Throughout the world of Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Brontë in the mid-1800s, there are many similarities between the second generation, which include Hindley and Catherine Earnshaw along with Heathcliff, and the third generation, which evolves around Hareton Earnshaw, Cathy Linton, and Linton Heathcliff. The third generation inhibits some of their parent’s qualities and traits. Cathy is the daughter of Catherine and Edgar Linton and has her mother’s temperament and headstrong behaviour, but also her father’s compassion in which she shows through the care of Linton. Hareton is the son of Hindley and Frances Earnshaw. He eventually gets taken advantage of and used for Heathcliff’s revenge on his father Hindley. Hareton wants to improve …show more content…
He was returned to Thrushcross Grange by his Uncle Edgar where he would be taken by Heathcliff right away back to Wuthering Heights, as Heathcliff had plans to use Linton to obtain his rightful revenge. While there are many differences between the two generations, there are also many similarities that shape the young children at the end of the novel.
Edgar and Linton are two of the same. Linton is Edgars nephew and as a Linton, they share many characteristics. Edgar has “light hair and a fair skin, . . . dressed well and behaved as well” (50) as well as “great blue eyes and even forehead.”
…show more content…
Catherine Earnshaw, now Linton, and Cathy Linton, then Heathcliff, both high inn spirits shared many similarities in appearance. Catherine’s “spirits were always at high-water mark, her tongue always going- singing, laughing, and plaguing everybody who would not do the same (36).” Catherine “had the bonniest eyes, and sweetest smile (36)” and she loved to adventure out onto the Moors and explore her inner wild child. Cathy is “a real beauty in face [with] . . . dark eyes . . . fair skin, and small features (167).” She too was also “saucy (167)” and wild wanting to “walk on the top of those hills (168).” Both had dark eyes, had a temper, were childish and both fell in love with a man who was too poor for how they wanted to be viewed. Catherine falls in love with Heathcliff while playing on the Moors, but comes to the realization that she must marry Edgar to help her be the rich wife she needs to be. Similarly, Cathy falls in love with Hareton who does not have an education and “cannot read [referring to the Hareton name on the building] (194).” After realizing that marrying Heathcliff and Hareton is not going to socially benefit them and Heathcliff forces Cathy to marry Linton they both marry the ‘other one’, Edgar and Linton. Catherine and Cathy can recognize and love the traits of a soft sensitive man, but also crave the passionate love of an unpredictable masculine man. In the end what differs in their lives is that
It does not appear that Linton changes during these scenes – although I’m not far enough along to be certain one way or another. Whatever change there may be isn’t immediately visible – contrast his behavior to that of Heathcliff on discovering that Catherine is now a lady, and out of his league. In that scene, Heathcliff changes markedly; there is a sharp delineation between there previous friendship and the undercurrents of poison that run through all of their following interactions. (And it’s clear, from Heathcliff’s speech to Catherine which rouses Edgar, that Heathcliff has once again been cherishing a
The initial downward spiral of Heathcliff’s life was predominantly caused by harsh influences in the environment in which he was raised. Heathcliff, an adopted child, grew up in Wuthering Heights, a desolate and dystopian estate when compared to the beauty of the neighboring Thrushcross Grange. In childhood, Heathcliff displayed evidence of a sympathetic personality through his emotional attachment to Catherine and kind attitude towards Nelly. At the time of Mr. Earnshaw’s death, Nelly describes a scene where, “Miss Cathy had been sick, and that made her still; she
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.
Linton Heathcliff is only interested in himself. He is a sickly and scared young man. Like his mother Isabella Linton who accused Catherine Earnshaw of selfishly wanting Heathcliff for herself – in which she didn't- Linton enjoys inflicting and watching people suffer. As Heathcliff threatened to kill Linton, Linton only thought about his own life and, decided to betray Cathy, tricking her into staying at Wuthering Heights and getting married to him, instead of returning to Thurshcross Grange to where her father lies on his deathbed.
The Lintons and Earnshaws are part of the Gentry class of Victorian England; they are both landowning families, fairly high up in the class hierarchy. But the genetic natures of the families are entirely different: the Lintons are well behaved, subdued, spoilt, steady, sensible and arrogant; in comparison, the Earnshaws are strong willed, moody, generous, free spirited, easily influenced, laid back and non-formal. The nurture of the characters is connected very strongly to social status: Heathcliff is denied social status initially by his birth and subsequently by Hindley, which creates great hatred in Heathcliff: this denial of status is perceived much more seriously than what we consider serious today. Catherine chooses Edgar over Heathcliff for reasons of social status, even though she and Heathcliff are so similar. Hareton is also denied social status, which turns his attitudes against the Gentry class and creates rifts between him and other characters: for example, it makes Cathy and Linton, who would be his equals, look down on him.
Emily Brontë, in her novel, Wuthering Heights, suggests that children, in their very nature, exhibit traits from their parental influences. However, these traits are not always represented at the same time and can come out in different situations. For instance, as Cathy Linton grows up, her personality is a mixture of her calmer father, Edgar, and her more fiery mother, Catherine. She shows both these personalities, but she limits each to the correct time and circumstance. Also, the same goes for Linton Heathcliff, who has become a mixture of both his mother, Isabella, and his father, Heathcliff. Lastly, this is shown in Hareton Earnshaw, who, because he has little to no relationship with his biological parents, has turned into a man more like Heathcliff, his surrogate father, instead of Hindley, his genetic father. In this way, parental influence can shape a child into becoming more like them.
From being isolated in the moors of England, with only the two houses-Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. And those are placed 4 miles apart from each other. Having grown up at Wuthering Heights, Catherine, Hindley, and Heathcliff all suffer from a lack of love and structure. Wuthering Heights is a very bleak and dark place, that isn’t too happy. None of them found happiness until they fled from that dreary place that they call home. Heathcliff is grumpy and mean, and wants to inflict that on everyone else around him. Hurt people, hurt people. As opposed to Thrushcross Grange, which is more structured. Edgar and Isabella are more compassionate people, because of the love that they received from their parents. It also leaves them vulnerable to Catherine and Heathcliff’s aggressive nature, as well as a ploy in Heathcliff’s plan. Knowing this, Catherine is only stuck with two options-marry Heathcliff or Edgar. Based on the decision she made (good or bad, depending on the person) it started a spiral of events that currently effects Linton, Hareton, and Cathy. The same thing is to be said about Cathy. Cathy is still in the same environment. Though she is growing up at Thrushcross Grange, and be raised by her father and Nelly. Hareton is growing up at Wuthering Heights, under the wrath of Heathcliff, which is not pleasant. He is becoming mean and malicious, something Heathcliff wants. Then you have Linton who grew up
Which drew Catherine towards him; she describes him as “handsome”, “pleasant to be with,” and “cheerful,” and “rich”. Linton turns Catherine from a wild child to a well-mannered lady. They meet when Catherine got bit by a dog, and then the Lintons take her in while she is healing, this lasts for five weeks. Edgar tames her in a way, his overall persona clashes with hers in a perfect way. His love gives Catherine safety a security in the society. Heathcliff on the other hand is almost obsessed and can't give her the attributes she needs and wants; such as, commitment and how he won't sacrifice anything. However, those exact qualities attract Catherine to him. “She was much too fond of Heathcliff. The greatest punishment we could invent for her was to keep her separate from him: yet she got chided more than any of us on his account.”(Brontë 41) According to Levy, “As a result of the Unlove that they were made to suffer, both Heathcliff and Catherine, by opposite means and in distinct circumstances, turn loneliness into a community of rejection over which they wield absolute control. Heathcliff does this by persecuting those he hates; Catherine, by persecuting those she loves.” Edgar and Heathcliff have a good angel bad angel complex, of course Heathcliff is the bad angel and Edgar is the good angel. The reasons behind this is simply the characteristics portrayed;Edgar
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.
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.
The famous saying that from a true love to a great hatred is only a
All of their names are derived from past family members and Jerome Bump claims that this is not a coincidence; claiming, “At Wuthering Heights names are simply repeated, as if there were little difference between the generations, as if their owners kept adopting the same roles and following the same script century after century” . Each name hides a story behind it, and those stories unfold accordingly. Hareton’s name is the one listed on the gate when Mr. Lockwood first arrives,“I detected the date ‘1500’ and the name ‘Hareton Earnshaw.’”(3). Cathy and Linton have a more interesting back story in their names, one for comfort and another in spite. Cathy is named after her mother as an attempt for her mother’s spirit to live on by her husband. She is everything Catherine was; adventurous, sly, and free-spirited yet she is also everything her father wanted from her mother; reserved, caring, and sympathetic. Nelly Dean, her caretaker describes Cathy lovingly, “No angel in heaven could be more beautiful than she appeared” (237). Cathy never knows her mother, as she died during childbirth, but her connection with her father creates the wholesome human she is. Truthfully, Edgar is the only father in the novel who is a stand-up man and raises a beautifully sophisticated young lady. That being said, Catherine is inside Cathy and that part of her is what gets her into trouble resulting in her kidnapping. Even without her mother’s physical presence, Cathy is still influenced by Catherine in her later years to the point some characters can hardly tell the difference. Her father suppresses her mother’s qualities by forbidding her adventures on the grounds. He fears she may cross the moors into Wuthering Heights territory, as her mother did so many years ago to Thrushcross Grange. Like Catherine, Linton is influenced by his dead mother, Isabella Linton. His
“Wuthering Heights is a strange, inartistic story”(Atlas, WH p. 299). “Wuthering Heights is a strange sort of book” (Douglas, WH p.301). “This is a strange book” (Examiner, WH p.302). “His work [Wuthering Heights] is strangely original” (Britannia, WH p.305). These brief quotes show that early critics of Emily Bronte’s first edition of Wuthering Heights, found the novel baffling in its meaning - they each agreed separately, that no moral existed within the story therefore it was deemed to have no real literary value. The original critical reviews had very little in the way of praise for the unknown author or the novel. The critics begrudgingly acknowledged elements of Wuthering Heights that could be considered strengths – such as, “rugged power” and “unconscious strength” (Atlas, WH p.299), “purposeless power” (Douglas, WH p.301), “evidences of considerable power” (Examiner), “power and originality” (Britannia, WH p.305). Strange and Powerful are two recurring critical interpretations of the novel. The critics did not attempt to provide in depth analysis of the work, simply because they felt that the meaning or moral of the story was either entirely absent or seriously confused.
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.
When Hindley is drunk, Heathcliff “cheat[s] Mr. Hindley”(63) at cards. This is part of Heathcliff’s revenge on Hindley. Eventually, Hindley has to mortgage Wuthering Heights in order to pay his debts, and Heathcliff is able to gain possession of Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff tells Cathy, Catherine and Edgar’s daughter, that Linton, his son, “is on his deathbed”(255) and that she should come visit him. Cathy feels obligated to go help Linton, so she and Nelly go to Wuthering Heights. Once they arrive, Heathcliff locks them in and tells them “you shall not quit this place till it is fulfilled”(261); implying that they will not be able to leave until Cathy marries Linton. Heathcliff wants them to marry so that he can get the inheritance. While Heathcliff gains money from his connections, d Cathy and Hindley loses their inheritance, money, and