Assignment Paper: - 6
Topic: - Thematic concerns in Wuthering Heights
Student’s name : -Makwana Jayshri D.
Roll no :- 16
URL :-makwanajayshri261011.blogspot.com :-
Semester :- M.A. Sem.ii
Batch :- 2010-11
submitted to,
Mr. Jay Mehta
Department of English,
Bhavnagar University
Mr. Jay Mehta
Department of English,
Bhavnagar University
Introduction:- “Stronger than a man, simpler than a child.” These are the words Charlotte Bronte used to describe her sister Emily Jane, author of ‘Wuthering Heights’ a strange and powerful book, said by many to be the finest novel in the English language ‘Wuthering Heights’ is the only novel by Emily Bronte. It was first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellise Bell, and a posted second edition was edited by her sister Charlotte.
Emily’s master showed her to be a complete individualistic. She used the stark Yorkshire setting, not to create suspense and horror, as in the typical Gothic novel, but as a natural part of her story. All her characters were human- they had good and bad qualities. They could hate and love with equal intensity. The plot was completely different from any that had been created before.
“Wuthering Heights” went almost unnoticed. Anyone who did read it was repulsed by the brutality and violence of the characters and by the fact that it different so much from the romantic novels of the day. They did not want realism as Emily depicted it, and they did not want wild, fierce antiheroes like Heathcliff- who was more like a villain Catherine. The narrative tells the tale of the all encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them.
Early reviews of Wuthering Heights were mixed in their assessment. Whilst most critics recognized the power and imagination of the novel, many found the story unlikable and ambiguous. The Atlas review called it a “Strange, inarstic story”, but commented that every chapter seems to contain a “sort of rugged power”. It supported the second point made in the Athenaeum, suggesting that the general effect of the novel was “inexpressibly painful,” but adding that all of its subjects were either “utterly hateful or thoroughly contemptible.”
Themes in ‘Wuthering Heights’:- The Concept that almost every reader of Wuthering Heights focuses on is the passion love of Catherine and Heathcliff, often to the exclusion of other theme –this despite the fact that other kinds of love are presented and that Catherine dies half way through the novel. The love of the Frances and Hindley, and the ‘susceptible heart’ of Lockwood receive scant attention from such readers. But is love the motives forces perhaps economic? The desire for wealth does motivate Catherine’s marriage, which results in Heathcliff’s flight and causes him to appropriate Thruscross Grange, and to dispossess Herton. Is it possible that one of the novel, or are the other themes secondary to the theme of love? Consider the following themes in “Wuthering Heghts.”
Nature and civilization:- Pitting nature against civilization, Emily Brontë promotes the Romantic idea that the sublime—the awe-inspiring, almost frightening, beauty of nature—is superior to man-made culture. She makes this point by correlating many of the characters with one side or the other and then squaring them off against each other. For instance, Heathcliff, whose origins are unknown and who roams the moors, is definitely on the nature side, while his rival, the studious Edgar Linton, is in the civilized camp .Other pairings include
Hareton Earnshaw vs. Linton Earnshaw;
Catherine vs. Isabella; and
HARETON vs. Cathy.
In all of these cases, Bronte makes one character a bit wild (perhaps by showing them in tune with animals and/or the outdoors and/or their emotions), while portraying the other as somewhat reserved and often prissy or fussy.
But nothing is black and white in Wuthering Heights. Many of the characters exhibit traits from both sides. While Bronte argues that nature is somehow purer, she also lauds civilization, particularly in terms of education. Hareton Earnshaw personifies this combination of nature and civilization: Bronte associates the young orphan with nature (he is a coarse, awkward farm boy) as well as civilization (inspired by his desire for young Cathy, he learns how to read). This mixture of down-to-earth passion and book-centered education make him, arguably, the most sympathetic character in the book.
Clash of elemental forces:- The universe is made up of two opposite forces, storm and calm.
For example:- Wuthering Heights and the Earnshaws express the storm; Thrushcross Grange and the Lintons, the calm. Catherine and Heathcliff are elemental creatures of the storm. The clash of economic interests and social classes:-
The novel is set at a time when capitalism and industrialization are changing not only the economy but also the traditional social structure and the relationship of the classes. The yeoman or respectable farming class (Hareton) was being destroyed by the economic alliance of the newly-wealthy capitalists (Heathcliff) and the traditional power-holding gentry (the Lintons).
The novel is set at a time when capitalism and industrialization are changing not only the economy but also the traditional social structure and the relationship of the classes. The yeoman or respectable farming class (Hareton) was being destroyed by the economic alliance of the newly-wealthy capitalists (Heathcliff) and the traditional power-holding gentry (the Lintons).
The striving for transcendence:- It is not just love that Catherine and Heathcliff seek but a higher, spiritual existence which is permanent and unchanging, as Catherine makes clear when she compares her love for Linton to the seasons and her love for Heathcliff to the rocks. The dying Catherine looks forward to achieving this state through death. This theme is discussed more fully in Religion, Metaphysics, and Mysticism
Revenge and Repetition: - Revenge is the dominant theme of the second half of the novel, although in the last chapter Heathcliff abandons his plan for vengeance. Nearly all of the action in Wuthering Heights results from one or another character’s desire for revenge. The results are cycles of revenge that seem to endlessly repeat.
For example:-
Hindley takes revenge on Heathcliff for taking his place at Wuthering Heights by denying him an education, and in the process separates Heathcliff and Catherine. Heathcliff then takes revenge upon Hindley by, first, dispossessing Hindley of Wuthering Heights and by denying an education to Hareton, Hindley’s son. Heathcliff also seeks revenge on Edgar for marrying Catherine by marrying Cathy to Linton. Yet while Heathcliff’s revenge is effective, it seems to bring him little joy. Late in the novel, Cathy sees this, and tells Heathcliff that her revenge on him, no matter how miserable he makes her, is to know that he, Heathcliff, is more miserable. And it is instructive that only when Heathcliff loses his desire for revenge is he able to finally reconnect with Catherine in death, and to allow Cathy and Hareton, who are so similar to Heathcliff and Catherine, to find love and marry.
Love:- It should be stated, perhaps, that the novel cannot be considered merely to be a love story. The concept that almost every reader of Wuthering Heights focuses on is the passion-love of Catherine and Heathcliff, often to the exclusion of every other theme–this despite the fact that other kinds of love are presented and that Catherine dies half way through the novel. The loves of the second generation, the love of Frances and Hindley, and the "susceptible heart" of Lockwood receive scant attention from such readers.
Love and Passion:-Loves on display in the novel include Heathcliff and Catherine’s all-consuming passion for each other, which while noble in its purity, is also terribly destructive.
In contract, the love between Catherine and Edgar is proper and civilized rather than passionate. Theirs is a love of peace and comfort, a socially acceptable love, but it can’t stand in the way of Heathcliff and Catherine’s more profound (and more violent) connection. The love between Cathy and Linton is a grotesque exaggeration of that between Catherine and Edgar.§ For example-
While Catherine always seems just a bit too strong for Edgar, Cathy and Linton’s love is founded on Linton’s weakness—Linton gets Cathy to love him by playing on her desire to protect and mother him. The love between Cathy and Hareton, which seems to balance the traits of the other loves on display. They have the passion of Catherine and Heathcliff without the destructiveness, and the gentleness shared by Edgar and Catherine without the dullness or inequality in power.
The effect of obsessive Love:- For example:-
“He got onto the bed, and wrenched open the lattice, bursting, as he pulled at it, into an uncontrollable passion of tears. "Come in! come in!" he sobbed. "Cathy, do come. Oh, do--once more! Oh! my heart's darling! hear me this time--Catherine, at last!” (45).
Whether or not Catherine's ghost appears to Lockwood the night he stays at Wuthering Heights or if it's just a nightmare is ambiguous. It is apparent, however, that Heathcliff senses that Catherine's ghost appears from time to time. This becomes evident as the novel progresses. Despite obtaining wealth and physical stature, Heathcliff remains haunted by the past and his longing for Catherine. It's a haunting he requests and one that causes a frenzied desire for revenge on all whom he suspects of not allowing his and Catherine's love to gain its fullness while Catherine lived. This quote also reflects the encroachment of the past on the present.
The effect of intense suffering:- In the passion-driven characters–Catherine, Heathcliff, and Hindley–pain leads them to turn on and to torment others. Inflicting pain provides them some relief; these behaviors raises questions about whether they are cruel by nature or are formed by childhood abuse and to what extent they should be held responsible for or blamed for their cruelties. Is all their suffering inflicted by others or by outside forces, like the death of Hindley's wife, or is at least some of their torment self-inflicted, like Heathcliff's holding Catherine responsible for his suffering after her death? Suffering also sears the weak; Isabella and her son Linton become vindictive, and Edgar turns into a self-indulgent, melancholy recluse. The children of love, the degraded Hareton and the imprisoned Cathy, are able to overcome Heathcliff's abuse and to find love and a future with each other. Is John Hagan right that "Wuthering Heights is such a remarkable work partly because it persuades us forcibly to pity victims and victimizers alike"?
The abusive Patriarch and Patriarchal family:-The male heads of household abuse females and males who are weak or powerless. This can be seen in their use of various kinds of imprisonment or confinement, which takes social, emotional, financial, legal, and physical forms.
For example:-
Mr. Earnshaw expects Catherine to behave properly and hurtfully rejects her "bad-girl" behavior. Edgar's ultimatum that Catherine must make a final choice between him and Heathcliff restricts Catherine's identity by forcing her to reject an essential part of her nature; with loving selfishness Edgar confines his daughter Cathy to the boundaries of Thrushcross Grange. A vindictive Hindley strips Heathcliff of his position in the family, thereby trapping him in a degraded laboring position. Heathcliff literally incarcerates Isabella (as her husband and legal overseer), and later he imprisons both Cathy and Nellie; also, Cathy is isolated from the rest of the household after her marriage to Linton. Self – imposed or self generated confinement and escape:-Both Catherine and Heathcliff find their bodies prisons which trap their spirits and prevent the fulfillment of their desires: Catherine yearns to be united with Heathcliff, with a lost childhood freedom, with Nature, and with a spiritual realm; Heathcliff wants possession of and union with Catherine.
Confinement also defines the course of Catherine's life: in childhood, she alternates between the constraint of Wuthering Heights and the freedom of the moors; in puberty, she is restricted by her injury to a couch at Thrushcross Grange; finally womanhood and her choice of husband confine her to the gentility of Thrushcross Grange, from which she escapes into the freedom of death.
Displacement, dispossession, and exile:-Heathcliff enters the novel possessed of nothing, is not even given a last or family name, and loses his privileged status after Mr. Earnshaw's death.
Heathcliff displaces Hindley in the family structure. Catherine is thrown out of heaven, where she feels displaced, sees herself an exile at Thrushcross Grange at the end, and wanders the moors for twenty years as a ghost. Hareton is dispossessed of property, education, and social status. Isabella cannot return to her beloved Thrushcross Grange and brother. Linton is displaced twice after his mother's death, being removed first to Thrushcross Grange and then to Wuthering Heights. Cathy is displaced from her home, Thrushcross Grange. The conflict between good and evil (love and hate):- Another interpretation would be the conflict between good and evil (love and hate). Thos would be the most logical of knowing, as we do, that Emily Bronte is most concerned about spiritual things. Actually the spirit of the novel is a religious one and contends that for a nature to be fully complete it must make contact with an existence beyond this life here on earth. The difference between the feeling that Catherine has for Heathcliff and the one she has for Edgar Linton is that she responds to Edgar only on the more superficial and shallow level, while the deeper and more spiritual side of her nature is reserved for Heathcliff. She is aware that this love is for more important than the civilized and worldly advantages that Edgar offers. Despite this, and going against her natural instincts, she marries Edgar, and chaos results. The good in Heathcliff is turned to Evil, which he directs against everyone except Catherine, while Catherine herself in torn apart spirituality, mentally and emotional and seeks release in death, knowing that only in death will she and Heathcliff be united. After seventeen years of wreaking his revenge, the venom in Heathcliff is drained away. He finds himself loving his old enemy’s son and from that moment on he eagerly awaits the spirit of Catherine. Love is the only element that remains content. Everything else withers away- ambition, hate – and we find that love conquers even Heathcliff in the end.
We shall never really know what Emily Bronte is saying in her book, but she seems to be pointing out two things-
o All our strivings here on earth amount to noting and
o It is until we are dead and merge with the Almighty Being that we shall find our greatest satisfaction the power of good is stronger than the power of evil and will eventually prevail.
The fall:- Recently a number of critics have seen the story of a fall in this novel, though from what state the characters fall from or to is disputed.
- Does Catherine fall, in yielding to the comforts and security of Thrushcross Grange?
- Does Heathcliff fall in his "moral teething" of revenge and pursuit of property?
- Is Wutheirng Heights or Thrushcross Grange the fallen world?
- Is the fall from heaven to hell or from hell to heaven?
- Does Catherine really lose the Devil/Heathcliff (this question arises from the assumption that Brontë is a Blakeian subbversive and visionary)?
The theme of a fall relies heavily on the references to heaven and hell that run through the novel, beginning with Lockwood's explicit reference to Wuthering Heights as a "misanthrope's heaven" and ending with the implied heaven of the ghosts of Heathcliff and Catherine roaming the moors together. Catherine dreams of being expelled from heaven and deliriously sees herself an exile cast out from the "heaven" of Wuthering Height–a literal as well as a symbolic fall. Heathcliff, like Satan, is relentless in his destructive pursuit of revenge. Inevitably the ideas of expulsion from heaven, exile, and desire for revenge have been connected to Milton's Paradise Lost and parallels drawn between Milton's epic and Bronte’s novel; Catherine's pain at her change from free child to imprisoned adult is compared to Satan's speech to Beelzebub, "how chang'd from an angel of light to exile in a fiery lake."
Conclusion:- The Douglas Jerrold's Weekly Newspaper critique was more positive, emphasizing the "great power" of the novel and its provocative qualities; it said that it was a "strange sort of book—baffling all regular criticism" and that "[it is] impossible to lay it aside afterwards and say nothing about it". Although the Examiner agreed on the strangeness, it saw the book as "wild, confused; disjointed and improbable". The Britannia review mirrored those comments made on the unpleasant characters, arguing that it would have been a "far better romance" if the characters were not "nearly as violent and destructive as [Heathcliff]". The unidentified review was less critical, considering it a "work of great ability" and that "it is not every day that so good a novel makes its appearance".
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