Brontë also uses techniques which would now be considered modern-day. Within the first chapter the reader is pulled into the action and suspense instead of having many pages of introduction. The interaction of Nelly and Mr. Lockwood create suspense between sections of story: When Nelly breaks off of her story one wonders what will happen next.
The novel takes place strictly in the area of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Events are revealed in great detail there, but when a character leaves this immediate area, nothing is told of their situation. For example, Heathcliff left for three years. Nothing was told about this time except for the fact that he left and returned. Also, when Isabella flees to London the reader is not "taken" there.
The narrative structure of Wuthering Heights is quite unique. The narrator, Mr. Lockwood, is a minor character in the story who is being told this tale by another narrator, Nelly Dean. At certain points in the book, different characters become narrators who tell their story to Nelly, who then tells Mr. Lockwood.
Brontë gives every character a duality within their personalities. With Catherine, her heart and mind are divided: she loves Heathcliff, but marries the more stable Edgar. Heathcliff loves Catherine more than his life, yet he is a cruel and harsh man. Nelly is an "impartial" storyteller, yet she clearly influences events and their outcomes. Hareton is a coarse, taciturn man who wants to become civilized but does not know how until Cathy enters his life.
The motif of open doors and windows is very important. They are symbols of escape and longing which are only a few steps away; however, escape for these characters is nearly impossible. They reach for what they cannot attain. These open doors may also symbolize awaiting spirituality. They all wish to achieve it and they constantly approach it until they reach it upon their deaths.
Although this work was written in the Romantic Period, it is not a romance.
There are no true heroes or villains, only a revealing of what people truly
are.