“Wuthering Heights”: Jacob Elordi and Alison Oliver Break Down the Troubling Dog‑Collar Scene

Jacob Elordi and Alison Oliver are addressing the very decidedly and controversial dark dog collar scene in Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights,” which was released in theaters on Valentine’s Day weekend. The film is based on the Romanticism and Gothic fiction 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, and it is considered a classic in English literature. In addition, the film adaptation of the novel stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, who play Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, respectively.

“Wuthering Heights” Shocking Dog Collar Scene

This article contains spoilers for “Wuthering Heights!” The movie’s shocking moment comes near the end when Nelly, played by Hong Chau, visits Heathcliff and his wife, Isabella, played by Oliver. The couple is living in complete disarray in “Wuthering Heights.” Isabella is bound to the fireplace with a dog collar around her neck.

In speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Elordi said, “That was so much fun, that scene. I think that was Emerald kind of taking the killing of the dog and these really dark parts of the novel and putting them into this scene.” Elordi was referring to the 1847 novel, “Wuthering Heights,” in which Heathcliff kills Isabella’s dog. The actor also told Entertainment Weekly, “I had so much fun because it’s at that point that Isabella and Heathcliff are completely off the deep end. They’re living in a kind of hell, you know?”

Isabella’s Portrayal in the Film

While the movie has enjoyed a pretty strong opening weekend, some fans are appalled by Fennell’s take on the novel, while others are eating it up. Some criticisms vary from the alleged “whitewashing” casting of Elordi as Heathcliff, who is depicted as a non-white character in the novel, and Robbie’s casting as Catherine, who is written as a teenager in the novel. In addition, Fennell is being criticized for her portrayal of Isabella. In the novel, Isabella is the spoiled, privileged little sister of Edgar Linton, who is a wealthy man who ends up being Catherine’s husband.

She gets abused and used by Heathcliff to get some revenge on the family. In the movie version of “Wuthering Heights,” Isabella is portrayed in a different light. In speaking to Elle about the character, Oliver said, “There are a lot of descriptions in the book about how she is infantile and ill-mannered, and can be quite like a petulant child, and obviously very romantic and spoiled. This Isabella is this sort of a baby-woman, and she’s been kept a child by Edgar. The experience of having Cathy and Heathcliff come into her home is her stepping into a new phase of her life.”

More Details About the Film

Elordi also added that his character lives in a “self-generated hell” as he tries to get Cathy’s attention. She never relents and doesn’t set foot in the Heights, although Heathcliff makes a lot of efforts to lure her back. The movie prevailed at the box office Valentine’s Day weekend with a four-day push of $37.5 million in North America and a $45.5 million overseas for a global surge of $83 million, according to final numbers obtained by released by the studio Tuesday morning.

In the novel, Isabella is coerced into being subject to abuse and is miserable and lonely. Although she is chained up like a dog in the movie version, Isabella is portrayed as giving the impression that she is enjoying being Heathcliff’s submissive pet. Even amidst the pretty fierce controversy surrounding the film, the movie has been one of the most successful films of the year so far. “Wuthering Heights” is now playing in theaters. The movie was released on Feb. 13.