Exploring ways in which relationships are shown in “Romeo and Juliet” and in Wuthering Heights”?

In this essay I am going to compare the relationships in Romeo and Juliet and wuthering heights by discussing their similarities and how love is portrayed in them. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and wuthering heights by Emily Bronte are considered to be two of the most famous love stories ever written in the English language. Both explore love from many different perspectives such as domestic, maternal, social,romantic,religious and transcendent. The main characters in these two novels are Romeo and Juliet and Cathy and Heathcliffe.Cathy and Juliet’s lives are similar by how their lives rely around their lovers. Both of which also have their own personal obstacles to overcome, for example Juliet does not want to jeopardise her reputation and Heathcliff has to put aside the hatred he has towards them. Both stories display forbidden love by how Romeo and Juliet’s families are involved in a family feud and they are betraying them by falling love with one another, how Cathy is married to Edgar and sneaks around to visit Heathcliff behind Edgar's back is also portraying this idea of forbidden love and secrecy.
Cathy describes her love for Heathcliff like the “sea” and that her love for Edgar is like a “horse trough” this suggests her love for Heathcliff is ever going and dangerous/unpredictable whereas her love for Edgar is confined and motionless unless prompted. It is evident that Cathy’s true love is Heathcliff although she puts that aside in order to gain wealth and a higher social status.
Romeo and Juliet is a play which used to be performed in the globe theatre in the Shakespearean times whereas Wuthering heights is a novel written by Emily Bronte under the pseudonym “Ellis Bell” this name could be understood as either a mans or women’s name and is most likely why it was chosen, as it is down to your own interpretation to whether you perceive them as a male or female. Romeo and Juliet were written in 1588 this was the Shakespearean period. Wuthering heights was written in 1845 which is a lot later than Romeo and Juliet although they share many similarities and display the same emotions. In both stories love is described as an object and compared to nature this shows they express their love by using the objects around them and use them to represent their feelings this is the use of Imagery. Bronte uses the landscape as a metaphor multiple times throughout the book this suggests that she feels relationships and nature as similar, this may be because they are both natural occurrences and just like plants love can become wild and uncontrollable but with the right attention and care it can be a beautiful rewarding thing.
Love has the transforming effect upon both Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights although it is displayed differently in each, for example how Heathcliffe and Cathy’s love developed over time as they grew up together which lead to them bonding and becoming closer. Whereas in Romeo and Juliet they fell in love at first sight with no introduction or time together. This shows how love can be formed in different ways and that. It does not necessarily need time to form. In both stories pathetic fallacy is used this is where the weather reflects the mood, the sky and weather in both is very dull dim and grey this could represent sorrow, heartache, moods and a not very inviting atmosphere using pathetic fallacy is a good way to show how the things around us affect how we think.
In some ways both novels are semi-autobiographical by how Emily Bronte’s mum died during childbirth this could relate to the fact in the novel Cathy also dies during childbirth Catherine's courage is also reminiscent of Emily Bronte’s own fearlessness with dogs this is because there was an incident when Emily Bronte used a hot iron to cauteriser wound she had sustained from a vicious dog. Another semi-autobiographical piece of context would be how the fact in the novel hindleys wife exhibits some symptoms of a disease known as tuberculosis or consumption this was the disease which lead on to claim the lives of both Emily and Anne Bronte within just 6 months of on another in 1848-1849, And Shakespeare's son died young similar to the fact Romeo also does This shows that both books have reflections of their authors lives in them.
There is a lot of jealousy and rivalry in both, in Romeo and Juliet between Mercutio and Romeo as Mercutio is jealous of the fact Romeo has fallen in love. There is also rivalry between the Capulets and the Montagues. And in wuthering heights between Heathcliff, Edgar and Cathy as Heathcliffe is jealous of the position Edgar is in which is that he is married to Cathy.
There is a certain importance of the names in both Novels Wuthering heights thxxxe name ‘Heathcliffe’ suggests a certain aspect of mystery by how a Heath is a large open space of grass and hills there is a sense of the unknown in the word Heath. A cliff is a steep rock face, this creates a sense of danger and caution by how you wouldn't stand to near to a cliff edge because of the fear a cliff face is also made of rock, rocks could be another representation of Heathcliffe as he has a hard exterior and does not change throughout time. Romeo has the word Rome in it this creates a setting in your mind of the city and the culture Rome is often referred to as the 'Eternal city' this could be more than a coincidence that Romeo and Juliet love was eternal as they felt it until their death. Mercutio’s name associates him with mercy
Both sets of lovers experience the consequences of love and show how Love itself in the end can become self-destructive. Heathcliffe has been told he is dammed all his life this could be why his hatred overpowers his love and why he finds it difficult to accept new people into his life, he is seen as an imposter and works against the coherent Order of the novel, his character develops as the plot unfolds and his hatred inside grows and begins to effect his perception of the people around him. When Emily Bronte wrote wuthering heights Victorian women writers had been judged for being a woman and a writer it became a struggle to get their stories published because of how they were judged by a dominantly male society. wuthering heights is set in a rural setting this can be seen as an indication of the position of women in these times as isolated from culture and separated from modern industry. The references to the afterlife and super-natural could be due to the fact that in Emily's childhood she was influenced by the household servants who use to recount supernatural tales which were set in northern England to her.
In my opinion Romeo and Juliets love was the overpowering emotion as they went to drastic measures to pursue their love they were willing to take their own lives in order to be together rather than live their lives apart this is a representation of unconditional and endless love, although Some good came from this tragedy as it settled the family feud between the Capulets and the montagues.This shows the lengths that people will go to in order to Pursue their love, this novel also displays how love can change anything and can overcome hatred between two families when there are dire consequences. Romeo and Juliet both had the disapproval of their families and had jealous on lookers although that was put aside when their love turned fatal.
I think that these two love stories have become so famous because they show love and hate from a range of different perspectives and situations, these two stories have influenced many other writers to write about similar things. Romeo and Juliet is a very well-known if not the most well-known love story ever written this could be because of the many emotions in them all concluding into one shocking conclusion. My thought of these stories are that they are two very well written novels that make you think about and understand how love can be destructive and cause jealousy among friends and family members. These two stories are similar by how Romeo and Juliet and Cathy and Heathcliff love passionately but ultimately destructively. They are surrounded by hatred and bitterness by the ones closest to them. In conclusion i think that relationships are shown in wuthering heights and in Romeo and Juliet mainly by showing how love can stand the test of time and how comparing it to nature and using metaphors helps express feelings and emotions, these two novels also link love and hate together by juxtaposing them in certain situations which really tests their boundaries and true emotions. I have enjoyed reading these two books and feel that I have learnt a lot about how certain wording can create different feels to stories and how they are able to relate to many people and become successful stories throughout history creating examples for many other writers to follow, I think that these two novels will stay around for a very long time as people will continue to study these books and make observations about how relationships can be portrayed.