Does It Have Spice?: Breaking Down The Over Sexualization of Literature
Image Courtesy: Wuthering Heights (2026) Teaser Trailer
When the Wuthering Heights (2026) teaser trailer dropped, the English major inside of me died. A Charli XCX soundtrack, trendy casting, and steamy scenes (that are certainly NOT written anywhere in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights) felt like a blow to the gut. I thought back to the rise of “spicy Booktok”. A side of TikTok that grew in popularity over the pandemic, highlighting romance and fantasy books that feature “spicy” romance scenes. It is a new form of erotica, one that is disguised beneath discreet covers, long forgetting the era of shirtless men on mass market paperbacks. I saw a post a few weeks back asking if Wuthering Heights had spice. I’ve seen someone asking if George Orwell’s Animal Farm had spice. It has gotten out of control!
I am all for erotica. I think that this genre of fiction is something that no one should ever feel embarrassed about reading. I’ve seen the hate comments. Angry commenters are questioning why so many women are obsessed with “reading porn”. The genre of erotica has so much more meaning than that. It is a way for anyone and everyone to reclaim their sexuality in a way that never exploits or endangers anyone. It serves as an outlet for exploring one’s sexuality and feeling empowered by it. In a world of prudishness and culture that praises innocence, erotica is becoming so much more accessible. But why hide behind cartoonish covers?
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
Spicy books and classic literature are two separate worlds of literature. Emerald Fennell is famous for her erotic and sometimes unsettling films, like Saltburn (2023). She has met with countless criticisms for her interesting casting choices regarding the Wuthering Heights adaptation. In the novel, Catherine Earnshaw is 19, while Margot Robbie is nearly double her age. Heathcliff is described as “dark-skinned” and is instead being played by Jacob Elordi, who is of Basque and Australian descent. Among these changes to the original novel, she has also decided to include a multitude of seemingly steamy scenes, which the novel contains absolutely none of. Written within the constraints of a Victorian society, Emily Brontë did not add any explicit scenes to her novel. While the time period may play a role in the omission of sex, I believe it also has to do with the novel focusing on the passionate connection between the two and their deep soul ties.
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
The most famous quote from the novel is, of course, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same” (Brontë). Doesn’t the addition of erotic scenes take away from the connection that is so genuinely written throughout the novel? In the times of hookup culture and casual sex, I feel like Wuthering Heights’ original story is exactly what we need right now. Where did the classic 2000s-era romance movie go? Where did pouring rain, love confessions, will you marry me, I only love you, romance novels go? Can’t Emerald Fennell create an entirely new film instead of completely altering one of the most life-changing classic literature novels of our time?
For my sanity, and I’m sure countless others, I just need Emerald Fennell to stay genuine to Heathcliff’s yearning. While erotica stands as a source of empowerment for readers, the new idea of expecting “spice” in every novel speaks to the rise of casual sex that is becoming more and more prevalent. We need to recognize the true yearning of the past again, Emerald Fennell included.
Strike Out,
Writer: Abby Marshall
Editor: Isabelle Kim
Graphic Designer:
Tallahassee