In a failed attempt to discourage Isabella Linton’s budding desire for Heathcliff in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Nelly Dean does not hesitate in standing behind Catherine’s assertion that he would destroy Isabella if she were to pursue him romantically: “She is better acquainted with his heart than I, or any one besides,” Nelly warns, “and she would never represent him as worse than he is” (103). While Nelly’s plea falls upon deaf ears, her admission rings true—if there is anyone in Wuthering Heights with more insight on Heathcliff’s actions and motives, it is Catherine Earnshaw. Had Brontë aimed to interrogate Heathcliff’s individual growth and regression in Wuthering Heights, Catherine may have narrated the tale, but as the original …show more content…
In comparison, Catherine has not only grown up with Heathcliff, allowing her access to a myriad of interactions which Brontë’s audience wasn’t previously privy to, but she has developed her understanding of societal norms alongside him. Thus, the unabashed sympathy Cathy initially feels for her “poor Heathcliff” provides a new narrative altogether—a narrative that focuses on the individual, closely following Heathcliff’s transmogrification from a “starving, and houseless, and as good as dumb [child] in the streets of Liverpool” to a man who Lockwood interprets as filled with cruelty and “savage vehemence” (22, 37, 27). In addition, Catherine’s possible retelling of Wuthering Heights through her diaries eventually allows for Heathcliff’s cruelty to be put into conversation with his upbringing as a non-white subject in a wholly white …show more content…
One of her entries plainly states that her brother’s “conduct to Heathcliff [was] atrocious” (20). Curiously enough, Catherine is not present for later atrocities narrated by Nelly Dean, but her hypothetical narration would provide a much more sympathetic perspective towards Heathcliff and the possible effects of the abuse he experiences, something which Nelly’s accounts sorely lack (20). Nevertheless, Hindley’s atrocious behavior is expanded on in the original text as Nelly Dean recounts instances of abuse between him and Heathcliff, telling Lockwood of an occurrence when the boys’ quarreled over a colt. Hindley resists Heathcliff’s demands that he gives him his horse, his denial soon met with Heathcliff’s threat to show Mr. Earnshaw “[his] arm, which [was] black to the shoulder,” assumedly from one of Hindley’s beatings, as well as a later threat to “tell how [Hindley] boasted that [he] would turn [him] out of doors as soon as [Mr. Earnshaw] died” (39). While this circumstance certainly illustrates Heathcliff’s capacity for manipulative behavior, it also provides insight on the verbal and physical abuse which Heathcliff frequently experiences in his day-to-day life. Moreover, Nelly Dean later notes Heathcliff’s ability to “stand Hindley’s blows without winking or shedding a tear,” further reinforcing the consistency with which Heathcliff endured abuse
back at him to impress Cathy and to show he could not be joked about.
Throughout Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë presents and develops several pairs of characters, ideas, and locations that work both together and in contrast to each other, such as the temporal, and perhaps most obvious, juxtaposition of the two properties Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Within these locations emerge three distinct character pairs, tied together by the similar type of relationship upon which each is based: a brother and sister connection, although not necessarily one defined by genetics. These three pairings include narrator Nelly Dean and Hindley Earnshaw, Cathy Earnshaw and Heathcliff, and Isabella and Edgar Linton. Each relationship is unique: Nelly and Hindley are both nursed by Nelly’s mother and are raised alongside one another, but Nelly is a servant to the Earnshaw family; Cathy and Heathcliff are raised together after Cathy’s father brings the supposed orphan Heathcliff home from Liverpool; and Isabella and Edgar are biologically brother and sister. Yet, aside from being based on a brother/sister relationship, all three of these pairs share another commonality, which is that each pairing experiences at least one separation and reunion of some sort. These separation periods and times in which the pairs are reunited greatly impact not only their own relationships, but also those of the other pairs and, ultimately, the course of the novel.
In the gothic novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, the author hides motifs within the story.The novel contains two major love stories;The wild love of Catherine, and Heathcliff juxtaposing the serene love of Cathy,and Hareton. Catherine’s and Heathcliff's love is the center of Emily Bronte’s novel ,which readers still to this day seem to remember.The characters passion, and obsession for each other seems to not have been enough ,since their love didn't get to thrive. Hareton and Cathy’s love is what got to develop. Hareton’s and Cathy’s love got to workout ,because both characters contained a characteristic that both characters from the first generation lacked: The ability to change .Bronte employs literary devices such as antithesis of ideas, and the motif of repetition to reveal the destructiveness of wild love versus a domestic love.
Heathcliff cried vehemently, "I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!" Emily Brontë distorts many common elements in Wuthering Heights to enhance the quality of her book. One of the distortions is Heathcliff's undying love for Catherine Earnshaw. Also, Brontë perverts the vindictive hatred that fills and runs Heathcliff's life after he loses Catherine. Finally, she prolongs death, making it even more distressing and insufferable.
The complicated nature surrounding Heathcliff’s motives again adds an additional degree of ambiguity to his character. This motivation is primarily driven by Catherine’s marriage to Edgar and past rejection of Heathcliff, since he was a servant whom Hindley disapproved of. Prior to storming out of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff overhears Catherine say, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now…” (Brontë 87). The obstacles that ultimately prevent Heathcliff from marrying Catherine provide insight into Heathcliff’s desire to bring harm to Edgar and Hindley. The two men play prominent roles in the debacle, Edgar as the new husband and Hindley as the head figure who refused Heathcliff access to Catherine. Following this incident, Catherine says, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same…” (Brontë 87). Catherine’s sentiment indicates she truly would rather be with Heathcliff, but the actions of others have influenced her monumental decision to marry Edgar. Furthermore, Heathcliff is motivated to not only ruin Edgar’s livelihood, but also gain ownership of his estate, Thrushcross Grange. This becomes clear when Heathcliff attempts to use Isabella
Heathcliff is a character who was abused in his childhood by Catherine’s brother, Hindley, because of his heritage as a “gypsy”, and Hindley was jealous of the love that Heathcliff got from Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley’s father. This is also selfishness upon Hindley’s part since he only wanted his father’s love for his sister and himself. So to reprimand Heathcl...
Wuthering Heights is not just a love story, it is a window into the human soul, where one sees the loss, suffering, self discovery, and triumph of the characters in this novel. Both the Image of the Book by Robert McKibben, and Control of Sympathy in Wuthering Heights by John Hagan, strive to prove that neither Catherine nor Heathcliff are to blame for their wrong doings. Catherine and Heathcliff’s passionate nature, intolerable frustration, and overwhelming loss have ruined them, and thus stripped them of their humanities.
When initially diving into a novel, it is common knowledge that there is an already preconceived agreement of trust that the reader instills in the story’s narrator. The reader virtually always relies on the narrator to illustrate the story in an honest unbiased manner, but the story teller in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights appears to break the chains of trust understood by the audience. The novel is heard through the keen ears of Mr. Lockwood who is being told the history of the Earnshaws, Heathcliff, and the Linton family by his housekeeper, Ellen Dean. Establishing herself as the primary narrator, Nelly reminisces upon her experiences at Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. She fails to give Lockwood and ultimately the reader a precise narration of the affairs that took place in the past. Throughout her vivid flashback, Nelly on numerous occasions lessens the impact of her role and participation in certain events to keep her hands clean from the tragedies that more or less ruined those among her presence at Wuthering Heights.
Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights is a novel about lives that cross paths and are intertwined with one another. Healthcliff, an orphan, is taken in by Mr. Earnshaw, the owner of Wuthering Heights. Mr. Earnshaw has two children named Catherine and Hindley. Jealousy between Hindley and Healthcliff was always a problem. Catherine loves Healthcliff, but Hindley hates the stranger for stealing his fathers affection away. Catherine meets Edgar Linton, a young gentleman who lives at Thrushcross Grange. Despite being in love with Healthcliff she marries Edgar elevating her social standing. The characters in this novel are commingled in their relationships with Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.
The basic conflict of the novel that drives Heathcliff and Catherine apart is social. Written after the Industrial Revolution, Wuthering Heights is influenced by the rise of new fortunes and the middle class in England. Money becomes a new criterion to challenge the traditional criterias of class and family in judging a gentleman’s background. Just as Walpole who portrays the tyrannies of the father figure Manfred and the struggles of the Matilda who wants to marry the peasant Theodore, as depicted in the quote “(…) improbability that either father would consent to bestow his heiress on so poor a man, though nobly born”(p. 89), Brontë depicts a brutal bully Hindley who torments Heathcliff and separates Catherine from him. Heathcliff, a gypsy outcast picked u...
Heathcliff has been called numerous names as a character; Villain, human, Byronic hero, and even being compared back to Shakespeare, but not one critic seems to be able to agree on the real identity of Heathcliff. Critics have been unable to call him a specific type of character because Emily Bronte created such a complex being that he is not just one type of character, he was made into his own type altogether.
Heathcliff and Catherine have loved each other since their childhood. Initially, Catherine scorned the little gypsy boy; she showed her distaste by “spitting” at him (Brontë 27). However, it was not long before Heathcliff and Catherine became “very think” (Brontë 27). They became very close friends; they were practically brother and sister (Mitchell 122). Heathcliff is intent upon pleasing Catherine. He would “do her bidding in anything” (Brontë 30). He is afraid of “grieving” her (Brontë 40). Heathcliff finds solace and comfort in Catherine’s company. When Catherine is compelled to stay at Thrushcross Grange to recover from her injury, she returns as “a very dignified person” (Brontë 37). Her association with the gente...
The presentation of childhood is a theme that runs through two generations with the novel beginning to reveal the childhood of Catherine and Hindley Earnshaw, and with the arrival of the young Liverpudlian orphan, Heathcliff. In chapter four, Brontë presents Heathcliff’s bulling and abuse at the hands of Hindley as he grows increasingly jealous of Heathcliff for Mr. Earnshaw, his father, has favoured Heathcliff over his own son, “my arm, which is black to the shoulder” the pejorative modifier ‘black’ portrays dark and gothic associations but also shows the extent of the abuse that Heathcliff as a child suffered from his adopted brother. It is this abuse in childhood that shapes Heathcliff’s attitudes towards Hindley and his sadistic nature, as seen in chapter 17, “in rousing his rage a pitch above his malignity” there is hyperbole and melodrama as the cruelty that stemmed from his abuse in childhood has been passed onto Isabella in adulthood.
house”. In the past HC was used as a scapegoat and an easy target for
In Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, the Earnshaws, a middle class family, live at the estate, Wuthering Heights. When Mr. Earnshaw takes a trip to Liverpool, he returns with an orphan whom he christens “Heathcliff”. During their formative years, Catherine, Mr. Earnshaw’s daughter, plays with Heathcliff on the moors and becomes close with him. As a result, they form a special bond and Heathcliff and Catherine fall in love, unlike Hindley, Mr. Earnshaw’s son, who does not get along with Heathcliff. While Heathcliff benefits from his relationships, his connections are disadvantaged in terms of status, reputation, financial stability, and happiness.