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Essays on wuthering heights
Theme Of Social Classification In Wuthering Heights
Theme Of Social Classification In Wuthering Heights
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Heathcliff is the center of conflicts in “wuthering heights”. His inner conflict is mainly due to jealousy, since he had been left by his love because of his social class. This social class conflict added bitterness to him and led to clashes with Edgar and Hindley, dedicating his life to vengeance in both physical and mental state; and influencing how the majority of characters interrelate, as depicted by Emily Bronte.
Heathcliff was introduced into a whole new world at thrush cross grange. As an orphan, he neither had wealth nor status; he emerged from the darkness into the knot family system of the Earnshaw. Mr. Earnshaw’s son, Hindley, never accepted the idea of Heathcliff as one of his family member, and had continuous clashes with him.
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The differences in social standings recognized at thrush cross grange led to the change in relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff. Marriage was reviewed then as a social contract; not the ultimate commitment between lovers. Therefore, Catherine opted to marry Edgar, because by this, she becomes the greatest woman of the neighborhood as The Linton’s had more social standings than the Earnshaw’s. We can notice that social norms motivated her to marry Edgar in order to gain a higher social standing, even though her heart is against marrying Edgar. Her marriage to Edgar was a social choice, and she though it could not possibly affect her spiritual connection with Heathcliff. At that point when Heathcliff catches Catherine saying she would be "degraded" if she marries him, he leaves Wuthering Heights, hurt and embarrassed due to unworthiness. Out of bitterness from rejection by his love, he decided to raise his status from birth and seeks to prove his equality with Edgard society. This social class conflict drove Heathcliff ambition to become wealthier so as to get even with Edgar after marrying Catherine and planned to hurt t everyone in an act of revenge. As time was passing on, his obsession for Catherine got out of
...rder to be able to inherit Thrushcross Grange. It seems that Heathcliff is mainly intent in gaining control of the manors to not only gain economically advantageous positions, but to also prove to the ghost of Catherine, which still wandered around the moors, that he would have been worth marrying and that she made the wrong decision. Catherine also had very strong desires for power, which are shown by her telling Nelly that she would never be able to marry Heathcliff because he had been put so far below that she believed it would be degrading to her to marry him, and therefore she decided to marry Edgar Linton instead due to his stability.
Although, Mr. Earnshaw tried to make Heathcliff an equal part of the family, Heathcliff never truly fits in. Heathcliff is from a completely different social class than the rest of his “family”. This led to the hatred that Hindley felt towards Heathcliff. Hindley robs Heathcliff of his education, forces him to work as a servant at Wuthering Heights and frequently beats him. Throughout this all, Heathcliff never complains.
She betrayed her true feelings for her social ambition, which in the long run, ended up being a poor choice. Her choice affected not only those who she loved, but those she did not expect to hurt. “...and if the wicked man in there had not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldn't have thought of it. It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him…”, this quote from Catherine explains why she cannot marry Heathcliff, and how she tried to hide her feelings from him. Her attempt to hide them failed, so once she showed her true feelings, Edgar started to notice the reality of
She reveals it is Heathcliff who she really loves, but that she wants the comforts of living with the well off Mr.Linton. She claims marrying Edgar would help her provide for Heathcliff, but it’s obvious she is mostly marrying for money in this situation. She sacrifices true love to have a comfortable cushy life. Regardless, Catherine is fond of her husband, and enjoys her life, but when Heathcliff returns after a year of
From the beginning of the novel and most likely from the beginning of Heathcliff's life, he has suffered pain and rejection. When Mr. Earnshaw brings him to Wuthering Heights, he is viewed as a thing rather than a child. Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to fling it out the doors, while Nelly put it on the landing of the stairs hoping that it would be gone the next day. Without having done anything to deserve rejection, Heathcliff is made to feel like an outsider. Following the death of Mr. Earnshaw, Heathcliff suffers cruel mistreatment at the hands of Hindley. In these tender years, he is deprived of love, friendship, and education, while the treatment from jealous Hindley is barbaric and disrupts his mental balance. He is separated from the family, reduced to the status of a servant, undergoes regular beatings and forcibly separated from his soul mate, Catherine. The personality that Heathcliff develops in his adulthood has been formed in response to these hardships of his childhood.
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
Catherine Earnshaw appears to be a woman who is free spirited. However, Catherine is also quite self-centered. She clearly states that her love for Edgar Linton does not match how much she loves Heathcliff. She is saying that she does love both, and she is unwilling to give one up for the other; she wants “Heathcliff for her friend”. Catherine admits that her love for Linton is “like the foliage in the woods”; however, her love for Heathcliff “resembles the eternal rocks beneath”. She loves Heathcliff and yet she gives him up and marries Linton instead, Catherine believes that if she marries Heathcliff it would degrade and humiliate her socially.
In the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Heathcliff is an orphan boy brought to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw, who has two children of his own already - Catherine and Hindley. Heathcliff changes over the course of his life by the following; Heathcliff begins by getting along well with Catherine Earnshaw, however, Catherine Earnshaw is introduced to Edgar Linton and Heathcliff becomes jealous of their forming relationship, and once Catherine has passed away after delivering Edgar’s child, Heathcliff becomes haunted by her ghost, and wishes to only be united with her in death.
Catherine Earnshaw is the daughter of Mr. Earnshaw and his wife; Catherine falls powerfully in love with Heathcliff, the orphan Mr. Earnshaw brings home from Liverpool. She was born at Wuthering Heights and was raised with her brother Hindley. Catherine loves Heathcliff so intensely that she claims they are the same person but does not marry him because Hindley has degraded him after their father's death so her desire for social advancement motivates her to marry Edgar Linton instead, a neighbour from Thrushcross Grange and he is handsome and rich, another reason for Catherine marrying him. She is quite passionate about Heathcliff though, and does not want to give him up. She becomes ill when Heathcliff and Edgar fight, and dies in childbirth.
Earnshaw brought Heathcliff home around Christmas time. Catherine and Hindley thought Heathcliff was a very peculiar man. As time began to progress Heathcliff and Catherine began to talk to each other and soon fell in love. Hindley always made fun Heathcliff when they were younger and treated him cruelly. “So, from the very beginning, he bred bad feeling in the house; and at Mrs. Earnshaw's death, which happened in less than two years after, the young master had learned to regard his father as an oppressor rather than a friend, and Heathcliff as a usurper of his parent's affections and his privileges; and he grew bitter with brooding over these injuries” (Brontë 37).
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...
Hindley plants the seeds of hate into Heathcliff by treating him cruelly as a child to begin with. This past happening creates the mutual scornful attitude between Heathcliff and Hindley, which spreads into the rest of the characters in the novel. Heathcliff becomes a vortex of hate which grows to encompass Edgar and Isabella. However, Catherine and Hareton seem immune to Heathcliff’s hatred because Heathcliff is not trying to accomplish revenge against him.
Mr. Earnshaw believes that “the young man, [Hindley], should be sent to college”(45) as Hindley is not treating Heathcliff properly. This shows how Mr. Earnshaw is favoring Heathcliff to Hindley and is forcing Hindley to leave. Catherine becomes good friends with Heathcliff. One night, they spy on the Lintons, their neighbors, and are caught. Mrs. Linton is disgusted that “Miss Earnshaw [was] scouring the country with a gypsy”(53). Catherine is expected to behave like a proper lady, implying that she should not associate with those inferior in status to her because she is part of the middle class. Even though Catherine and Heathcliff have a strong friendship, he ruins her reputation in the eyes of the Mrs. Linton. While having connections proves to benefit Heathcliff status, they appear to be detrimental to his connection’s
At first, the children of Wuthering Heights (Hindley, Cathy, Nelly) all rejected him for his appearance as a gypsy- they thought of him as knavish, grimy, and uneducated. Despite this, Mr. Earnshaw treated with a certain respect by letting him live as with the Earnshaws while still being an outsider to the family. Yet the spectrum of hostility didn’t end with the children. Mrs. Earnshaw questions her husband’s insight, “asking how [Mr. Earnshaw] could fashion to bring that gipsy brat into the house” when he added another mouth for her to feed at the dinner table. (Chapter 4). Mr. Earnshaw’s attempt to integrate Heathcliff fails once Hindley takes over Wuthering Heights. Despite basically being middle class under Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley takes it on his own to oppress and torture him. Before this, Heathcliff was on a level playing field class wise compared to the Earnshaws. Heathcliff now finds himself as a servant, a laborer working the fields. By subjugating Heathcliff, Hindley drew the line in the sand. Hindley has effectively forced Heathcliff into a lower class, Hindley has colonized
In the novel Wuthering Heights, the dark and mysterious Heathcliff once began his life with an open heart, but after mistreatment from Edgar and Hindley he turns to revenge. Heathcliff's actions are reasonable; he has been hurt from the unfair reason of discrimination. Heathcliff slowly becomes sickly obsessed with planning an elaborate revenge after eavesdropping a conversation between his beloved Catherine to Nelly. He hears his young beautiful and idolized Catherine say, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff” (77). Heathcliff, heartbroken and hopeless, abruptly leaves Wuthering Height for two years. Catherine is left wondering where he is. Heathcliff leaves in search of revenge.