The Notion of a Double in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights Essay

Wuthering Heights is a novel whose main character is said to have a double significance. He is said to be both the dispossessed and the dispossessor, victim of class hatred and arch – exploiter, he simultaneously occupies the roles of working class outsider and brutal capitalist. Heathcliff has all these characteristics because of his experiences. He is a character moulded by his past.

Cathy and Hindley alter him into a vicious, lonely master: ‘“The tyrant grinds down his slaves and they don’t turn against him, they crush those beneath them”’. This shows that Heathcliff will not take revenge on Cathy directly, but will hurt those who are close to her. This is because Cathy married Edgar Linton and said that it would degrade her if Heathcliff was her husband. In addition, he will take

Wuthering Heights is a novel which deviates from the standard of Victorian literature. The novels of the Victorian Era were often works of social criticism. They generally had a moral purpose and promoted ideals of love and brotherhood. Wuthering Heights is more of a Victorian Gothic novel; it contains passion, violence, and supernatural elements (Mitchell 119). The world of Wuthering Heights seems to be a world without morals. In Wuthering Heights, Brontë does not idealize love; she presents it realistically, with all its faults and merits. She shows that love is a powerful force which can be destructive or redemptive. Heathcliff has an all-consuming passion for Catherine. When she chooses to marry Edgar, his spurned love turns into a

Heathcliff cried vehemently, "I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!" Emily Brontë distorts many common elements in Wuthering Heights   to enhance the quality of her book. One of the distortions is Heathcliff's undying love for Catherine Earnshaw. Also, Brontë perverts the vindictive hatred that fills and runs Heathcliff's life after he loses Catherine. Finally, she prolongs death, making it even more distressing and insufferable.

During his early years Heathcliff didn’t deceive those as much, but towards his teenager years his adopted sister Catherine shows how deceitful she can be. Catherine is attacked by a dog and is required to stay at this family called the Lintons for five weeks. While she is there she meets a young man named Edgar and hides her “wild side” to impress Edgar. “Catherine

Catherine’s crisis starts with her decision to marry Edgar Linton. “Yes, and it worries me, and I must let it out! I want to know what I should do. To-day, Edgar Linton has asked me to marry him, and I've given him an answer. Now, before I tell you whether it was a consent or denial, you tell me which it ought to have been.”(77) Catherine starts to worry about the decisions she made because she realized she loves Edgar but not nearly as much as she loves Heathcliff. Cathy went on to admit this saying “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.” (80) She knows she shouldn't marry Linton because she loves Heathcliff more than anyone else, but she does

These love triangles are similar because Cathy and Catherine are both in the center, but are different because of what motivated them. In the first generation, Heathcliff and Catherine are motivated by nothing but passion and love for eachother. There is no ulterior motives, Catherine solidifies this idea to Nelly, “Nelly, I am Heathcliff. He’s always on my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.” (p. 80). However, Catherine’s love is motivated for Edgar for his money and title. Catherine even states, “I’ve no more business to marry Edgar Linton, and if that wicked man in there [Hindley] had not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldn’t have thought of it. It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now” (p. 79). Heathcliff and Edgar’s relationship was determined when Catherine stayed at the Grange for five weeks. Even as children, Heathcliff hated Edgar, throwing hot apple sauce on him. After, Heathcliff announced that his revenge will be on Hindley and how have scorned him, “God won’t have the satisfaction that I shall,” (p. 59). Heathcliff is motivated by Catherine’s cruel words to better himself and return to the Grange to show Edgar that he has become a gentleman, just as he tried to appear like so many years before. Catherine’s selfiness ruined all three of them, resulting in her death and Heathcliff’s revenge on all characters. The second generation love triangle is not nearly as passionate or genuine as the original. Linton loves Cathy because he seeks to get away from his father, motivating him to allow Heathcliff to trap Cathy and Nelly. Linton repeatedly states his desire to go to Grange with Cathy and escape the Heights. Cathy’s love for Linton is motivated by her caring and kind nature. She pities Linton and feels responsible for caring for him. However, their marriage was not one of love, it was forced by Heathcliff. Cathy was motivated to marry Linton only so she could see her dying father. Hareton’s desire to

Similarly, both Linton and Cathy despise Heathcliff’s actions towards them. Cathy and Linton despise Heathcliff because he seems to limit their freedom. Heathcliff forces Cathy and Linton to get married because of his obsession with Cathy’s mother Catherine. Despite this, Cathy also has hatred because Linton is dying and Heathcliff is not

Another aspect which is relevant today and forever it shall remain relevant is selfishness. Catherine's selfish character was depicted when she wanted both Edgar and Heathcliff at the same time. In the beginning, she was introduced as a 'high spirited' character who was wild. However, she drastically changes throughout the book. When she hurts her leg and is forced to stay at Thrushcross Grange, she returns to Wuthering Heights as a well dressed and dignified lady. She was easily swayed to the superior lifestyle of the Lintons and began to look down upon Heathcliff. She even laughs at his rough and dirty appearance and says "I didn't mean to laugh at you. I could not hinder myself Heathcliff. Shake hands at least! What are you sulky for? It was only that you looked odd. If you wash you face and brush your hair, it would be alright. But you are

In her novel Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë uses a formal style of writing to portray the language of those used during the early 1800s. Throughout the majority of the novel, Nelly Dean is telling the story of how Wuthering Heights came to be the place that it currently is. Throughout Dean’s narration, characters are voiced differently due to their role in society. An example of this is shown when Brontë would use fragments of words to represent the speech of Hareton, one of the servants of Wuthering Heights. In contrast, Catherine, being well educated, would use sophisticated grammar and an extensive vocabulary whenever she spoke. Heathcliff was revealed as a two-sided character in this reading. On one hand, the author would use negative

Furthermore, when Heathcliff returns, Catherine should take no interest in trying to rekindle her feelings for him as Edgar had been putting in effort to make their marriage work 'Mr. Edgar had a deep-rooted fear of ruffling her humour' Up until this scene the couples were getting along and if Catherine had concealed her zealous behaviour towards Heathcliff then the calm atmosphere would have remained. Catherine rudely ignores her husband's presence to the extent that he demands the disrespectful behaviour to be stopped and a decision made 'Will you give up Heathcliff hereafter, or will you giver up me? It is impossible for you to be my friend and his at the same time…' Indeed, Edgar is right to put Catherine's in this difficult situation because any other typical husband at the time would have been less patient with Catherine or banned Heathcliff from the house at an earlier stage. Catherine struggles because the two men in her life represent two types if world and she cannot have both at the same time.

While at Thrushcross Grange, she grows infatuated with Edgar, despite her love for Heathcliff. Edgar came from an upper class family as well and took care of her when she was in a dog accident. This leads to her acceptance of Edgar Linton’s marriage proposal despite her statements regarding her love for Heathcliff. Heathcliff overhears unfortunate passages of Catherine's discourse and disappears for a period during which he mysteriously makes his fortune and changes irrevocably from the person he was. Vengeance consumes him, and Heathcliff attempts to destroy the lives of those who wronged him, (as well as their children). Ultimately, Heathcliff’s bitterly executed vengeance is effaced by a love between Hareton and Cathy that mirrors Heathcliff’s own love for Catherine. Hareton is Catherine’s nephew and Cathy is Catherine’s daughter, which makes the two first cousins.

The confinement that characters within the texts experience can be translated into modern values based on equality. In the novel, Catherine Earnshaw is constantly controlled by the circumstances that control her; she’s ruled by her father and Hindley throughout her childhood, restricted by her injury at Thrushcross Grange, and forced to marry Edgar because of her isolation from the rest of the world. Even in her passionate relationship with Heathcliff, which reflects the spontaneous, exciting nature of the Romantic period, Heathcliff

Emily Bronte depicts the Victorian society’s good and evil characteristics. She represents Good as, socially rich, dignified and civilized while Evil as poor, uneducated and socially weak. Wuthering Heights is about different social issues of that time such as, race, class, manners, morality, education and spiritual love. In the Aristocratic Society, Heathcliff is referred as a good character and Linton is viewed as the most character. The view of Christianity is just opposite of the view of Aristocratic society. In the Christian society, Heathcliff is the evil character whereas Edgar is good character. The main character in this story is Catherine and Heathcliff and their relationship are central part of the story. Nietzsche discussed about three different types of love story in his philosophical work. The nature of the love between Heathcliff is all pure and beyond any sexual desire. Their love is a spiritual and without any expectations and both are not realizing their nature of love. Heathcliff’s capacity to love is beyond good but his contrasting nature of hatred against Edgar, Linton and eventually Catherine makes him the evil character. Throughout the story, the character of Heathcliff is uncertain whether it ids good or evil. In the story, we can also see the lower class and upper class and love story between these two class. The Lintons were the elite class and Wuthering heights is the property which everyone wants to possess. Heathcliff represents poor and

It is the opinion of this essay that the character of Heathcliff evolves a lot more than the character of Catherine. When we first meet Heathcliff, he was found on the streets of Liverpool by Catherine’s father who then adopts him into the family as one of his own. This would have been a dramatic change for Heathcliff. Then after experiencing this quality of life until the death of the father he is then cast into the role of a servant/labourer by Catherine’s brother who despises him. Finally, when Heathcliff hears part of the conversation between Catherine and Nelly, he hears Catherine plans to marry Edgar Linton as she could never marry Heathcliff. “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now”. (82) It is here Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights and returns three years later, a gentleman of means and of polite demeanour, not what you would expect from him. Here we can bring back the point that one’s environment dramatically affects one’s behaviour. Like Catherine, Heathcliff defies social norms expected of his gender. After he returns back from travelling having acquired great wealth and on the surface seems a changed man, he would be accepted into middle class society as he displays the characteristics expected of him. It is well described in the book to enforce the dramatic change in him for readers to understand how far he has come from