Love comes in many different forms. In Wuthering Heights, a novel written by Emily Bronte, the various types of love that the characters experiences such as agape, eros, philia, and storage, ultimately leads to revenge. These characteristics of love found in Wuthering Heights fits in with the Victorian Era literature because the novel deals with hardship between characters. Some of the characters in the novel endure circumstances that they find either difficult or undesirable. Passionate love is the reason for many of the difficulties in the story.
Agape love is one form of love that can be found between Heathcliff and Catherine in the book. Agape love is considered to be a love that is all encompassing. Heathcliff and Catherine had a very passionate love for each other. However, as with many of Victorian literature, such an intense love could only led to misery for the two lovers. Furthermore, social class was crucial in Victorian literature. Catherine wants to belong to high society, and she knows that if she marries Heathcliff, she could never live the type of life she envisions for herself. Heathcliff, hearing Catherine saying she could not marrying him because of his position in life, leaves. When he returns, he is a rich man. However, he still cannot have Catherine. The inability to have the person he loved most in this world led Heathcliff to seek out revenge on those who rejected him. When Catherine dies, Heathcliff still shows he is in love with her despite her death. Heathcliff is heard begging Catherine to come into the house even though she has been dead for quite some time. Even after Catherine dies, Heathcliff continues to attempt to destroy those around him including the daughter of Catherine. Revenge becomes the ultimate emotion for Heathcliff. The revenge he feels is so intense that the passionate love he had for Catherine is eclipsed by it. While Catherine and Heathcliff loved it each passionately, Catherine ends up married to Edgar.
Eros, or romantic love, can be found throughout Wuthering Heights. Despite marrying Edgar, Catherine has romantic love for Heathcliff. In fact, Catherine described her love for Heathcliff as resembling “the eternal rocks beneath” (Bronte 130). It pains Catherine to speak about her separation from Heathcliff because she sees him and herself as being inseparable from each other. Similarly, since he loves her so much, even death cannot separate Heathcliff from Catherine. Catherine describes her love between Edgar and herself as being similar to “like the foliage in the woods” (Bronte 129). Her love for Edgar changes like the season. Despite having a child with Edgar and her improved social standings by marrying him, Catherine did not develop any passionate love for him. Additionally, there is the love Isabella has for Heathcliff. Isabella tells Catherine that she loves Heathcliff more than Catherine loves Edgar. However, Heathcliff does not love her. Isabella believes if Catherine gives up her love for Heathcliff, he would, in turn, fall in love with her. However, Isabella does not see that Heathcliff is only using her to get revenge. According to Ruth M. Adams, in her article “Wuthering Heights: The Land East of Eden,” Heathcliff’s violent treatment of Isabella changed “her rapidly from the pettish, sulky, spoiled daughter of the Grange” (Adams 60). As in Victorian literature, Isabella decides to leave the abusive Heathcliff to for a better life for herself even though she gets pregnant by him. Apart from passionate and romantic love, Wuthering Heights also have philia love as well.
Philia, or friendship love, can be found throughout Wuthering Heights. Before they fell in love with each other, Catherine and Heathcliff had developed a friendship. They had spent the majority of their time during their childhood together. It was their friendship and constantly being together that led to their passionate and obsessive love. In fact, it was their friendship, their dependence on each other that made them believe they are two halves of the same person. When they were apart, Catherine and Heathcliff did not feel whole. Their friendship could be compared to the nostalgia that can be seen in Victorian literature because as they grew older and married different people, they still yawn for the time they had together during their childhood. Addition to the previous types of love, there is a love called storage.
Storge is the love between a child and its parent. Heathcliff becomes Hareton’s father after Hareton’s parents died. While it may not be apparent at first that there is love between Heathcliff and Hareton. Heathcliff, still seeking revenge, treats Hareton the same way he was treated by Hindley when he was younger. However, when Heathcliff is dying, Hareton grieves for him. Hareton even kissed Heathcliff’s face as a son would do to a departed father. In a very Victorian way and despite his uneducated state, Hareton had progressed enough to love the man who mistreated him.
Bronte’s novel was filled with Victorian literature characteristics with regards to love. There are different forms of love in Wuthering Heights. However, the problem with love is that it led to a life of misery for many of the characters in the novel. Some of the characters were able to overcome their hardship and improve their lives.
Works Cited
Adams, Ruth M. "Wuthering Heights: The Land East of Eden." Nineteenth-Century Fiction 13.1 (1958): 58-62. Print.
Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights. Champaign: Project Gutenberg, 1990. Print.
Stevenson, John A. ""Heathcliff is Me!": Wuthering Heights and the Question of Likeness." Nineteenth-Century Literature 43.1 (1988): 60-81. Print.
