"His violence and cruelty seemed too demonic for many readers..."
Does the modern reader share this view of Heathcliff?
Author of Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë, was born in Thornton,
Yorkshire on 30 July 1818. She was born the fifth of six children and
died at the age of thirty from consumption. The Brontë children had a
love for creating stories and small books, but it was sisters
Charlotte, Emily and Anne who embarked on writing their own novels.
They published their work under the names of Currer, Ellis and Acton
Bell, not willing to declare themselves as female authors because of
the sheer intensity of passion contained in their novels, which would
not have been considered at all feminine at the time. It was beyond
the thoughts of a woman.
Wuthering Heights was first published in 1847. Emily's deep attachment
and love for the North Yorkshire Moors gave her the inspiration she
needed to write this novel. She spent her days sitting out on the
moors as a child and believed that the only way to experience God was
through nature, this is reflected in the novel in the characters of
Heathcliff and Cathy.
All the action of Wuthering Heights takes place in or around two
neighbouring houses on the moors - Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering
Heights, representing opposing worlds and values. Although the
Lintons, occupants of The Grange, held no official titles of their
own, they were wealthy and Edgar may been seen as the conventional
Victorian gentleman. Whether or not a man was a gentleman or not would
involve asking questions such as how much land he owned or how many
servants he had. The situation at Wuthering Heights was however quite
different. The Earnshaws rested upon much shakier ground socially.
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...would be appalled by.
Heathcliff is referred to in satanic and demonic ways throughout the
book. He is termed wicked and unruly, cruel and spiteful. Emily Brontë
continues to shock the reader with scenes of violence and malevolence
throughout the novel, however we sometimes expect that perhaps
Heathcliff's character could contain a much softer side and that it is
his frustrated love for Cathy which brings out he fieriness. Either
way conservative modern or Victorian readers would be both outraged by
his demonic character. Those who live quiet and introverted lives will
be overwhelm by the violence that one man may cause. In today's
society we are much more exposed to cruelty on television and radio,
even in the streets. We are made aware from a young age and perhaps
would be not find Heathcliff's violent attitude as hard to accept as
the Victorians did.
Everyone goes through a time where they wish they were a different person. Many people believe that they can never change who they are. However, transformations occur every day. Emily Bronte proves this true in her novel Wuthering Heights. Throughout the entire plot, numerous characters changed, either in their appearance, their social status, or their personality. Bronte also proves that non-human things can change, such as the manner of Wuthering Heights. The idea that people and objects can transform is shown throughout the novel through many examples.
Virginia Woolf and Emily Bronte possess striking similarities in their works. Both works have inanimate objects as pivotal points of the story line. For Bronte, Wuthering Heights itself plays a key role in the story. The feel of the house changes as the characters are introduced to it. Before Heathcliff, the Heights was a place of discipline but also love. The children got on well with each other and though Nelly was not a member of the family she too played and ate with them. When old Mr. Earnshaw traveled to Liverpool he asked the children what they wished for him to bring them as gifts and also promised Nelly a “pocketful of apples and pears” (WH 28). Heathcliff’s presence changed the Heights, “So, from the beginning, he had bred bad feeling in the house” (WH 30). The Heights became a place to dream of for Catherine (1) when she married Linton and moved to the Grange. For her it held the memories of Heathcliff and their love. For her daughter, Cathy, it became a dungeon; trapped in a loveless marriage in a cold stone home far away from the opulence and luxury of the home she was used to. Then, upon the death of Heathcliff, I can almost see, in my minds eye, the Heights itself relax into the warm earth around in it the knowledge that it too is once again safe from the vengeance, bitterness, and hate that has housed itself within its walls for over twenty years.
Wuthering Heights seems to be a series of destructive decisions. Heathcliff and Catherine never achieve a life of happiness together; their actions cannot lead to a blissful ending. The other characters are guilty of creating their own strife, whether from personal faults or lack of wisdom. In a way, Emily Bronte’s ability to weave flaws into each person’s character lends a sense of reality or humanness to the novel; no one is seen as entirely good or bad. Without lecturing her readers, Bronte demonstrates just how regrettable succumbing to impulses can be. I realized while reading that even though their lives have an aspect of romance, I would never want to live the way that they did.
In the novel Wuthering Heights, author Emily Brontë portrays the morally ambiguous character of Heathcliff through his neglected upbringing, cruel motives, and vengeful actions.
Within such a work of art, Emily Bronte described and unlocked many truths about how it’s human nature to perform selfish acts. The actions that Catherine, Heathcliff and Linton all completed were out of love, horror, and hatred.
On the face of it, it would seem that the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff is self-destructive to an extreme. Due to the lovers’ precarious circumstances, passionate personalities and class divisions, it seems that fate transpires to keep them apart and therefore the hopelessness of their situation drives them to self destruction. However, although the relationship is undeniably self-destructive, there are elements within it that suggest the pain Heathcliff and Catherine put each other through is atoned for to an extent when they share their brief moments of harmony.
Wuthering Heights is a novel which deviates from the standard of Victorian literature. The novels of the Victorian Era were often works of social criticism. They generally had a moral purpose and promoted ideals of love and brotherhood. Wuthering Heights is more of a Victorian Gothic novel; it contains passion, violence, and supernatural elements (Mitchell 119). The world of Wuthering Heights seems to be a world without morals. In Wuthering Heights, Brontë does not idealize love; she presents it realistically, with all its faults and merits. She shows that love is a powerful force which can be destructive or redemptive. Heathcliff has an all-consuming passion for Catherine. When she chooses to marry Edgar, his spurned love turns into a destructive force, motivating him to enact revenge and wreak misery. The power of Heathcliff’s destructive love is conquered by the influence of another kind of love. Young Cathy’s love for Hareton is a redemptive force. It is her love that brings an end to the reign of Heathcliff.
Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Bronte, has 323 pages. The genre of Wuthering Heights is realistic fiction, and it is a romantic novel. The book is available in the school library, but it was bought at Barnes and Nobles. The author’s purpose of writing Wuthering Heights is to describe a twisted and dark romance story. Thus, the author conveys the theme of one of life’s absolute truths: love is pain. In addition, the mood of the book is melancholy and tumultuous. Lastly, the single most important incident of the book is when Heathcliff arrives to Edgar Linton’s residence in the Granges unannounced to see Catherine’s state of health. Heathcliff’s single visit overwhelmed Catherine to the point of death.
Emily Bronte, on the surface, appeared to be a very withdrawn woman and is said to be reclusive throughout her entire life. She was even incredibly embarrassed when her sister, Charlotte Bronte, found her book of poetry, even though Charlotte was incredibly impressed by it. Beneath the surface lies a woman full of passion and capable of powerful emotions, though she had never felt such emotions, to write a novel that is still discussed today and is regarded as a literary classic. Novels are often regarded as a window to the souls of the authors, and Wuthering Heights is no exception. Wuthering Heights is often seen as a type of construct of Emily’s life and personality, because of the similarity of characters to people in Emily’s life, and how the events that occur at Wuthering Heights are secluded in their own right, much like Emily’s own life.
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.
Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights employs one of the most powerful forces to drive its plot forward: the need for revenge. This is a force like no other because it thrives on negative emotions such as suffering, loss, and anger, especially from the pain of rejection in the novel. Not only is it influential, but also prevalent. Bronte depicts that the need for revenge is hidden in many characters, suppressed by love, until a single event unleashes its fury, corrupting characters and causing them to aggravate their misdoings, with one disaster following a first. Revenge, like abuse, is a repeating cycle; a sufferer becomes the inflicter of suffering on others so that everybody feels the pain, and only the power of love can overcome this
In Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, Bronte uses the issue of social class to focus in on how an outsider, Heathcliff, is treated when he enters in a new society with a changing class structure to show the idea that class is something that begins with ancestors and current members conform into it is present. At the time, the industrialization of England caused the levees in place to yield to allow for a new middle class. This rise of middle, working class stirs up conflict between the dominant upper class and the rising lower classes. This class conflict, the oppression against the lower classes serves as the basis for Heathcliff’s interactions, treatments, and future tyrannical actions in Wuthering Heights to show the class struggle placed on society by industrialization.
Emily Bronte, who never had the benefit of former schooling, wrote Wuthering Heights. Bronte has been declared as a “romantic rebel” because she ignored the repressive conventions of her day and made passion part of the novelistic tradition. Unlike stereotypical novels, Wuthering Heights has no true heroes or villains.
Heathcliff is characterized “as dark almost as if it [Heathcliff] came from the devil.” (45) Throughout Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff is treated poorly and is mainly a product of a troubled childhood. This man then manifests into a person that is hardly capable of holding back his impetuous actions, and, therefore, exemplifies the capacity of the most powerful emotions. Although he may not be the ideal protagonist, it is ultimately not his fault and in the end is defined by the events in the story. Due to the extreme emotional and physical pain endured throughout his life, Heathcliff exhibits the strongest love and hate towards others through passion and revenge.
Not only does revenge highlights important events, but also highlights personality flaws. Heathcliff is convinced that Hindley and Catherine are the reason for his loneliness and how he...