Theme Of Love In Wuthering Heights

In Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Heathcliff’s strong love for Catherine guides his transformation as a character. While Heathcliff enters the story as an innocent child, the abuse he receives at a young age and his heartbreak at Catherine’s choice to marry Edgar Linton bring about a change within him. Heathcliff’s adulthood is consequently marked by jealousy and greed due to his separation from Catherine, along with manipulation and a deep desire to seek revenge on Edgar. Although Heathcliff uses deceit and manipulation to his advantage throughout the novel, he is never entirely content in his current situation. As Heathcliff attempts to revenge Edgar Linton, he does not gain true fulfillment. Throughout Wuthering Heights, Brontë uses Heathcliff’s vengeful actions to convey the message that manipulative and revenge-seeking behaviors will not bring a person satisfaction.

Though Bronte’s star-cross lovers have seemly bend gender roles, with Catherine exhibiting more masculine traits and Heathcliff with feminine, their relationship still epitomize Beauvoir’s views on the gender dual standard in relationships. The mysterious and untamed disposition of Heathcliff drew Catherine to him, they were very much a like and had a strong connection from childhood. As this love grew it became a part very much of them. However, despite their similar personalities, they were not equals. She modifies herself for love. Catherine went against her independent character and rejected herself to be one with Heathcliff. While, he remains the same. Heathcliff never truly sees Catherine as his equal, he persists on being the superior. Though he has called her his existence on numerous occasions, Heathcliff never refers to himself as Catherine. His love stems from his obsession to possess her and her adoration. Like, the slave owner, he is the master who needs his slave to perpetuate his superiority, she is a conquest to be collected. Ergo, as Heathcliff was losing Catherine to the clutches of death, he exclaims that would never forget her because she is his existence (Bronte 124). A master

When Heathcliff returns three years later, his love for Catherine motivates him to enact revenge upon all those who separated him from her. Since he last saw Catherine, he has “fought through a bitter life”; he “struggled only for [her]” (Brontë 71). Nelly observes a “half-civilized ferocity” in Heathcliff’s brows (Brontë 70); she views him as “an evil beast…waiting his time to spring and destroy” (Brontë 79). Heathcliff’s obsessive love for Catherine becomes a menacing threat. Heathcliff reproaches Catherine because she “treated [him]

Heathcliff is abused; his only source of love is his dearest Catherine, yet even that love cannot thrive in Heathcliff’s environment. The problem is not that his love is unrequited, but rather that Catherine believes she would fall to ruin if she were to be with Heathcliff “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him---because he's more

In this chapter, we see that Catherine has changed drastically from being a wild savage to a young mannered lady. Shockingly, we can see the distinctive difference between Heathcliff and Catherine's character. They were once the same, but this chapter serves as the platform to highlight the contrasting differences between these lovers. On one hand, one can argue that it develops their relationship immensely.

Catherine’s and Heathcliff’s relationship commences with both participants “... [promising each other] to grow up as rude as savages”

Romantic love takes over many forms in Wuthering Heights, the passion of Heathcliff and Catherine. The love relationship of Heathcliff and Catherine, byr is is not like the other lovers in the story. In this story self-centered took over the need of the characters. Heathcliff murders the love of his life Catherine, after her death his obsession only gets worse. Heathcliff tries for her love with money and his attempts to join the society to which she is drawn. He's trying to take control of this relationship by getting revenge on Catherine by killing her daughter and ruining her life. He still professing his love for her, for Heathcliff

Consequently, Heathcliff makes imprudent decisions throughout his life to avenge himself, and by doing so, he destroys the human being he once was. Furthermore, Heathcliff’s madness from his obsessions with Catherine fully exhibits itself beyond her passing. At the end of the Bronte’s book, Heathcliff grimly states, “Those two are the only objects which retain a distinct material appearance to me; that appearance causes me pain… her presence only invokes maddening sensations” (Bronte 323). Heathcliff’s passion for Catherine is so great, that it becomes destructive to his psychological mindset; the thought of living without her drives him mad. Any individual that has a slight resemblance to Catherine elicits anguish and torments him, revealing the ruinous effects of his obsession.

Wuthering Heights, a book that describes the need for revenge and the problematic social class, it is not a traditional love story that involves remembrance and joyful passion throughout the novel. Later in the book Heathcliff and Cathy two characters in the book engage in a lengthy quarrel. Meanwhile, Cathy is being pulled by the hair by Heathcliff, almost to the point where Heathcliff could brutally tear Cathy into pieces because of her relationship with Hareton and her legacy as an “Earnshaw”. After a short amount of time Bronte reveals a drastic notification about Heathcliff, that “he drew his hand over his eyes, stood a moment to recollect himself”(Bronte 300) this very rare occurence shows a huge change in Heathcliff’s attitude towards

Since Cathy and Heathcliff suffer an identity crisis during their adolescence, they see each other as the ―psychological equivalent of identical twin ship‖ and ―only by clinging to one another‖ do they try to survive Burgan mention . For this reason, Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights as soon as he learns that Cathy gives preference to Edgar because he feels deprived of his only source of identity. He goes off in quest of a new identity. This prolepsis points to Heathcliff‘s vindictive and calculating personality. As in, the prolepses in this novel prophesy the revenge to be successfully exacted by the protagonist.

Heathcliff dedicates his entire life to make sure he ruins Linton and Earnshaw families. The causenof his rage is because Cathy married Edgar, and Heathcliff was in love with her. Since Heathcliff was so deeply in love eith Cathy he started to unleash his anger with absolutely everyone, he became a really mean and angry person. Even though he did all he could to make their lives miserable it didn't bring Cathy to him. Even when she was dying Heathcliff couldn't make Cathy want to be with him. After she died only visions and dreams of

Cathy Linton, speaking above, displays the ability to love someone even when they do not deserve it. She draws her greatest strengths from love and kindles a fire of hatred towards Heathcliff because she has fallen for Linton.

While reminiscing in his old age, Heathcliff says, “I get levers and mattocks to demolish the two houses and when everything is ready and in my power, I find the will to lift a slate off either roof has vanished … Where is the use [of revenge]? I don’t care for striking: I can’t take the trouble to raise my hand!” (323). The Heights and the Grange are finally “in his power” that he can destroy the two houses if he wants. Though he realizes that his efforts were all in vain and his hunger for revenge made him unfortunate. Catherine Earnshaw confronts with the patriarchal system by hurting herself. As Edgar forces her to choose between himself and Heathcliff, she says, “Well, if I cannot keep Heathcliff for my friend – if Edgar will be mean and jealous, I’ll try to break their hearts by breaking my own…” (116). Catherine “breaks her own” by locking herself in her room and fasting for three days; she has no choice but to use the ultimate method to make her rage and helplessness be heard. On the contrary, Catherine Linton resists by improving herself. Although Heathcliff hinders Catherine from learning, she has so much of novelty to feel and learn and continues to read (322). By education, she succeeds to remove Heathcliff’s will to revenge and gain love chosen by herself. Heathcliff, Catherine Earnshaw, and Catherine Linton’s different reactions bring a different ending; destruction versus

            When hate is generated into the conflict, it always induces power and becomes domination to the situation. Three years had passed when Heathcliff expatriated Wuthering Heights, comes back as a rich man and finds that Catherine, the only woman he loves on earth, married with Edgar Linton.

Upon Catherine’s return to Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff informs to her that he put a cage around a nest of baby birds that prevented the mother bird from feeding them which resulted in their starvation. She then says that he should not have done it and assures him that she would always come back to him. Moreover, Heathcliff’s violence is not the only encompassing trait in his character because he also possesses a sympathetic quality that he only shows toward Catherine. As Catherine lies dying, Heathcliff has eyes for her only and his love for her is displayed as he passionately kisses her one last time before she dies. Nevertheless, Heathcliff’s violence due to love and passion makes his character very complex, therefore, it is hard to distinguish when he is acting out of love or pure