Wuthering heights vs jane eyre

They were published in the same year, by two sisters living in the same Yorkshire parsonage, writing at the same table. And yet Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights could not be more different. One is a novel of hard-won self-possession; the other is a novel of total, catastrophic surrender. One rewards its heroine; the other devours everyone.

If you are standing in front of both books wondering which to open first, this guide will give you a direct answer — and the reasoning behind it.

The short answer: start with Jane Eyre

For most readers, and especially for those coming to Victorian literature for the first time, Jane Eyre is the better entry point. It is more immediately accessible, its narrator is a warm and constant companion, and its emotional logic is easier to follow. You are always on Jane's side. You always know where you are.

Wuthering Heights is a greater novel — stranger, more original, more brutal — but it demands more from its reader. Its structure is deliberately disorienting, its characters are largely unsympathetic, and its emotional register is one of pure extremity. It is a book that rewards experience. Read it second, and it will astonish you.

That said, the right answer also depends on what kind of reader you are. Read on.