Parental Figures In Wuthling Heights In The Father's Wuthering Heights

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Recommended: Wuthering Heights as a family story

"[A]t the instant when my eye quitted Hareton, he gave a sudden spring, delivered himself from the careless grasp that held him, and fell." This terrifying scene in Wuthering Heights, when a child nearly plunges to his death because of a negligent father, perfectly illustrates one of the main themes in Wuthering Heights of the profound effect of parental figures, or the lack thereof. Throughout the novel, not just Hareton, but all the characters are greatly influenced by the guardians in their lives.
In the early lives of Catherine and Hindley Earnshaw, their father 's overzealous love for Heathcliff causes a jealous rage in Hindley that starts the chain of disastrous events to come in the future. Mr. Earnshaw fails to remedy the situation, and Hindley, "learnt to regard his father as an oppressor rather than a friend … and he grew bitter with brooding over these injuries." The envious feelings that Hindley harbors for Heathcliff leads him to treat the orphan with contempt and cruelty. This in turn generates an intense hatred in Heathcliff for Hindley that fuels a craving for revenge that lasts for nearly all of his life.
In addition to Hindley, his sister Catherine also suffers from an inattentive father. Mr. Earnshaw does not understand or …show more content…

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

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