Wuthering Heights

Mr. Earnshaw, the father figure at the Wuthering Heights estates, upon returning from a trip to Liverpool, has brought a young orphan boy in place of the gifts he promised his children. Despite Mr. Earnshaw’s kind heart, the family refuses to accept the boy. Wuthering Height’s maid, Ellen “Nelly” Dean, narrating the family’s history to Lockwood, tells him the family’s first impressions and their treatment of the boy. She states, “they entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room; and I had no more sense, so I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it might he gone on the morrow” (Brontë 40). Both children are upset at Heathcliff for have crushing the gifts their father has promised to bring back to them. Neither let him room with them, resulting in Heathcliff sleeping on the floor outside of Mr. Earnshaw’s room for the first night of his arrival. Aside from being an orphan, this was Heathcliff’s first experience with rejection at Wuthering Heights. Not only did the children dislike Heathcliff for have ruining their gifts, but the adults did not appreciate his arrival either. Nelly claims she hopes “it might be he gone on the morrow” (Brontë 40). In addition to wishing the boy would disappear, she refers to Heathcliff as not the pronoun “he,” but with the word “it,” degrading him to a “thing” as opposed to a human being. Nelly then descripes Mrs. Earnshaw’s opinion on the boy, “Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to fling it out of doors: she did fly up, asking how he could fashion to bring that gipsy brat into the house, when they had their own bairns to feed and fend for?,” (Brontë 39). She is just as welcoming as the children and maid, Nelly, are. She refers to him as a derogatory, gypsy boy,

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.

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.

Emily Bronte’s dramatic novel, Wuthering Heights, is a compelling look into the human nature of the individual persona. Most of the novel could be used as an analysis of contrasts, the traits and personalities that form in the environment of little rules found crafted in the novel are each as unique as they are distinctive in how they represent themselves. Using the juxtaposition inherent in characters personalities, such as Heathcliff and Edgar, and the differences presented by settings of both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, Bronte submits us to the extreme conflicts and emotions that brood and grow with such polar characters. It’s in the polarity itself that the novel finds its power, using opposites of setting, personality, and traditional conventions Emily Bronte argues that humans are inherently selfish, only thinking of themselves before others and as such can only operate in a

Obsession acts like a drug; it consumes one’s mind, until one eventually overdoses. Letting go or holding on to these dominating attachments decides the outcome of one’s end. In conversations of Emily Bronte’s novel, Wuthering Heights, questions about the book’s meaning inevitably arise. On one hand, many argue that the book centers around the idea of revenge. On the other hand, some assert that the nature of redemption lies at the heart of the book’s meaning.

Human beings can be truly deranged creatures. Often times they are seen as elevating and putting themselves on a pedestal. They will treat people who are not the same as them as they are garbage and worthless. Although it is not their fault to simply put it, it is human nature. More specifically the ugliness of human nature. The complex characters in Wuthering Heights are guilty of this. Their circumstances drive them to do unthinkable things which unfortunately have drastic outcomes. Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights is a beautifully written novel that shows the ugliness of human nature as seen through the depiction of toxic relationships, displaying revenge and vengeance in the differentiation of social class.

Heathcliff was the primary character that drove the plot of Wuthering Heights. The novel began and ended with him and his vindictive actions are most important to the progression of the story. He was unique from the other characters in the way that he looked, with “black eyes [withdrawn] so suspiciously under their brows...[and] dirty, ragged, black hair” (Bronte 3, 37). Mr. Earnshaw had generously brought this gipsy boy when he returned from a trip, picking him up from the miserable factory towns occupied by the lower classes in 1840. Earnshaw’s family did not receive this boy well, so Heathcliff was often characterized as a demon, epitomizing the equivocal attitude of the upper class, who at times felt charitable to and at times afraid of the lower class.

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

Wuthering Heights, a novel written by Emily Brontë is a passionate story of the intense love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw. Written in the Victorian Era where social class played a major role in determining one’s position in society, Brontë utilizes mirroring characters to illustrate the parallelism of multiple characters to present the idea that one’s identity and the choices they make mirror their social standing.

Earnshaw almost forces to conform to the disorderly system, like an ill-fitting puzzle piece. He is raised in a civilization that delegates him as the lowest of the low, and it causes him to develop resentment toward those in power. It is important for the reader to take note of Emily Bronte’s belief in the natural organization of social class – one that morphs in disorder. Therefore, Heathcliff can be viewed as the antagonist as he tries to construct a social class system that puts him at the top of the food chain around the previously natural Wuthering Heights. Rather than forcing himself into the puzzle of Wuthering Heights, he tries to build a new puzzle around himself. When Mr. Earnshaw establishes Heathcliff as his favorite child, Hindley is appalled by this disruption to the status quo. As a result, Hindley tries to gain power for himself by bullying Catherine and Heathcliff into positions lower than him; Heathcliff caused the inhabitants to fight for the social class structure that they had previously ignored. This is shown again when Catherine longs to be part of the upper class, saying “if I marry Linton, I can aid Heathcliff to rise and place him out of my brother’s power” (82). Heathcliff’s application of a new social structure does not help him have power over

Before Heathcliff gained his wealth, Catherine told Ellen that “it would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him: and that, not because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am” (Brontё 69). Catherine uses Edgar’s marriage proposal to stay comfortable in a lifestyle like the one she grew up in, never expecting Heathcliff to gain considerable wealth. When Heathcliff returned to Wuthering Heights, Catherine’s resentment towards her new marriage to Edgar and continuation of her romance with Heathcliff demonstrates the theme of love causing hate. Even though Catherine appears pernicious through her bullying of Edgar, Catherine’s missed opportunity to marry Heathcliff after he attained wealth rouses sympathy for the forbidden

This begins with his childhood. As the character Nellie details what life was like for the children of Wuthering Heights, we quickly understand that Heathcliff especially lived as a target for abuse. This abuse namely came from Hindley Earnshaw, who viewed Heathcliff as a usurper of his father’s affections, and grew jealous of the way Mr. Earnshaw doted on the boy. In return, Heathcliff was subjected to frequent beatings and harsh treatment, all of which he took without complaint. His only true friend at the house was wild child Catherine Earnshaw- later Catherine Linton- who granted him a reprieve from Hindley’s cruelty, and showed him love. By showing the reader this kind of brutality, we understand the potency of Heathcliff’s hatred toward Hindley, and subsequently his urge to seek retribution in adulthood. In addition, the author establishes this strong connection with Catherine early on so the reader understands Heathcliff’s

Catherine also talks at length about how marrying Edgar would be the best thing for her, and even though this action is presumably for wealth and power should love not transcend wealth and power? Tytler also conveys how Catherine and Heathcliff “regard each other as alter ego’s” (173). If they see each other as alter ego’s they can’t love each other. They use each other more as something to lean on to balance themselves. They see themselves as friends working together not as passionate lovers live some scholars believe.

Wuthering Heights The book, “Wuthering Heights,” by Emily Bronte was written during a time in which social structure and culture was very important. People fell into a specific class depending on wealth and what you were born into. Depending on relationships you were to make, the social structure and class would either help you or tear you apart. A good example would be Heathcliff and Catherine’s relationship in Wuthering Heights.

Wuthering Heights is a perfect example of how both denying and fulfilling a desire can lead to danger. Desire is a fascinating concept because it encompasses a multitude of things in life. You can desire someone in the sense of loving them or wanting to be with them. You can also desire to do good in the world or have a desire for a specific job. It is by no means a simple subject to talk about, especially accompanied by danger, an equally complex idea. The idea of danger can be physically, mentally, and emotionally straining as well as societal. For example, being in danger of being harmed, being in danger of becoming depressed, or, you could even be in danger of losing your status in society. The idea of losing you status or your family name was an enormous concern during the later 1700s and early 1800s which is when this book takes place. The characters in Wuthering Heights give numerous examples of how indulging or not indulging in desire can have equally toxic outcomes. In Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte uses the character relationships to demonstrate how desire, fulfilled or not, is dangerous by showing the consequences of desire.