Wuthering Heights initially appears very "familiar" to the reader, in fact, Miller claims "it is, in its extreme vividness of circumstantial details, a masterpiece of "realistic" fiction (in Bronte 2003 :362). This realism is especially evident in the opening of the novel. The introduction takes great pains to establish the temporal setting of the novel “1801- I have just returned from a visit to my landlord” (WH:1). The initial description of Wuthering Heights focuses on minutiae such as "grotesque carvings lavished on the front." This attention to detail establishes the authenticity of the setting, making the novel appear firmly anchored in reality. Our introduction to the Heights is led by the novel's first narrator, Lockwood, a tenant of Heathcliff's. He lists in a catalog the contents of the interior of "immense pewter plates...silver jugs and tankards" (WH: 3). His words “I surveyed… I observed” (WH: 3) suggest that this factual record of the surroundings, the Heights appears to be the “home” of a “homely northern farmer” (WH: 2). The Heights is established as heimlich