Heights? Perhaps it is because we open this novel to read a story of unbridled intensity and passion, not to learn about the life of an unemotional celibate. But if it is commonplace to ask how an awkward, painfully shy young woman who lived in a remote village and apparently never fell in love with anyone could have written Wuthering Heights, then it is time to consider how her chosen narrator, a sensible old maid, is responsible for much of the novel’s passionate energy.