Themes of Wuthering Heights

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The novel Wuthering Heights is written by Emily Bronte. The narrative is non-linear, involving several flashbacks, and involves two major narrators - Mr. Lockwood and Ellen "Nelly" Dean. The novel opens in 1801, with Lockwood arriving at Thrushcross Grange, a house on the Yorkshire moors he is renting from the impolite Heathcliff, who lives at nearby Wuthering Heights. Lockwood spends the night at Wuthering Heights and has a terrifying dream: the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw, pleading to be admitted to the house from outside. Intrigued, Lockwood asks the housekeeper Nelly Dean to tell the story of Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights while he is staying at the Grange recovering from a cold.

Some of the important themes in Wuthering Heights are, revenge, reciprocated and unreciprocated love, obsession, selfishness, and responsibility.

Bronte mainly focuses on the love between Catherine and Healthcliff. The difference between the feeling that Catherine has for Heathcliff and the one she feels for Edgar is that Heathcliff is part of her nature, he is like her soul mate. While on the other hand she only marries Edgar as a means improving her status rather than for genuine love.

Revenge is the most dominant theme in the book, although at the end Heathcliff abandons his plan for revenge. For Heathcliff revenge started when Hindley used to abuse him when they were younger. He started to hate him and wanted to seek revenge. After he came back from his journey he made Hindley’s life miserable.Heathcliff also wanted revenge on Edgar who married the woman he loves. In the last chapter Heathcliff first believes that if he can avenge the death of Catherine that he will somehow grow closer to her. Though the exact opposite happens. When Hea...

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...there are certain tensions, contradictions, and ambiguities present in Chapter 34 that establish the true intensity Heathcliff's feelings towards Catherine, feelings so intense that they border on a jealous obsession.

On the other hand Edgar Linton Edgar represents gentlemanliness. He is viewed as a resident of Thrushcross Grange and he does not relocate throughout his life but is raised and dies here. As his wife, Catherine must move to the Grange, where Edgar is the master and patriarch. His inheritance, unlike that of Heathcliff, is legitimate and he is an educated man. In many ways, Edgar is governed by materialism, we need only examine the description of Thrushcross grange to appreciate the environment which characterises him. He is defined as ‘a doll’, and a ‘spoiled child’. His character is consistent and his love for Catherine devoted and traditional.

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