Theme Of Love In Wuthering Heights

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Recommended: Romance in the Victorian Era

Wuthering Heights
The problem of love in Wuthering Heights centers on the main characters Heathcliff and Catherine, the daughter of Mr. Earnshaw. Emily Bronte presents love in her novel ‘Wuthering Heights’ as a problem. A problem of two lovers united by love but separated by different desires in life. The novel describes how Catherine and Heathcliff would stay in the moors throughout the day and not care about being punished by Catherine’s elder brother Hindler. The moment they were with each other, they forgot all their problems. (Bronte, chapter 5). Heathcliff’s and Catherine’s romantic love is depicted as a secret kind of love reflected in great romantic tragedies like Romeo and Juliet, giving it an element of Victorian literature. These two lovers meticulously plan their meetings and pass love notes to each other. They enjoy each other’s company, spending many hours on the moors, not wanting to be apart. It is a wild kind of love, filled with insatiable passion and unrelenting.
In the novel, Heathcliff repeatedly refers to Catherine as ‘my soul’. This kind of love is tragic as it depicts two halves of one soul, struggling to unite. The tragedy of their love begins when Catherine is drawn towards the enchanting life at the Thrushcross Grange. She wants to live among the upper class in society and have the good life. When she comes back to Wuthering Heights after spending months at the Thrushcross Grange, she hardly recognizes Heathcliff.
In the novel, he is depicted to be unkempt, black and dirty. His clothes, not having seen water in three months and smelling of dirt. (Bronte, chapter 7). Catherine had changed and Heathcliff notices how white and soft her hands were because of doing no work. (Bronte, chapter 7). Catherine lau...

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...e comes off as a schemer with an obsessive plan to revenge on Hindley’s family, Edgar’s family and all their children. Catherine on the other hand has changed in that she has realized that she made a big mistake by marrying Edgar and wishes to die, in order to have the freedom of being with Heathcliff.
The problem of love further comes out when Catherine dies. Heathcliff is deeply affected and is seen banging his head on a tree. He is haunted by Catherine everywhere and feels a deep-seated emptiness. In chapter 34, he roams the moors like a mad man, seeing Catherine. Ironically, he is happy as he feels attached to Catherine. He finally dies in Catherine’s room. These two lovers finally unite in death, their souls becoming one. In conclusion in Wuthering Heights, love has been depicted as an element that could bring insanity, evoke revenge but however win in the end.

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