Pbs Learning Media: Wuthering Heights 1: On the Moors

This scene in the 2009 Masterpiece version of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights skillfully sets up not only the plot and characters (the rugged Heathcliff and the innocent Catherine Linton), but a distinct time and place: the Yorkshire moors. Catherine is unaware of the circumstances surrounding her mother's passionate relationship with Heathcliff and the dangers of the moors themselves. To emphasize this, she is shown in a simple white dress, skipping happily down the lane. Suddenly, as the music changes, Heathcliff looms above her on horseback. Catherine is about to be introduced to a more sinister reality-and to Wuthering Heights itself. [1:51]