Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

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Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Much meaning that was not overtly written into Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights can be discovered by using Freudian interpretation. This meaning was not consciously intended by Bronte, but can be very interesting and helpful in finding significance in the book. Freud used dream analysis, symbolism, and psychoanalytical techniques to find meaning that was not apparent in his patients the other subjects of his analysis.

In his book, Darwin's Worms, Adam Phillip says that Freud was "involved in taking God out of the picture, leaving nothing between us and nature" (Phillip 1). This statement directly correlates with the story and the characters of Wuthering Heights. One of the main themes of the book is that of natural, instinctual desires. The passion between Catherine I and Heathcliff has been called "semi-savage" (Jerrold 302) because of the rawness and naturalness of it. Heathcliff himself is also very close to nature. He is unrefined and acts solely on instincts and desires. Although there are many religious references in the book, God is not portrayed as a being with sole control over the lives of the characters. Nature plays much more of a controlling factor than God in the story. Natural instincts, as well as physical nature itself drove the lives of the characters of Wuthering Heights. They acted on passions and desires and were affected by the external world around them. For example, when Lockwood fell ill, it was not a work of God, but a direct consequence of nature.

Dreams play a large role in the story of Wuthering Heights. During Lockwood's first visit to the Heights, he has a night full of dreams and nightmares. Each one related to what Heathcliff had just read on the windowsil...

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...ey are wild and vicious. They seem to create a comparison to Heathcliff in the way that both the dogs and Heathcliff go after what they want without a thought of who they are hurting in the process. Heathcliff's feelings for Catherine are so raw and instinctual that they could be considered animal-like.

Freud developed many different psychological theories that can relate to the story of Wuthering Heights by interpreting the dreams of Lockwood, as well as explaining some behavior of the characters. Heathcliff's behavior, for example, makes more sense when described by defense mechanisms and the three parts of the mind than it does when it is looked at without Freudian theories. Had Sigmund Freud had the chance to sit Heathcliff down on his couch, he would have been able to explain much of Heathciff's behavior in ways that Emily Bronte could never have imagined.

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