The Ghost of Wuthering Heights (radio)

The Ghost of Wuthering Heights is a program from the American radio anthology series Radio Tales. The anthology series adapted classic works of American and world literature for the radio. The series was a recipient of numerous awards, including four Gracie Allen Awards from the Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television (in 2004, [ [http://www.awrt.org/press-releases/2004/Press_Release_%20Announce_Winners.pdf "AWRT Press Release"] AWRT.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] 2003, [ [http://www.npr.org/about/press/030402.gracie.html "NPR Productions Win Gracie Allen Awards"] NPR.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] 2001, [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20011126020253/www.awrt.org/awards/2000GracieWinners.html "2001 Gracie Allen Award Winners"] AWRT.org, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] and 1998 [Hear Here: "Tales by American Masters". AudioFile Magazine, pg. 8, Feb/March 1999, Vol. 7, No. 5.] ), a New York Festivals WorldMedal, [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20050207122048/http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/res/pdf/2004RPwinners.pdf "2004 Winners, Radio Programming and Promotion, New York Festivals"] NewYorkFestivals.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] and a Golden Reel Merit Award. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20010802161539/www.nfcb.org/2001reelsinfo.html "NFCB Announces 2001 Golden Reel Award Winners"] NFCB.org, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] “The Ghost of Wuthering Heights" program from the Radio Tales series presented the ghost story elements adapted from the classic novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.

Broadcast history

The Radio Tales production of “The Ghost of Wuthering Heights” was first broadcast via National Public Radio on February 8, 2000. [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Winter 2000". NPR Marketing, Jan. - March 2000, Vol. VI, No. I] The program encompassed two half-hour installments that were distributed to NPR member stations as part of the NPR Playhouse cultural series. Since November 28th, 2002, the entire Radio Tales series has aired in reruns on the Sonic Theater channel (163) of the XM Satellite Radio service. [ [http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/features/sonictheater.xmc "Sonic Theater"] XMRadio.com. Accessed May 22, 2008.] “The Ghost of Wuthering Heights” program debuted on XM Satellite Radio on December 20, 2003.

Production information

The program was produced and script edited by series producer Winnie Waldron, who also served as the on-air host. [ [http://www.winifredphillips.com/wp_bio.html "Winifred Phillips Official Site: Biography"] Winifredphillips.com. Accessed May 19, 2008.] Composer Winifred Phillips created over fifty-six minutes of music for the program, and also performed as the featured actress. [ [http://www.mninter.net/~jstearns/nprPH.html#top "NPR Playhouse - January - March, 2001"] MNinter.net. Accessed March 21, 2008.] “The Ghost of Wuthering Heights” was part of the fifth year of Radio Tales on NPR Playhouse. [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Winter 2000". NPR Marketing, Jan. - March 2000, Vol. VI, No. I]

Media

The Radio Tales production of “The Ghost of Wuthering Heights” has been available in numerous formats and venues, including burn-on-demand CDs manufactured and distributed by MP3.com [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20031129193548/artists.mp3s.com/artists/33/npr_radio_tales.html "MP3.com: Radio Tales"] MP3.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed July 15, 2008] and Ampcast.com. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20060212003627/http://www.ampcast.com/music/25229/artist.php "Ampcast.com: Radio Tales"] Ampcast.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed July 15, 2008.] Beginning in 2005, programs from the series, including “The Ghost of Wuthering Heights” program, have been available for download via the Audioville.co.uk web site. [ [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view.php?Id=538&ProductCategoryId=59 "audioVille | Stor>>Fiction | Radio Tales | Download Audio Books, Podcasts and more in MP3. Comedy, Fiction, sport, news, science, drama."] Audioville.co.uk. Accessed October 11, 2008]

Opening narration

Plot summary

During a protracted visit to the home of her landlord, Mr. Heathcliff, the unidentified narrator stays in a room formerly belonging to a young woman named “Catherine”. During this time the narrator reads the girl’s journals, and learns that there had been a tragic love triangle between Catherine, Heathcliff and someone named Edgar Linton. After reading this, the narrator sees the ghost of a little girl at her bedroom window in the middle of the night. The narrator cries out, which brings Heathcliff running, and the narrator tells him about the little spectral girl, unsure of whether the vision was real or just a dream. Heathcliff reacts very negatively, angry about the “childish outcry”. But when the narrator leaves the room, she overhears Heathcliff yank open the bedroom window and call to his beloved Cathy to show herself again.

The following day, the narrator hears the sounds of digging, somewhere on the distant edges of the property. That evening, Heathcliff tells the narrator that he exhumed Catherine’s body, so that he could see her. The narrator reacts in horror, but Heathcliff proceeds to tell the narrator a grim story. It seems that after Catherine died eighteen years ago, Heathcliff visited her grave at night and nearly succeeded in unearthing her corpse. However, just as he would have opened the coffin, he seemed to feel her presence close to him, which dissuaded him from completing the task. Since then, his life has been tortured with the sensation of her ghostly company, which has always wracked him with a desire to see her. At last he could no longer keep himself from prying open her coffin to see her face. He remarks that through these eighteen years the torment of Catherine’s ghostly presence has slowly killed him by degrees.

Over the following days, Heathcliff’s behavior becomes more erratic, and it seems clear that he is hallucinating – he seems to see something which is clearly not there, but he does not speak of it. Finally, the narrator discovers Heathcliff’s body. He died while lying in his bed, which was set against an open window so that the rain blew in and soaked his face. After Heathcliff is buried beside his beloved Catherine, rumors begin to surface regarding sightings of two ghostly figues standing at Heathcliff’s bedroom window whenever it rains at night.

References

External links

* [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view.php?Id=538&ProductCategoryId=59 The Ghost of Wuthering Heights Streaming Audio Sample on Audioville]
* [http://www.radiotales.com/ The Official Radio Tales® Web Site]
* [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view_productcategory.php?Id=59 Radio Tales Streaming Audio Samples on AudioVille]
* [http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/channelpage.xmc?ch=163 XM Satellite Radio – Information on the Sonic Theater Channel]