I am seriously debating about changing the phrase "as constant as the north star" to "as constant as Heathcliff's and Catherine's love for each other" because it is literally that constant. Besides this, their entire relationship is quite out of the ordinary in every aspect. Wuthering Heights, at it's core is essentially a love story. Although there are multiple love stories within the novel and the majority of these relationships are anything but normal, it is a love story nonetheless. Frankly Wuthering Heights makes Romeo and Juliet seem simple and relatively shallow. The wild passion between Heathcliff and Catherine is what drive the entire novel. This complete and utter devotion last longer than any other emotion in the story, so clearly these two love birds are significant. Their relationship, though, is far from the ordinary romance novels of Emily Bronte's time period.
Forbidden loves are nothing new, but there is a distinct lack of secret meetings and steamy kissing behind closed doors in Heathcliff's and Catherine's affair. Originally, that didn't bother me at all because I was still too busy associating the two as more of a brother and sister duo than a romantically involved pair. The sibling relationship, though, is probably closer to their real connection than the typical romantic relationship. Their entire relationship is based on the fact that they mutually agree they are one in the same. They view each other as identical. At one point, Catherine actually says, "I am Heathcliff," which in my opinion is a little odd. No matter how much I may love someone, I never once think that I am that person. It is not just Catherine being weirdly obsessive; Heathcliff does it too. Because of this incredibly deep and unusual connection, their love simply never changes. Their relationship is the epitome of constant. By constant, though, I don't mean fairly casual and calm. Their relationship is about as fiery and wild as they come. This intense emotion doesn't stop it from becoming a perpetual part of their lives. Ever since they were children, Catherine and Heathcliff have had this sort of relationship. Even when Catherine marries Edgar, her love for Heathcliff never ceases to consume her. This never changing love has it downfalls. The love story of Heathcliff and Catherine ends in tragedy. Catherine dies still married to Edgar, and Heathcliff spends the rest of his life wreaking havoc on everyone else's lives in one giant vengeful plot.
Without delay, the second Catherine is introduced into the novel, and a second love story takes the center stage. This one, though, is between Catherine's and Edgar's daughter (who is aptly named Catherine) and Hareton, Hindley's mostly forgotten son. This second love story is vastly different from the first. Although it is no where near the emotional intensity of Catherine's and Heathcliff's love, the second generation's love story ends on a much happier note. Unlike Heathcliff and the elder Catherine who both end up dead and without each other, Hareton and the younger Catherine get married happily to each other and end the story with joy and hope for the future of Wuthering Heights. How come Catherine 2.0 gets the better end of this deal? Well, there is one crucial difference between her love and her mother's love: change. Absolutely nothing changes between the old Catherine and Heathcliff, while her daughter and Hareton develop and transform together. For the majority of the novel, Catherine despises the illiterate and rough Hareton, and Hareton grows rapidly frustrated at Catherine for her constant teasing. As time goes on, they grow fond of each other, and Catherine teaches him how to read. The two make quite a good pairing, combining the best characteristic of their two families.
Throughout Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte creates many pairs and juxtaposition, and these two relationships are no exception. By having two love stories back to back, we can't help but compare the two. Is Emily trying to warn her readers about the dangers of a relationship that never changes? One that is based off of identical nature? Heathcliff's and Catherine's love never changes and is centered on the fact that the two feel like they are truly the same person. Hareton and the younger Catherine are two very different people from very different backgrounds with a changing love that grow stronger. Clearly, this second love story ended on a much more positive note with both lovers happily married and alive. Maybe Emily Bronte is attempting to warn her readers of the kind of toxic, obsessive love that Heathcliff and Catherine share. I for one never want to be that obsessed with someone after reading Wuthering Heights. Very complicated relationship advice or not, Wuthering Heights is still one of the most complex and fascinating love stories I have ever read. If you want to be kept on your toes and maybe a little bit emotionally drained by the end, I highly recommend Wuthering Heights.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Tall, Dark, Handsome, and Crazy
Heathcliff is dark and mysterious, and he wants to keep it that way. Besides the housemaid Nelly Dean, Heathcliff is the only character who manages to stay alive for the entirety of the saga of Wuthering Heights. In fact, the entire novel revolves around his life. Characters are born, and characters die, but his death is what signifies the end of Wuthering Heights. The character of Heathcliff is a presence throughout the story, and his actions and passions are what drive the plot.
Within the first page of the book, Heathcliff is vividly describes as being very dark and secretive with "black eyes" that retreat under his eyebrows. Heathcliff immediately captures the reader's attention and hold onto it for the rest of the novel. Heathcliff is by far one of the most complicated characters in book. Born a poor orphan in Liverpool, Heathcliff is adopted by Mr. Earnshaw and is raised with Catherine and Hindley. Heathcliff quickly rises in social class with his adoption only to be pushed back down by the cruel and taunting Hindley who takes charge of Wuthering Heights after his father's death. Catherine's decision to marry Edgar instead of him brings Heathcliff's turbulent youth to a close. After running away, he returns three years later as a changed man. Taller, more handsome, but much more vengeful. Determined to seek his revenge on everyone who has done him wrong, particularly Hindley for his abuse and Edgar for marrying Catherine, Heathcliff's complicated and lengthy plot is what leads to most of the events that occur during this latter half of the novel. His actions and desires are what drive the entire story line; this guy must be important.
Infatuated by and curious about such a mysterious character, many readers often make Heathcliff into something he is not. Readers including myself often make Heathcliff into a kind of tragically romantic hero despite all of the horrible things he does. Emily Bronte is partially responsible for this. She writes Heathcliff in a way that makes us sympathize with him. We can't help but feel sorry for Heathcliff after all that he has endured. His desire for revenge is not completely without reason, and even when he takes his ruthlessness to the next level, we make excuses for him. He only seems cold and heartless because he is hiding his true emotional weaknesses. He is only cruel because of his unfilled love for Catherine. These excuses we make for him, though, simply are not who he is. Heathcliff truly enjoys watching people suffer. He abuses the innocent Isabella just to watch her come crawling back for more in her blind love for him. Funnily enough, we end up crawling back to Heathcliff, convincing ourselves of his romantic nature. Although maybe not the romantic hero we hoped him to be, Heathcliff is still a vastly complex and misunderstood character who is a force of nature throughout Wuthering Heights.
Within the first page of the book, Heathcliff is vividly describes as being very dark and secretive with "black eyes" that retreat under his eyebrows. Heathcliff immediately captures the reader's attention and hold onto it for the rest of the novel. Heathcliff is by far one of the most complicated characters in book. Born a poor orphan in Liverpool, Heathcliff is adopted by Mr. Earnshaw and is raised with Catherine and Hindley. Heathcliff quickly rises in social class with his adoption only to be pushed back down by the cruel and taunting Hindley who takes charge of Wuthering Heights after his father's death. Catherine's decision to marry Edgar instead of him brings Heathcliff's turbulent youth to a close. After running away, he returns three years later as a changed man. Taller, more handsome, but much more vengeful. Determined to seek his revenge on everyone who has done him wrong, particularly Hindley for his abuse and Edgar for marrying Catherine, Heathcliff's complicated and lengthy plot is what leads to most of the events that occur during this latter half of the novel. His actions and desires are what drive the entire story line; this guy must be important.
Infatuated by and curious about such a mysterious character, many readers often make Heathcliff into something he is not. Readers including myself often make Heathcliff into a kind of tragically romantic hero despite all of the horrible things he does. Emily Bronte is partially responsible for this. She writes Heathcliff in a way that makes us sympathize with him. We can't help but feel sorry for Heathcliff after all that he has endured. His desire for revenge is not completely without reason, and even when he takes his ruthlessness to the next level, we make excuses for him. He only seems cold and heartless because he is hiding his true emotional weaknesses. He is only cruel because of his unfilled love for Catherine. These excuses we make for him, though, simply are not who he is. Heathcliff truly enjoys watching people suffer. He abuses the innocent Isabella just to watch her come crawling back for more in her blind love for him. Funnily enough, we end up crawling back to Heathcliff, convincing ourselves of his romantic nature. Although maybe not the romantic hero we hoped him to be, Heathcliff is still a vastly complex and misunderstood character who is a force of nature throughout Wuthering Heights.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Two for One Deal
It's so easy to speed read through Wuthering Heights, desperately wanting to know what happens to everyone and if maybe there is one character who doesn't die of heartbreak, but if you take the time to slow down and really notice things, it is most definitely worth it. Emily Bronte's classic novel is full of juxtapositions, pairs, and parallels. It seems that almost everything in the novel comes in twos. The most prominent of these pairs are the two estates along with the people are are associated with them. The differences between the Wuthering Heights mansion and the Thrushcross Grange estate couldn't be any stronger. The word "wuthering" literally refers to wild, violent winds that often sweep across the Yorkshire moors. Wuthering Heights represents that wilderness along with unrestrained passion and, ultimately, disaster. The word "heights" evokes dizzying peaks and ominous cliffs. Fierce, spirited characters such as Heathcliff, Hindley, and Catherine who are members of this house reinforce that connotation. Thrushcross Grange, on the other hand, represents everything that Wuthering Heights is not. A thrush is a bird known for its sweet song and is a symbol for piety and Christianity, while a grange refers to domestic farms and peaceful homes. Thrushcross Grange is noble, socially respectable, and civil just like the Lintons.
These houses begin to intertwine, though, as an entirely new generation of characters emerges. This second generation, though, does not take center stage until after the main turning point in the novel: Catherine's death. Torn between her wild, perpetual passion for Heathcliff and her sensible, acceptable marriage to Edgar, Catherine becomes physically ill. On her death bed, Catherine begs Heathcliff for forgiveness, professing her undying love for him and begging him not to leave her. After giving birth to her daughter Catherine (I warned you about these confusing names), she dies (I also warned you about the frequency of death). Her death, one of the strongest emotional climaxes of the novel, causes a major shift in the plot's direction. With Hindley, Isabella, Catherine, and soon to be Edgar dead, the story shifts its focus to the next generation of unruly characters.
At first it seems strange to center on a different Catherine, but before long it becomes clear that it really isn't all that different. For one, she has the exact same name and the same headstrong personality of her mother, but she also ends up in a similar situation. Once again, we see a parallel pattern to the first half of the novel: One girl, two slightly related boys. It's not Heathcliff and Edgar, but their son and nephew instead. Catherine gets pressured into being with Linton, Heathcliff's and Isabella's weak, sickly son. Her passion, though, is for Hindley's rougher but stronger son Hareton. This new generation of characters really are not too different from the first. The wild passion, forbidden love, and indecision will all continue to plague them as Heathcliff continues to wreak havoc on everybody through his ultimate revenge program.
These houses begin to intertwine, though, as an entirely new generation of characters emerges. This second generation, though, does not take center stage until after the main turning point in the novel: Catherine's death. Torn between her wild, perpetual passion for Heathcliff and her sensible, acceptable marriage to Edgar, Catherine becomes physically ill. On her death bed, Catherine begs Heathcliff for forgiveness, professing her undying love for him and begging him not to leave her. After giving birth to her daughter Catherine (I warned you about these confusing names), she dies (I also warned you about the frequency of death). Her death, one of the strongest emotional climaxes of the novel, causes a major shift in the plot's direction. With Hindley, Isabella, Catherine, and soon to be Edgar dead, the story shifts its focus to the next generation of unruly characters.
At first it seems strange to center on a different Catherine, but before long it becomes clear that it really isn't all that different. For one, she has the exact same name and the same headstrong personality of her mother, but she also ends up in a similar situation. Once again, we see a parallel pattern to the first half of the novel: One girl, two slightly related boys. It's not Heathcliff and Edgar, but their son and nephew instead. Catherine gets pressured into being with Linton, Heathcliff's and Isabella's weak, sickly son. Her passion, though, is for Hindley's rougher but stronger son Hareton. This new generation of characters really are not too different from the first. The wild passion, forbidden love, and indecision will all continue to plague them as Heathcliff continues to wreak havoc on everybody through his ultimate revenge program.
Catherine Meet Catherine
Well, I can't say I wasn't warned. Wuthering Heights is just as confusing as everyone told me. Immediately, I am thrown into confusion as the opening chapters create the mysterious plot line. Without even knowing the complexities of the characters and their relationships, it is obvious that there is no shortage of them. Not only are there numerous characters, but they all introduced as a single blur in my mind. There are three men with names beginning with H (Heathcliff, Hindley, and Hareton) who are all somehow related to each other, two Catherines, multiple Lintons (some with Linton as a last name and some with it as a first name), a lot of marriages, a lot of cousins and nephews, and entirely too many deaths.
To add to all of that, Wuthering Heights is told from as far away from a direct perspective as you can possibly get. Although the story centers around the Earnshaws and the Lintons, the reader is told the story from Lockwood's point of view, a mere third person who is living in one of Heathcliff's properties. Lockwood, though, is just as confused as I am and gets all of his information from his housekeeper Nelly Dean. Before we know it, the entire story has become a game of "he said she said." Nothing is every told straight forwardly; instead, everything seems to be heard through the grape vine. Having to sift through various layers of storytelling to get to the actual action keeps the readers on their toes. With varying perspective, though, comes the ever present dilemma of bias. Lockwood tries to record the saga honestly through what he learns from Nelly Dean. Unfortunately, Lockwood tends to be a bit shallow, and he often mistakenly misunderstands what Nelly Dean tells him. As readers, though, we can often see his naivety and confusion and understand the real meaning. As a dedicated and lifelong housekeeper, Nelly Dean is deeply involved in the affairs of the Wuthering Heights estate. Her connections with the families provides incredible insight to their relationships and provides us as readers with everything we know about the plot of the story, but they also lead to much stronger bias. Nelly tends to brush over sections of her narrative where she specifically does wrong, or will emphasize some events more than others in order to make her own point. This distance between the reader and the main characters forces us to read between the lines in order to discover what is really happening in this complicated story.
Even once the basics of who is who are sorted out, the beginning Wuthering Heights still raises a lot of questions. How are all of these Catherines, Lintons, and H named people related to each other? What has happened to make everyone so brooding and secretive? What's up with Heathcliff and Catherine? I thought they were related. Who is married to who anyway? Why is everyone so emotional? Why, why, why? Emily Bronte does an amazing job of creating an immediately complex and intriguing story, drawing the reader in right away. Clearly something's up with these people, and our good friend Nelly is here to explain it.
To add to all of that, Wuthering Heights is told from as far away from a direct perspective as you can possibly get. Although the story centers around the Earnshaws and the Lintons, the reader is told the story from Lockwood's point of view, a mere third person who is living in one of Heathcliff's properties. Lockwood, though, is just as confused as I am and gets all of his information from his housekeeper Nelly Dean. Before we know it, the entire story has become a game of "he said she said." Nothing is every told straight forwardly; instead, everything seems to be heard through the grape vine. Having to sift through various layers of storytelling to get to the actual action keeps the readers on their toes. With varying perspective, though, comes the ever present dilemma of bias. Lockwood tries to record the saga honestly through what he learns from Nelly Dean. Unfortunately, Lockwood tends to be a bit shallow, and he often mistakenly misunderstands what Nelly Dean tells him. As readers, though, we can often see his naivety and confusion and understand the real meaning. As a dedicated and lifelong housekeeper, Nelly Dean is deeply involved in the affairs of the Wuthering Heights estate. Her connections with the families provides incredible insight to their relationships and provides us as readers with everything we know about the plot of the story, but they also lead to much stronger bias. Nelly tends to brush over sections of her narrative where she specifically does wrong, or will emphasize some events more than others in order to make her own point. This distance between the reader and the main characters forces us to read between the lines in order to discover what is really happening in this complicated story.
Even once the basics of who is who are sorted out, the beginning Wuthering Heights still raises a lot of questions. How are all of these Catherines, Lintons, and H named people related to each other? What has happened to make everyone so brooding and secretive? What's up with Heathcliff and Catherine? I thought they were related. Who is married to who anyway? Why is everyone so emotional? Why, why, why? Emily Bronte does an amazing job of creating an immediately complex and intriguing story, drawing the reader in right away. Clearly something's up with these people, and our good friend Nelly is here to explain it.
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