Destructive Relationships in Wuthering Heights

Destructive Relationships in Wuthering Heights

Many people in the world are trying to find a perfect companion.

Some of these may marry and not know what their new husband or wife is like.

This kind of situation often leads to separation or hostility. Other

situations may develop between two friends that stem from jealousy, desire

for revenge, uncaring parents, etc. Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights

displays several characteristics of destructive relationships. Three of

these are uncaring parents, marriage without knowing the person, and

jealousy.

Uncaring or unsympathizing parents are shown throughout this story

to be an element of destructive relationships. Because Heathcliff gained

all the attention from Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley became disassociated from his

father. This separation continued until after Mr. Earnshaw had died.

Another example is between Hindley and Hareton. Hindley became such a drunk

and a gambler that he could not properly care for young Hareton. This led

to a separation between Hareton and his father as well. One primary example

of an uncaring parent is shown between Heathcliff and his son Linton.

Heathcliff did not even want his son for anything except enacting a part of

his revenge. This is shown by Linton's fear of Heathcliff and Heathcliff's

enmity toward his son. Linton even says "... my father threatened me, and I

dread him - I dread him!"(244) to express his feeling about Heathcliff .

The hostility and separation between father and son in this book shows that

uncaring parents can cause serious damage in relationships with their

children.

This element of destructive behavior may stem from an unhappy

marriage in which the husbands or wives don't know each other. This had

happened between Isabella and Heathcliff. Isabella did not really know

Heathcliff when she married him, but after she had married him she saw that

Heathcliff was not a gentleman at all. To declare her feelings she wrote "

Is Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil? I shan't

tell my reasons for making this inquiry; but I beseech you to explain, if

you can, what I have married ..."(125). Another example of this is when

Catherine married Edgar Linton. Although she had been happy at the

beginning of the marriage, she thought having parties all the time was