Revenge within Love
Lovers often bring out the best and worst in each other. In the book Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë, this is evident throughout the novel. Love and revenge may seem like polar opposites when they are considered individually. However, when revenge is a circumstance of love, something powerful is created from this unique pairing. Mr. Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw are soul mates that are also literary foils. Heathcliff and Catherine highlight each others strengths while also exposing each others weaknesses. The love that Catherine and Heathcliff share is unlike any other. Although Catherine and Heathcliff are so in love, there are several people who attempt to break them apart. Heathcliff, enraged by his fear
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Heathcliff is well educated on the topic of revenge. “Heathcliff received no flogging, but he was told that the first word he spoke to Miss Catherine should ensure a dismissal; and Mrs Earnshaw undertook to keep her sister-in-law in due restraint, when she returned home; employing art, not force- with force she would have found it impossible” (Brontë 37). Hindley despised Heathcliff from the day that his father brought the little gypsy boy home. It wasn’t until Master Earnshaw died that Hindley became the head of Wuthering Heights. This was an opportunity that Hindley could not take for granted and he made his power over Heathcliff crystal clear. Hindley was aware that the boy would not respond to being beaten, but he knew what would hurt Heathcliff. Hindley, while Catherine was away, swore that Heathcliff would again be homeless if he did not shun Catherine. Heathcliff swore that he would enact revenge on Hindley. “ ‘The charge exploded, and the knife, in springing back, closed into its owner’s wrist. Heathcliff pulled it away by main force, slitting up the flesh as it passed on, and thrusting it dripping into his pocket’ ” (Brontë 131). After waiting several years, Heathcliff decided to take his revenge, hence the best served cold reference. After a long and bloody night, most of the blood shed belonging to Hindley, Hindley died. Finally, Heathcliff could be at …show more content…
Heathcliff, having been so intimate with pain his whole life, will take revenge on anyone that he perceives has done him wrong, even if he loves them.
I could do as well without his approbation- And as to you, Catherine, I have a mind to speak a few words now, while we are at it- I want you you be aware that I know you have treated my infernally- infernally! Do you hear? And if you flatter yourself that I don’t perceive it, you are a fool- and if you think I can be consoled by sweet words you are an idiot- and if you fancy I 'll suffer unrevenged, I’ll convince you of the contrary, in a very little while. (Brontë 82-83)
After Catherine marries Edgar Linton, Heathcliff feels betrayed. He confronts Catherine about her act of treachery saying that she cannot soothe him with a few of her kind words. Heathcliff vows that he will have revenge, even though she is his one true love. “ ‘She’s gone, she’s gone! Yon’ Heathcliff’s run off wi’ her!’ gasped the girl” (Brontë 97). For his revenge, Heathcliff courts Isabella, Edgar Linton’s sister. Heathcliff makes Isabella believe that he is the man of her dreams. One night, Heathcliff takes Isabella from Thrushcross Grange and they elope. Eventually, Catherine and Edgar catch wind of this and are distraught, for different
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
Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights, set in the countryside of England’s 1700’s, features a character named Heathcliff, who is brought into the Earnshaw family as a young boy and quickly falls into a passionate, blinding romance with the Earnshaw’s daughter, Catherine. However, Heathcliff is soon crushed by this affection when his beloved chooses the company of another man rather than his own. For the remainder of the novel he exudes a harsh, aversive attitude that remains perduring until his demise that is induced by the loss of his soulmate, and in turn the bereavement of the person to whom the entirety of his being and his very own self were bound.
Love has been seen in one unusual way throughout Wuthering Heights. As previously mentioned, there is a love triangle that is created between Catherine, Edgar, and Heathcliff. Catherine and Heathcliff’s passion for one another is the center of Wuthering Heights,
To begin with, when young Heathcliff was brought back from Liverpool to live with Mr. Earnshaw at Wuthering Heights, the family members despise and show hostility toward the inferior child presumably because Heathcliff is lower class. Certainly, the landscape Heathcliff enters into is “exposed in stormy weather…power of the north wind blowing over the edge, by the excessive slant of a few stunted firs at the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the sun” (4). The detailed description of the dismal landscape demonstrates that the society is twisting and destroying humanity through a violent ravage. After Mr. Earnshaw’s death Hindley “[drives] Heathcliff from
Heathcliff is a character who was abused in his childhood by Catherine’s brother, Hindley, because of his heritage as a “gypsy”, and Hindley was jealous of the love that Heathcliff got from Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley’s father. This is also selfishness upon Hindley’s part since he only wanted his father’s love for his sister and himself. So to reprimand Heathcl...
...ctive. Catherine is pushed to death and Heathcliff to brutal revenge, bordering on the psychotic. Yet before Cathy’s death, the knowledge that the other loves them is strong enough to make Wuthering Heights such a classic love story, and “that old man by the kitchen fire affirming he has seen two of 'em looking out of his chamber window, on every rainy night since his death,” shows that as they walk together on the moors, their self destruction may have led them to death, but also to what they most desired-being together.
Primarily, Heathcliff's hunger for revenge blindsides the character’s, Hindley, Catherine, Hareton, and young Catherine. Revenge is what Heathcliff wishes to
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.
When Catherine is compelled to stay at Thrushcross Grange to recover from her injury, she returns as “a very dignified person” (Brontë 37). Her association with the gente... ... middle of paper ... ... d to Cathy. He desires to be accepted by her.
(2) Emily Bronte’s purpose in writing Wuthering Heights is to depict unfulfilled love in a tragic romance novel and hence the theme of Wuthering Heights is love is pain. Emily Bronte reveals an important life lesson that love is not sufficient for happiness and if anything, stirs up more agony. This message is important because, although it is difficult to accept, the message is devastatingly honest. In Wuthering Heights, two characters named Heathcliff and Catherine loved each other immensely. However, their pride and adamance disabled them from making any progress on their romantic relationship. In fact, Heathcliff and Catherine purposely hurt each another through reckless and cruel actions. The author is exemplifying a recurring theme in history that love is associated with pain. The message allows readers to be aware that love is not constant perfection and happiness.
Catherine’s revenge does not make things better for her. Her revenge on Heathcliff by blaming him for her upcoming death does not meliorate her mind. Just before she dies, she ascribes Heathcliff for her “murder.” “You have killed me, and thriven on it, I think” (Bronte 158). Catherine resembles what Oliver Goldsmith said, “When lovely woman stoops to folly, and finds too late that men betray, what charm can soothe her melancholy?
His strong, merciless hate towards others is a result of the events that occurred in his childhood. “I’m trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back.I don’t care how long I wait, if I could only do it at last. I hope he will not die before I do!” (69) Because of all the torturous things Hindley did to Heathcliff back when they were children, “Hindley had blamed our father for treating Heathcliff too liberally; and swears he will reduce him to the right place,” (30) he hopes Hindley will not die before him just so he can carry out his revenge-driven plan. He is shaped by what has happened in his life previously which then causes meticulous actions that signify his intense hate towards everyone at Wuthering Heights. Although it is essentially not his own fault, some argue that there is no excuse for Heathcliff to act vindictively. In contrast, though, the psychological problems that he experienced have hand-crafted Heathcliff into the person he is. “It expressed, plainer than words could do, the intensest anguish at having made himself the instrument of thwarting his own revenge.” (58) This only adds to the complete and serious hatred he has for everyone that even saving his nephew from falling from the balcony was a thwart to his own revenge. The audience can conclude based on the characterization of Heathcliff as malicious that he is only focused on
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
There can be no question as to the motivations of Heathcliff for the vast majority of the book, as he is quite clearly obsessed with revenge (Which is nothing unusual in Wuthering Heights2) , be it against his adopted sister Catherine Linton (for denying him her love), his adopted brother Hindley Earnshaw (for years of abuse), his archrival and, to an extent, foil Edgar Linton (for marrying the woman he loved), or the child...
In the novel Wuthering Heights, the dark and mysterious Heathcliff once began his life with an open heart, but after mistreatment from Edgar and Hindley he turns to revenge. Heathcliff's actions are reasonable; he has been hurt from the unfair reason of discrimination. Heathcliff slowly becomes sickly obsessed with planning an elaborate revenge after eavesdropping a conversation between his beloved Catherine to Nelly. He hears his young beautiful and idolized Catherine say, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff” (77). Heathcliff, heartbroken and hopeless, abruptly leaves Wuthering Height for two years. Catherine is left wondering where he is. Heathcliff leaves in search of revenge.