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Literary development in Wuthering Heights
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Heathcliff throughout Wuthering Heights becomes one of the most difficult characters to understand because of his undescriptive background and harsh actions. As a young boy he arises from Liverpool lost and somewhat saved by Mr. Earnshaw, but from there on nothing else is in his favor. This is what develops Heathcliff into a dark and foreboding character throughout the novel because he is seemingly never shown kindness and when he is it is taken away from him. Eventually, when Catherine marries Edgar and later on dies Heathcliff can not stop obsessing over her because she was the only real light that had shined in his life. He goes as far as bribing the sexton to open up her coffin saying, “I thought, once, I would have stayed there: when I
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
Edgar genuinely cares about his daughter, and he does his best to be a worthy parent. The one part of his parenting that is lacking is his determination to seclude Cathy within Thrushcross Grange, which Edgar only does out of his love for his daughter. He wishes to protect her from the destructive presence of Wuthering Heights and its depraved inhabitants. "Wuthering Heights and Mr. Heathcliff did not exist for her: she was a perfect recluse; and apparently, perfectly contented." Unsurprisingly, Catherine, along with Hareton, manages to get her happy ending in the end, despite going through a horrible ordeal at the hands of
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.
In her novel, Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë uses psychological disorders in order to amplify the characters relationships. While Hindley, Linton, Edgar, and other minor characters suffer from multiple psychological disorders, it is Cathy Earnshaw and Heathcliff whose disorders shape the layout of the novel through their deep relationship. Their disorders range from histrionic personality disorder to monomania to Munchausen syndrome. Cathy and Heathcliff’s obsession for attention and each other drive them to develop psychological disorders that worsen throughout the novel due to lack of medical knowledge and diagnosis.
During the winter of 1801, Lockwood stays at the manor where he meets his landlord Heathcliff, a very rich man who lives in Wuthering Heights. Consumed by curiosity Lockwood asks his maid to recall the story of Heathcliff. Nelly Dean consents to this idea and begins to reminisce while Lockwood writes her tales in his diary. Nelly remembers when she was a young girl that she worked as a servant to Mr. Earnshaw who adopts an orphan from Liverpool. He intends to raise him with his own children, who at first have a distaste for the new child. Catherine, Mr. Earnshaw’s daughter, grows to love him and the two become very close. After Mr. Earnshaw’s wife passes, he begins to prefer Heathcliff, the orphan, over his own son. This causes Mr. Earnshaw’s son, Hindley, to mistreat Heathcliff but ultimately ends with Hindley being sent away to college, away from Heathcliff. Three years pass and Mr. Earnshaw dies, leaving Wuthering Heights to Hindley. He returns with his wife and a taste of revenge that is reserved for Heathcliff. Heathcliff begins to have to work in the fields as a common servant, but continues a friendship with Catherine. One night the two run off in hopes to tease the rich children across the fields. Catherine ends up bitten by a dog and has to stay at the Grange for five weeks to heal. During her stay there she is taught to be a proper young lady and becomes fainthearted for Edgar, leaving her friendship with Heathcliff unresolved with complications. Frances, Hindley’s wife, dies after the birth of the baby boy named Hareton. Hindley becomes an alcoholic and starts to be even more cruel and abusive to Heathcliff. Catherine’s desire for a higher social quota drives her to accept Edgar Linton’s proposal, despite her true love ...
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.
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.
(4) Wuthering Heights’s mood is melancholy and tumultuous. As a result, the book gives off a feeling of sorrow and chaos. For example, Catherine’s marriage with Edgar Linton made Heathcliff jealous and angry. In retaliation, Heathcliff married Edgar’s sister, Isabella, to provoke Catherine and Edgar. Heathcliff and Isabella’s marriage ignited a chaotic uproar with Edgar and Catherine because Linton disapproved of Heathcliff’s character, and Catherine loved Heathcliff in spite of being married to Edgar. Inside, Catherine wanted to selfishly keep Heathcliff to herself. Their relationships all had tragic endings because Catherine died giving birth to Edgar’s child. Isabella also died, leaving behind her young son. Heathcliff and Edgar resented each other because of misery they experienced together. The transition of the mood in the story is from chaotic to somber.
Despicable and pitiable come to mind when one thinks of the terrible yet confusing, Heathcliff. Heathcliff is the main character in Emily Bronte’s classic novel Wuthering Heights, and the whole novel revolves around this intriguing man from the time he arrives to Wuthering Heights as a cruel and dark person. He is a man who shuns humanity because he has been hated. Heathcliff does not laugh, he grins. He does not speak, he snarls. Heathcliff forms a special bond with Catherine, and they spend more than enough time together. Catherine ended up spraying her ankle and was invited to stay until it healed, but Heathcliff was not invited and had to go back to Wuthering Heights alone. The huge turning point for Heathcliff is when
Of course Heathcliff would have gotten demented and frustrated from Catherine’s constant insults and contradictions. The only person he has ever truly loved has left him for another, the man who his antithesis and who he can never surpass. Catherine’s indifference to Heathcliff’s feelings when she confesses to Nelly that marrying him would degrade her is Heathcliff’s breaking point. He sees Edgar as the target for his revenge, when really Catherine is to blame. Edgar had no idea Heathcliff’s full affections for Catherine. He would not have been in his nature to purposely steal away Catherine from her at this initial stage. She is the culprit for prompting Heathcliff’s vengeful heart. In the words of Spacks,
To start, Heathcliff is resentful and aggressive towards Edgar. This most likely stems from the fact that Edgar marries Catherine, a woman he himself fell violently in love with. Heathcliff’s very existence is probably torturous to Edgar because he knows that no matter how kind and faithful he is to Catherine, she will never truly be in love with him like he is because not only is her only true love Heathcliff, but also because she mainly married him for his wealth and an elevated status (Brönte 79-83). As Catherine says herself, “’My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks…I am Heathcliff! He’s always, always in my mind’” (Brönte 84). Heathcliff’s very presence undermines the life Edgar makes for himself and Catherine. However, Heathcliff is still angered by the union of the two, and when he comes back from his three year absence, he gets his revenge by running away with and marrying Edgar’s only sister Isabella. Also, several years after Catherine’s death, Heathcliff takes away Edgar’s only living remembrance of his wife, their daughter Cathy. He detains her in his house, abuses her, forces her to marry his son so he can inherit Edgar’s wealth and become “’master of the Grange after him’”, and attempts to keep her prisoner until Edgar’s death (Brönte 286-297). Heathcliff succeeds in his endeavor to torture Edgar, however in his effort to do
Bronte uses Heathcliff to illustrate the recurring theme of obsession and its deleterious effects by his extreme devotion to Catherine Earnshaw. Heathcliff’s obsession with Catherine is the drive that escalates his sense of revenge. This obsession manifests itself when Catherine makes the decision to marry Edgar, who not only bullies him as a child, but steals the love of his life. In the middle of the book, Heathcliff venomously declares, “The moment her regard ceased, I would have torn his heart out, and drank his blood (148).” He cannot stand the fact that Catherine chose Edgar over him, uncovering the pivotal reason for why he chooses to seek vengeance on Edgar. Heathcliff makes imprudent decisions throughout his life to avenge himself,
In the book, Heathcliff shows madness when he ran away from Wuthering Heights for three years. He overheard what Catherine said about not marrying him so she could marry Edgar, so he ran away and didn’t return for three years. He had a reason to get mad and to run away because he really loved Catherine and he really wanted to marry her, but she didn’t want to marry him because of his social class, she wanted to marry Edgar because he had a higher social class than Heathcliff. Heathcliff thought that Catherine really loved him, so when he overheard her talking, it really hurt his feelings to know that she was choosing Edgar over him because of social class.
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