...spiraling meltdown driven by obsession in Wuthering Heights the novel by Emily Bronte. Edgar has gone from an obsessive hatred of Heathcliff to an obsession with his daughter. This obsession controls his actions, as well as his emotions. His very soul is changed by it. Growing up, Edgar becomes an enemy of young Heathcliff from the very beginning. Edgar has taken a liking to Catherine at the same time that Heathcliff does, or rather after. From the moment she arrives at Thrushcross Grange, Edgar is quite taken with her. One night while Heathcliff and Catherine are roaming around outside, Hindley has the bolts locked to teach them a lesson. “[a]nd, at last, Hindley in a passion told us to bolt the doors, and swore nobody to let them in that night” (Bronte41.) Nelly on the other hand remains to wait on the two children. When Heathcliff arrives alone, he tells a tale of Catherine’s stay the Thrushcross Grange. While there, Edgar recognizes Catherine first, a bit of foreshadowing of his later affections for her. No doubt he thoroughly enjoyed her stay at the Grange as much or more than she did. It was this visit, that started his hatred for Heathcliff. Later we see that Edgar’s obsessive hatred for Heathcliff has sort of evolved to his daughter, also named Catherine. He doesn’t hate her but quite the opposite: He loves her an enormous amount. But because of his hatred for Heathcliff, he is now obsessed with keeping her away from Wuthering Heights so she does not encounter any of the...
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...My Thoughts on Wuthering Heights Amber Richardson AIU Online Professor Chad Fairies The story opens with Mr. Lockwood, the new tenant, talking with his property owner, Mr. Heathcliff, about Thrushcross Grange. After becoming snowed in, at Wuthering Heights, Lockwood stumbles upon Catherine Earnshaw’s diary. Through the diary, he discovers a bit more information about Mr. Heathcliff. After reading the diary, he falls asleep and awakes to a pecking at the window. After suspecting that the pecking was just a branch on the window he arouses, puts his hand through the window to grab the branch. Only what his fingers clenched were the cold fingers of an ice cold little hand. The pecking was the ghost of none other than Catherine Earnshaw, she begins to cry out “Let me in. Let me in.” He replies, “Who are you?” She responded “Catherine Linton.” Confused and expecting the ghost to be Catherine Earnshaw he became frightened and begins to pull her wrist back and forth on the broken pane until it began to bleed soaking his bedclothes in her blood. Lockwood convinces Catherine to let go, blocks the whole in the window with books, and tells her he will not let her in even if it had been twenty years. Morning she said, “It is twenty years. I have been a waif for twenty years.” (p.23). Lockwood screams out it fear and Mr. Heathcliff enters the room to see the problem. Lockwood tells Heathcliff of the little fiend that had gotten in the window and how he thought she was a changeling...
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...Writing in his diary in 1801, Lockwood describes his first days as a tenant at Thrushcross Grange, an isolated manor in thinly populated Yorkshire. Shortly after arriving at the Grange, he pays a visit to his landlord, Mr. Heathcliff, a surly, dark man living in a manor called Wuthering Heights—“wuthering” being a local adjective used to describe the fierce and wild winds that blow during storms on the moors. During the visit, Heathcliff seems not to trust Lockwood, and leaves him alone in a room with a group of snarling dogs. Lockwood is saved from the hounds by a ruddy-cheeked housekeeper. When Heathcliff returns, Lockwood is angry, but eventually warms toward his taciturn host, and—though he hardly feels that he has been welcomed at Wuthering Heights—he volunteers to visit again the next day. Summary: Chapter II On a chilly afternoon not long after his first visit, Lockwood plans to lounge before the fire in his study, but he finds a servant dustily sweeping out the fireplace there, so instead he makes the four-mile walk to Wuthering Heights, arriving just as a light snow begins to fall. He knocks, but no one lets him in, and Joseph, an old servant who speaks with a thick Yorkshire accent, calls out from the barn that Heathcliff is not in the house. Eventually a rough-looking young man comes to let him in, and Lockwood goes into a sitting room where he finds a beautiful girl seated beside a fire. Lockwood assumes she is Heathcliff’s wife. He tries to make conversation...
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...To what extent do you believe Bronte challenged the expected role of women in wuthering heights? To a certain extent ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Bronte was successful in challenging the expected role of women. The novel was published in 1847, when the traditional expectation of women was to be a housewife, plain but pretty and never outspoken. Bronte challenged these expectations within herself because at the time, it could have been viewed as out of order for a woman to write a novel (which is why originally, Bronte called herself Ellis Bell), let alone a novel about an outspoken woman like Cathy. In this respect, characters like Cathy and Catherine both carry traits of a modern woman, which at the time would have been a shock to the reader. Whereas, characters like Isabella and Nelly were the expected roles within society. Firstly, Nelly is the only female role in wuthering heights that doesn’t challenge the expected role of women, because in fact, she could be viewed as the role model for women in society at the time wuthering heights were written. This is because Nelly doesn’t try to push the boundaries and because she partially narrates the story, Emily Bronte might have thought that making Nelly an unruly character would be too much and would over complicate the novel. In my opinion, Nelly doesn’t need to challenge like Cathy and Catherine because she acts as a neutral force because she demonstrates the difference between a traditional woman of the time which was seen...
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...Relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine in Wuthering Heights The central theme of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is the relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine. The problem of the bond between Heathcliff and Catherine and its significance remains the central mystery of the novel till the very end. In fact, the novel is a revengeful love story of Heathcliff. Catherine is the daughter of Mr. Earnshaw and Heathcliff is a pickup boy by Mr. Earnshaw from the slums of Liverpool. Mr. Earnshaw treated Heathcliff like his own child. As children, Cathy and Heathcliff seem to represent the spirit of freedom rebelling against the tyrannical authority and religious bigotry of Hindley and Joseph. Their love was infinite which draws them together irresistibly. Heathcliff repeatedly calls Catherine his soul. Catherine and Heathcliff love is based on their shared perception that they are the same. Catherine famously declares, “I am Heathcliff,” while Heathcliff upon Catherine’s death, wails that he cannot live without his soul, meaning Catherine. Both Heathcliff and Catherine love each other profoundly. Yet some ambiguity is noticed in both Cathy’s speech and action. Cathy and Heathcliff are creatures of the wild moorland where conventional social standards are meaningless. After meeting with Edgar Linton, Cathy develops an interest towards him. She now seems to be equally interested in Edgar and Heathcliff. But there remains a striking contrast between them as far as looks...
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...set what was to be her sole novel in and around her beloved moors creating, in Cathy, a character as wilful as herself. However the reader acquainted but not familiar with the narrative, is often surprised by how little actual description of the natural environment is extant within its pages though ‘metaphors drawn from nature provide much of the book's descriptive language’. Simply expressed, it is the author’s own vicarious resonance with the land, expressed via her frequent use of what Ruskin termed ‘pathetic fallacy’ that gives the intensity of the connective between the central protagonists and the land in which they are imbedded, even beyond life itself. The plot concerns the family of the Earnshaws, owners of the eponymous ‘Wuthering Heights’, where the surly urchin, Heathcliff, is brought by the father of the household who has found him abandoned in Liverpool, and who describes him ‘as dark almost as if it came from the devil’ for ‘when Mr. Earnshaw first brings the child home, the child is an “it” not a “he”’. From the first, he is Cathy, the daughter’s favourite, as he is her father’s, and the thorn in the flesh of the heir, Hindley. Both boys, indeed, loathe each other with a passion partly born of ‘sibling rivalry’, even though they are not blood relatives (at least such is not openly stated even if critics have inferred more than an act of philanthropy in Mr. Earnshaw’s rescuing the boy and his wife’s...
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...Emily Bronte’s novel, Wuthering Heights, is a proverbial soap opera stew, filled with love, lies, and deceit intertwining two families that reside only four miles apart across the moors in ever-seemingly dreary northern England. The two main characters, Catherine and Heathcliff are born to be together, but destined to be apart. Although truly happy and hopelessly in love with Catherine during the bright times in his life, Heathcliff couldn’t withstand the cruel, evil grip of jealousy and revenge that consumed him, eventually dragging all of those individuals associated with him, as well as his own being, to a dark demise. Wuthering Heights is unlike any other story that I’ve come across, and it is difficult to put a specific category label on it. Thrilling, tragic, damp, and dark, filled with villains and heroines, Bronte never clarifies who said villain or heroin is, seemingly purposefully changing the proverbial mind with each turn of the page. From the moment young adopted Heathcliff becomes friends with Catherine, it’s apparent that he is sincerely happy as he and Catherine’s love grows with each innocent tryst among the moors, ever growing from friendship into love. Catherine gives us a glimpse of that love and adoration when she states, “My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath…He’s always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being” (Bronte, 1847, p. 64). The...
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...Setting in Wuthering Heights INTRO: The setting in Wuthering Heights plays a significant role in the unfolding of the narrative, with the dark and foreboding environment foreshadowing the gloomy atmosphere found in the remainder of the book. Furthermore, the descriptions of the setting symbolise similar aspects of the personalities of the protagonists, depicting isolation and separation within both of the two main settings, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Wuthering Heights and its occupants are wild, passionate, and strong. These attitudes are clearly reflected through the large, cold and dark house, situated on top of a ruthless hill on the moors, while Thrushcross Grange and its inhabitants are calm and refined, with the house situated in a valley of the moors. These two opposing forces struggle throughout the novel. Their morals and values are constructed to reflect the surroundings they are placed in, which helps the reader to understand them and their situation more. 1ST PARA: * many comparisons can be seen between Heathcliff and the house * This house is a dark bleak, unpleasant place situated on a high, windy crest on the moors. Yet not only is the atmosphere of Wuthering Heights similar to that of Heathcliff, but both are also physically described in a similar way. * The house is described as –grotesque-, with -strong...narrow windows...deeply set in the wall, and the corners defended with large, jutting stones-. * This is similar to many...
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...Female Consciousness in Wuthering Heights ZHAO Juan1,* 1 Institute of Foreign languages, Beijing Technology and Business University, China * Corresponding author. Email: zhaoj@th.btbu.edu.cn Received 16 May 2011; accepted 18 August 2011 Wuthering heights , a representative work in Victorian Era by Emily Bronte, a famous female writer of the 19th century in Britain, has greatly influenced readers for generations. This article investigates the female consciousness in Withering Heights and analyses how Catherine rebels against the male-dominated society and pursues her love. The female consciousness includes the sense of independence and the pursuit of her true self. The spiritual equality is the foundation of happiness between lovers, and although women dace lots of obstacles in their struggle and fight against the society, a wonderful future to women is to be ushered in if they keep fighting. Key words: Feminism; Female consciousness; Rebellion; Spiritual pursuit Z H A O J u a n ( 2 0 11 ) . F e m a l e C o n s c i o u s n e s s i n Wu t h e r i n g Heights . Studies in Literature and Language, 3 (2), 252 7 . Av a i l a b l e f r o m : U R L : h t t p : / / w w w . c s c a n a d a . n e t / i n d e x . p h p / s l l / a r t i c l e / v i e w / j . s l l . 1 9 2 3 1 5 6 3 2 0 11 0 3 0 2 . 2 1 5 DOI: 10.3968/j.sll.1923156320110302.215 Abstract INTRODUCTION When mentioning the literature in 19th century, nobody can avoid Wuthering Heights , which laid the foundation...
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...Wuthering Heights Throughout the novel, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, the characters endure many losses, including death and other misfortunes. Just as people in real life, each character deals with their losses differently, which helps develop the characters’ personalities. Two characters who experienced very similar situations, Hindley and Edgar, represent this idea the strongest. Hindley resorted to addiction and abusiveness while Edgar was hopeful and focused on loving his daughter. Bronte unfolds the idea that a person’s character is developed from adversity faced throughout life by creating a unique and bleak plot and characters. Although there are many characters throughout the novel who experience adversity, Hindley and Edgar have the most similar situations; they both endured the death of their wives who they loved greatly. Before Hindley’s wife, Frances, died, Hindley was perceived as strong and powerful since he took on the master position of the household after the death of his father and asserted his dominance through...
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...Hindley comes back in a drunken state. Since Frances’ death and his demise in health and happiness and his newly found addiction towards alcohol, Hindley has become extremely hostile and aggressive towards everyone except Hareton to which he swings between excessive hate and excessive love. I believe this is because he struggles between wanting to rebel against God and do everything he can to get sent to hell and his love for his son and need to be a good father (which consequently means being a good Christian). The cause of Heathcliff’s anguish in saving Hareton is that throughout all of his time at the Heights and especially after Mr Earnshaw died, Hindley had been extremely hostile and abusive towards Heathcliff and as a result, Heathcliff wanted to ruin Hindley’s life. Heathcliff earlier in Chapter 7 also stated that he was trying to figure how he ‘shall pay Hindley back’ for all the sorrow and anguish he had caused in him and so he had the chance to pay back Hindley at the extent of Hareton’s life and safety but to him, the end justified the means. Hindley wants to punish God for killing his idol and the center of his world when they were meant to be living together forever and never living apart. Bronte uses this to suggest that when somebody loses a loved one they also lose their will to live without them and also begin question God and his methods and his plan for humanity. Cathy wanted to talk to Nelly about Edgar proposing to her and her accepting it but knowing in her...
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...Wuthering Heights Essay Rewrite: Within the novel Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Bronte, readers are confronted with many complex relationships. At times it is hard to understand these due to the range of relationships that occur, from interactions of hatred to relationships that show true passion. One such complex relationship is between Hareton Earnshaw and Catherine. As the novel progresses, we see love develop between these two characters that is best explained by how they are brought together, the problems that their relationship poses and how this relationship affects the other characters in the novel and the plot of the novel itself. The first way to understand this relationship is to examine how these two characters are brought together. In the novel, there is a real sense that fate has a lot to do with the union between the lovers, as Catherine and Hareton are reunited at the symbolic Penistone Crags. Catherine has a burning desire to go to the crags, the symbol of maturity, natural erotic desire and wild temptation. She asks Nelly and her father “Now, am I old enough to go to Penistone Crags?”(Brontë 147) As Catherine reaches teenage years, she desires to travel outside of Thrushcross Grange and ascend the large Penistone Crags, which are close to Wuthering Heights and Hareton. Catherine and Hareton spend the whole day near the Crags until Nelly fetches them. Brontë then describes the interaction between Hareton and Catherine as joyful, describing that “Her...
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...Whether or not Wuthering Heights is a love story has been one of the most popular debates. In contrast to what others may belief, Wuthering Heights is indeed a love story. It may not be the usual happy ending love story; however, it is one with a dysfunctional love. The love between Heathcliff and Catherine was intervened by pride and ego. Although the characters expressed their love for each other various times, it is them who deprived themselves from happiness. The novel well interprets the the dysfunctional love of the characters, giving it an ultimate twist to the love story. Towards the beginning of the novel, Lockwood’s unexpected stay at Wuthering Heights triggers an emotional breakdown in Heathcliff. During the night of his stay,...
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...ending through moral development. By a happy ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events – a marriage or a last minute rescue from death – but some kind of spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death.” Choose a novel or play that has the kind of ending Weldon describes. In a well-written essay, identify the “spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation” evident in the ending and explain its significance in the work as a whole. Wuthering Heights depicts the story of a vengeful man who exists solely to make those closest to him suffer. Heathcliff, a dark and evil character, is stripped of his other half, his true love, Catherine, at the young age of 12, and dedicates the rest of his life to seeking revenge on those who hurt him. At Catherine’s death, Heathcliff goes mad and wishes that her spirit will haunt him on earth. Heathcliff’s insanity and cruel nature stem from his preclusion of marrying Catherine, and her eventual death. In Charlotte Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff’s spiritual reassessment comes at the end of his life, when he finally realizes his love for Catherine is more powerful than his need for vengeance. Heathcliff’s love for Catherine was so passionate that it drove him to absurdity at the event of her death. He was brought into the Earnshaw family as an orphan who had nothing, and so grew up with Catherine playing in the Moors together. Then, at age 12, they were separated and were not allowed to play together...
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...The opposing forces of Wuthering Heights. Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights can be seen as one of the most influential works of fiction produced during the Victorian age. In Brontë’s novel, the reader will encounter many oppositions across several elements of the story. These oppositions play a vital role in the development of both the characters and the plot and have been discussed by many critics. According to Melvin R. Watson, as he describes in his article “Tempest in the Soul: The Theme and Structure of “Wuthering Heights,”” a most influential theory is that of the opposing forces of calm and storm developed by Lord David Cecil (Watson, 88). This theory, however, does not completely encompass the multitude of opposites found in the novel. The oppositions found in Wuthering Heights all serve specific roles in the development of the characters and the plot of the novel. The universe of the opposing forces of the calm and the storm that can be found within Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is one that encompasses many elements of the story. At the very start of the novel, the narrator, in the form of Mr. Lockwood, gives the reader a detailed description of the house he is about to enter: Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff’s dwelling. ‘Wuthering’ being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather. Pure, bracing ventilation they must have up there at all times, indeed: one may guess...
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