The Victorian Elements in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontё Essay

Hindley was always jealous of Heathcliff. Hindley’s father Mr. Earnshaw treated Heathcliff as one of the family, and Catherine’s attraction to Heathcliff added to Hindley’s jealousy. After Mr. Earnshaw died, Hindley became the sole recipient of Wuthering Heights. This is when Hindley released his wrath upon Heathcliff, branding him, an "imp of Satan" forcing Heathcliff to work with the servants. Hindley blamed his father, “for treating Heathcliff too liberally; and swears he will reduce him to his right place” (Bonte 30).

Heathcliff is a victim of class hatred but he also manipulates situations to his advantage and becomes an arch - exploiter. For example, after the death of his wife, Hindley went insane. Heathcliff used this opportunity to take revenge and took Wuthering Heights away from Hindley. He then went further and married Edgar’s sister, not for love or monetary gain but to get back at Edgar for marrying Catherine, and treated Edgar’s sister terribly.

Heathcliff's love for Catherine transcends the normal physical "true love" into spiritual love. He can withstand anything against him to be with her. After Hindley became the master of Wuthering Heights, he flogged

In Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte uses the setting of the English Moors, a setting she is familiar with, to place two manors, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. The first symbolizes man's dark side while the latter symbolizes an artificial utopia. This 19th century setting allows the reader to see the destructive nature of love when one loves the wrong person.

“ …I shall pay Hindley back”(65), begins Heathcliff’s long journey of seeking revenge on those who have mistreated him. Heathcliff finds revenge in two ways, hurting the children of those who have hurt him and obtaining the land of those who have mistreated him. Hindley becomes the first person to endure the revenge of Heathcliff. When Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights after his three-year period of separation, Heathcliff notices Hindley has a gambling and drinking problem. Hindley obviously runs out of money, which leads to Heathcliff offering to lend him money. This was all apart of Heathcliff’s intelligent scheme on acquiring Wuthering Heights because Hindley was not able to pay Heathcliff back his debt, which in turn handed Wuthering Heights over to Heathcliff. Shortly after Heathcliff’s new inheritance, Hindley passes away due to his drinking problem, which leads to Heathcliff’s next stage on getting revenge on the children. Heathcliff, takes in Hareton, and forces him to be a field hand and deprives Hareton of an education, the same way Hindley did to Heathcliff.

The curious life Emily Bronte, author of Wuthering Heights and a collection of poems, has been highly analyzed alongside those of her sisters and fellow writers, Charlotte and Anne, for decades. Born in 1818, Emily was the fifth of six children born to Patrick and Maria Bronte. Her father was curate of Haworth parsonage in Yorkshire, England, a home for local clergymen, where Emily spent nearly all of her life. The lonely parsonage offered few companions for Bronte besides her family, but included a large library which consumed her childhood. Bronte never married, and much of her later life was filled with caring for her alcoholic brother, Branwell. This solitary life and experience with Branwell seems to have heavily influenced Wuthering Heights, the only novel written by Bronte, which centers on a similar setting of isolated, lonely households and contains a heavily alcoholic character.

Hindley first became an abusive character when his father, Mr. Earnshaw, brought a homeless boy home from his trip to Liverpool and named him Heathcliff (Chapter 4, pp. 33-39). One of the reasons why Hindley grew hostile towards Heathcliff

As a young orphan who is brought to Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff is thrown into abuse as Hindley begins to treat Heathcliff as a servant in reaction to Mr. Earnshaw’s death. As a reaction to both this and Catherine discarding Heathcliff for Edgar, Heathcliff’s sense of misery and embarrassment causes him to change and spend the rest of his time seeking for justice. Throughout this time, Heathcliff leans on violence to express the revenge that he so seeks by threatening people and displaying villainous traits. However, Heathcliff’s first symptom of change in personality is when Heathcliff runs into Hareton after Cathy “tormented

Soon after giving birth, Catherine dies. This is when Heathcliff wants his main revenge. He takes over Wuthering Heights by gambling Hindley who is drunk. After Hindley dies, he becomes the owner of Wuthering Heights and also becomes Hareton’s guardian (Hindley's son). He treats mistreats Hareton the same Hindley treated him as a child.

Heathcliff is introduced in Nelly's narration as a seven-year-old Liverpool foundling (probably an Irish famine immigrant) brought back to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw. His presence in Wuthering Heights overthrows the prevailing habits of the Earnshaw family, members of the family soon become involved in turmoil and fighting and family relationships become spiteful and hateful. Even on his first night, he is the reason Mr. Earnshaw breaks the toys he had bought for his children. "From the very beginning he bred bad feelings in the house". Heathcliff usurps the affections of Mr. Earnshaw to the exclusion of young Hindley-: "The young master had learnt to regard his father as an oppressor rather than a

After Hindley saw the way a piece of garbage (Heathcliff) was being treated by his father, whenever he entered Wuthering Heights his bad feelings came with him. His view on his originally normal, father had changed and he thought of his father more ‘an oppressor rather than a friend’ (38). Also, his hatred for Heathcliff kept towering. Hindley was angry that his father gave a man from the streets the privileges he initially was entitled to as Mr. Earnshaw’s son (38). Importance is found in this because this hatred for Heathcliff will continue being built upon until his death. Heathcliff ruined Hindley’s childhood and would never forgive him for that. Therefore, Hindley will take revenge against Heathcliff for taking his childhood by torturing

Heathcliff’s loathing feelings against Hindley even last long after Hindley’s death. Heathcliff has created a demonic reality in which his mistreatment of Hereton will enable him to gain revenge against Hindley. Heathcliff also maintains his revenge by becoming extremely possessive of the Heights. Heathcliff’s vicious watch dogs ensure the security of the Heights because maintaining complete control of the Heights continues his revenge against Hindley.

The relationship between Heathcliff and Hindley revealed and developed the abusive nature of Heathcliff. Heathcliff was taken in as a young boy into a wealthy family that had two children. Ever since the day he was brought home the eldest son, Hindley, resented how the father favored him more. For example, Heathcliff threatened to tell their father if Hindley did not let him have his horse. This one childish threat had created the foundation of the resentment between the two men. Heathcliff threatened to tell their father that Hindley was making him feel unwelcome and abused emotionally, Hindley decided to not see if Heathcliff was going to follow through with the threat therefore gave him the horse. Later on through life, once the father dies, Hindley decides to take his absence as an excuse to start really physically abusing Heathcliff. He would beat him and punch him without thought of how this would transfer into the rest of his life. Heathcliff was also verbally assaulted by Hindley which is a twist on the traditional sense of cruelty. Hindley is demeaning towards Heathcliff and calls him a slave and make sure that he know that he is not equal with himself or his sister Catherine. This point planted the seed of doubt and not being good enough for the rest of his life. This continual mental assault forged the mindset of little Heathcliff to how he would exact revenge on Hindley for all of his wrongdoings. This cruelty from Hindley was due to the favoritism that Heathcliff received as a child, the death of his father, the death of his wife, and the constant reminder of his wife through his son. The constant cruelty is the motive for Heathcliff's actions once he returns to the Heights. Through baiting Hindley, in his own personal torment from his wife's passing, all the money and possessions are gambled away with Heathcliff as the new owner. Wuthering Heights itself

There is nothing more important than a good, safe, secure home” .There’s no question that the Victorians were advocates of this viewpoint. Creating a safe and righteous home was one of their most important social values that took precedence over anything else. However, this moral belief falls short in comparison to Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. The novel generates irony and unfamiliarity because of all that attention given to the two houses. One would expect the novel to be only about devotion to home and that the focus is on domesticity, when in fact it was absent. The Heights, a house which opens to the living room ,suggests that the novel’s main concern is managing a well ordered home while it turns out to be at odds with the domestic ideals.