C
celeste
A Glimpse into the Unique Love in Wuthering Heights
Emily Brontë is chiefly remembered as the author of one novel: Wuthering Heights. Though the work did not attract much attention upon the first appearance and in the later years followed, the recent criticism has exalted it as one of the greatest works in English fiction. Its originality of theme and character and its intensity of love and hatred are unusually impressive.
The novel deals mainly with a story of a passionate love. Heathcliff, an adopted waif, falls deeply in love with Catherine, but Catherine’s brother Hindley, who shows strong prejudice against Heathcliff, always bullies and humiliates him. Upon the overheard utterance that “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff” by Catherine, Heathcliff departs from Wuthering Heights to seek after a new life. Three years later, he returns with a large fortune and, burning with bitter hatred, he sets about his revenge.
Needless to say that Catherine loves Heathcliff intensely, otherwise she would not be so anguished after her consent to Linton. She says that her love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks. Unfortunately, such an eternity remains only inside herself rather than is realized. After all, she marries Linton. Though she naively believes that she can aid Heathcliff to rise with her husband’s money, she gives up Heathcliff, her happiness, and chooses Linton, her vanity. As a betrayer to herself, undoubtedly she suffers great mental pain, which ultimately leads her to her grave.
Catherine’s tragedy is brought about superficially by herself, but fundamentally by the matrimonial system of that society. In the nineteenth-century England, a woman’s social status was dependent upon her husband’s. People took their positions seriously, and as a well-bred daughter of an aristocratic family, Catherine is no exception. As a matter of fact, she is incapable of resisting the temptation of exalted position and wealth, and the declaration that “ I shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighborhood” is self-evident enough. Sadly, her ardent love for Heathcliff does not win her the courage to defy the conventional bias.
Conversely, Heathcliff is a rebel, a fighter against the bourgeois matrimonial system, though later on, he no longer deserves our sympathy because of his relentless retaliation. The previously oppressed turns out to be the oppressor, which reflects the dark side of the society as well as the human nature.
What merits mentioning is the uniqueness of the love depicted, the purely platonic love between Catherine and Heathcliff. It is for this merit that the novel becomes distinctively remarkable. Catherine can still preserve her affection for Heathcliff after marriage; Heathcliff resumes his passion to Catherine after three years’ separation, without any intent to commit adultery. The two wretched lovers have a strong desire to unite spiritually rather than physically. Such breathtaking remarks as “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same,” “ I am Heathcliff” make the novel incomparable.
The protagonists are distinct from those in reality. They are so love-oriented that they live and die just out of love. Their highly ideal love is far beyond the worldly love. The characters are not originated from the secular world and only exist in Emily’s imagination. Such people may be mocked at in reality, but if created in art, they become permanent.
The unique love portrayed in the novel is a challenge to the convention. The originally pure and noble love has been tormented and crushed by the class prejudice. The lovers acutely struggle for happiness and freedom, but to no avail. It is the touching and exquisite account of the struggling love that renders the novel Wuthering Heights all the more powerful and influential.
Emily Brontë is chiefly remembered as the author of one novel: Wuthering Heights. Though the work did not attract much attention upon the first appearance and in the later years followed, the recent criticism has exalted it as one of the greatest works in English fiction. Its originality of theme and character and its intensity of love and hatred are unusually impressive.
The novel deals mainly with a story of a passionate love. Heathcliff, an adopted waif, falls deeply in love with Catherine, but Catherine’s brother Hindley, who shows strong prejudice against Heathcliff, always bullies and humiliates him. Upon the overheard utterance that “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff” by Catherine, Heathcliff departs from Wuthering Heights to seek after a new life. Three years later, he returns with a large fortune and, burning with bitter hatred, he sets about his revenge.
Needless to say that Catherine loves Heathcliff intensely, otherwise she would not be so anguished after her consent to Linton. She says that her love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks. Unfortunately, such an eternity remains only inside herself rather than is realized. After all, she marries Linton. Though she naively believes that she can aid Heathcliff to rise with her husband’s money, she gives up Heathcliff, her happiness, and chooses Linton, her vanity. As a betrayer to herself, undoubtedly she suffers great mental pain, which ultimately leads her to her grave.
Catherine’s tragedy is brought about superficially by herself, but fundamentally by the matrimonial system of that society. In the nineteenth-century England, a woman’s social status was dependent upon her husband’s. People took their positions seriously, and as a well-bred daughter of an aristocratic family, Catherine is no exception. As a matter of fact, she is incapable of resisting the temptation of exalted position and wealth, and the declaration that “ I shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighborhood” is self-evident enough. Sadly, her ardent love for Heathcliff does not win her the courage to defy the conventional bias.
Conversely, Heathcliff is a rebel, a fighter against the bourgeois matrimonial system, though later on, he no longer deserves our sympathy because of his relentless retaliation. The previously oppressed turns out to be the oppressor, which reflects the dark side of the society as well as the human nature.
What merits mentioning is the uniqueness of the love depicted, the purely platonic love between Catherine and Heathcliff. It is for this merit that the novel becomes distinctively remarkable. Catherine can still preserve her affection for Heathcliff after marriage; Heathcliff resumes his passion to Catherine after three years’ separation, without any intent to commit adultery. The two wretched lovers have a strong desire to unite spiritually rather than physically. Such breathtaking remarks as “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same,” “ I am Heathcliff” make the novel incomparable.
The protagonists are distinct from those in reality. They are so love-oriented that they live and die just out of love. Their highly ideal love is far beyond the worldly love. The characters are not originated from the secular world and only exist in Emily’s imagination. Such people may be mocked at in reality, but if created in art, they become permanent.
The unique love portrayed in the novel is a challenge to the convention. The originally pure and noble love has been tormented and crushed by the class prejudice. The lovers acutely struggle for happiness and freedom, but to no avail. It is the touching and exquisite account of the struggling love that renders the novel Wuthering Heights all the more powerful and influential.