Introduction
Wuthering heights is a story written by Emily Bronte featuring a group of families living within and around the place called wuthering heights in the isolated moor country of England. The timeline of the story is written between 1801 and 1802. The main character of the story is Heathcliff since most of the events revolve around him. He is depicted as an orphaned swarthy boy picked from Liverpool by Mr. Earnshaw who is the owner of wuthering heights. The story is narrated by Nelly to Lockwood who is the new tenant of the Thrushcross Grange owned by Heathcliff. Out of curiosity of his landlord’s dour nature, Lockwood lures Nelly, his housekeeper, to narrate to him the story about wuthering heights. Therefore, the story is narrated through flashbacks where Nelly recounts her life and experiences at wuthering heights since she was a child and a servant.
Character/conflict
Heathcliff is the main character of the novel. He is an orphaned son brought in by Mr. Earnshaw from Liverpool. He is depicted as a romantic hero in the novel along with other characteristics such as brooding, vengeful and obsessive. His love for Catherine Earnshaw is most definitely unrelenting and unconditional owing to the fact that he pleads with her spirit to haunt him after she dies. Catherine also confirms the same by noting that they are identical. However, due to their different interests and desires, they do not end up together as it is supposed to be. Catherine is slowly lured and infatuated by Edgar to marry him in preference to Heathcliff mainly because ofher desire for wealth and social status (Bronte 12).
Heathcliff is portrayed in the book as a romantic hero because of his love to Catherine. This makes him to wander away for three years to a place where no one knows after the realization that Catherine is wedding Edgar. He comes back with a fortune and vows to avenge himself against all those who wronged him. However, the revenge is basically geared towards the denial of his love for Catherine. Heathcliff is taking revenge against Hindley for his mistreatment and harassment after the death of Mr. Earnshaw. Hindley even denied him the right to speak to Catherine which made his life in Wuthering heights to be more miserable. The book depicts Heathcliff as a character who is full of revenge towards all those who stood in his way preventing him from marrying his love, Catherine. This is evident when he gets a chance of taking wuthering heights from Hindley after Hindley becomes mad due to the death of his wife. When Catherine dies while delivering Edgar’s child, Heathcliff sets to revenge her death on Linton’s family by marrying Edgar’s sister. He then mistreats her terribly and brings up their son only because he can aid further his revenge (Bronte 27).
Therefore, there is a conflict of love in the book which led to revenge. Revenge becomes the only avenue for Heathcliff to use in order to obtain justice for his denial of the lover of his life, Catherine. However, revenge did not give Heathcliff the satisfaction he wanted and thus he became obsessed with Catherine until he started wandering in the moors becoming possessed with Catherine’s ghost. After his death, people claimed that his spirit wandered to the moors with Catherine’s (Bronte 17).
Theme of love
In Wuthering Heights, the major theme that comes out clearly is the nature of love. The theme of love applies to both the principal characters and the minor ones. It easy to notice that love as a theme in the novel is strained at one point or another. The best discussion that can be provided for Bronte’s exploration of love is in the context of good versus evil. This is evident on the nature of love between two or more people in the book. For instance, Mr. Earnshaw loves Heathcliff more than his own child, Hindley. This nature of love brings hatred between Hindley and Heathcliff resulting in mistreatment and revenge (Bronte 31).
Most strikingly in the novel is the relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine. The nature of their love is captivating to the reader since it seems to go beyond the ordinary love that most people experience. Naturally, people who love one another end up marrying or engaging in intimacy, but Heathcliff and Catherine’s love is portrayed to go beyond this world and into the spirit world. According to Bronte, their love seems to be born out of their rebellion and not just out of their sexual desires. This love overwhelms both of them to an extent that they are unable to understand it. This is because they do not end up living together to share their love but instead, they betray each other by marrying other people they do not love (Bronte 22).
Despite the fact that Catherine dies half way through the novel, the theme of love that focuses majorly on Heathcliff and Catherine’s relationship continues. This shows that their love was not merely the love of this world but also beyond this world. Bronte portrays love that is surrounded by traditional concepts such as superstition and spiritualism on Heathcliff and Catherine’s characters. Additionally, the theme of love is largely expressed in other characters such as Frances and Hindley, as well as that of the next generation. This is evident as the novel comes to a close where the young Catherine is lured into love by Hareton (Bronte 41).
The structuring of the novel is set in two phases of love. The first half of the novel centers on the love of Catherine and Heathcliff while the second or last half of the novel centers around the love Hareton and the young Catherine. Bronte depicts the passion of love for Catherine and Heathcliff as immoral and at the same time they are depicted to be romantic heroes whose love transcends conventional morality and social norms. However, there is contrast between the two kinds of love that exists between Catherine and Heathcliff and that of Hareton and the young Catherine. The second love story ends happily with the restoration of peace and order to Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. These differences are a key to explanations as to why their ends vary significantly. Heathcliff and Catherine do not simply seek love but a higher, spiritual survival which is unchanging and permanent. This is true when Catherine compares her love for Heathcliff to the rocks and that for Linton to the seasons. She seeks to achieve this state through death (Bronte 34).
On the contrary, the nature of love that exists between the young Catherine and Hareton involves growth and change. Hareton is depicted early in the novel to be illiterate, brutal and savage but as the story continues, he learns to read with the help of young Catherine. In addition, when the two meet, Catherine is full of contempt but that attitude changes with time to love. On the other hand, Heathcliff and Catherine’s love is rooted on their childhood and comes out as being adamant to accept change. Catherine refuses to adapt to the roles of a wife by marrying Edgar. In chapter XII she tells Nelly that since the year her father died at age 12 has been like a blank to her. She therefore longs to go back to the moors of her childhood (Bronte 23).
Setting/time period
With regard to the timeline of the novel, it is set at a time when industrialization and capitalism in Europe was changing the traditional culture, the economy and the relationship of the classes. It is at this time in history when the industrial revolution was underway in England. The society of Britain was changing since the lower and the middle class people could change their social standing by acquiring wealth like Heathcliff does in Wuthering Heights. Before then, one had to be born into an upper class family in order to be regarded a gentleman. Additionally, the novel also depicts the time when there was a shift from the old cultural methods of farming as well as the strict patriarchal family life into a better life of modernity and equality. The industrial revolution led to a rural urban migration in search of jobs opportunities (Bronte 2).
Additionally, it can be seen that the respectable farming class such as that of Hareton family was being destroyed by the economic coalition of the newly-wealthy capitalists such as Heathcliff as well as the traditional power-holding gentry represented by the Lintons. This change is very significant in the novel and brings a clear picture of the timeline set for historical and political revolution in England.
Commentary
It is noticeable in the novel that love and hatred are pronounced well throughout the story. Traditional beliefs at the time are also brought out well in the novel. This is evident of the spiritual aspects associated with the belief existence of ghosts such as is seen in the case of Catherine and Heathcliff wandering the moors. The economic and political struggle between the middle class and the upper class is also brought out well in the novel to show what was taking place during the time Bronte wrote the novel.
Work Cited:
Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. 2010. Accessed <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/768/768-h/768-h.htm>
