Storm & Calm in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

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Wuthering Heights: Storm & Calm

The theme of Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte, is a universe of opposing forces-storm and calm. Wuthering Heights, the land of storm, is a sturdy house that is set up high on the windy moors, belonging to the Earnshaw family. The house is highly charged with emotion of hatred, cruelty, violence, and savage love. In comparison, Thrushcross Grange, the land of calm, is settled in the valley and is the residence of the genteel Lintons. The same differences exists between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, as they do in Heathcliff and Edgar. As Catherine points out, the contrast between the two “resembled what you see in exchanging a bleak, hilly,

coal country, for a beautiful fertile valley.” (Bronte 72)

The Lintons, and the social and material advantages they stand for become Heathcliff’s rivals for Catherine’s love, which leads directly to the central conflict of the novel. Heathcliff despises them at first sight for their weakness, but Catherine, being an extremely proud girl, is tempted. A lovers’ triangle begins to take definite shape when the aristocratic Edgar Linton falls in love with Catherine, upsetting the balance between the relationship of Catherine and Heathcliff. Edgar’s love for Catherine is sincere, but the element of great passion which is strongly characterized does not compare to Heathcliff’s love. The difference between Catherine’s feeling for Heathcliff and the one she feels for Linton is that Heathcliff is a part of her nature, while Edgar is only a part of her superficial love. “For he (Heathcliff), like her, is a child of storm; and this makes a bond between them, which interweaves itself with the very nature of their existence.” (Cecil 26) Emily Bronte makes a point in the novel to mention the fact that Catherine’s affection for Heathcliff remains unchanged in spite of the Lintons’ influence over her. As Catherine confesses to Nelly that Heathcliff and her share the same soul, and also declares “I am Heathcliff.” (Bronte 84) Her pride, yearning for the world of the Lintons, has gotten the better of her natural inclination, and she knows she has made the wrong decision by

marrying Edgar.

Catherine, naturally a child of storm, is unable to develop at Thrushcross Grange, while she is married to Edgar. Her mind becomes disturbed, which is the first sign of her degeneration. The pragmatic reality at the Grange cannot fill the void that she has made for herself in leaving her furious childhood environment.

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