Violence Written in 1847 by Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights follows the life of Heathcliff, the family that raised him and those who impacted his life. It is a novel that goes from present day to past events to explain why Heathcliff is the way he is and how the story has formed throughout his life and the lives of those around him. Emily Bronte used imagery and diction to create the physical, verbal, and animalistic violence that was displayed in Wuthering Heights. The most common form of violence that is displayed in Wuthering Heights is physical violence. Many of the characters are violent towards one another. One of the most violent characters would be Catherine Linton, who was very fond of physically harming others, “wicked aunt Cathy,’ which drew her fury on to his unlucky head: she seized his shoulders, and shook him till the poor child was waxed livid…” Catherine Linton would physically harm others if she did not get what she desired. Bronte’s imagery of Cathy shaking young Hareton is very powerful, it makes it clear to the reader how far Cathy will go. Cathy is not bother by hurting a child and can be very intense. By using words such as wicked and fury Bronte creates a violent diction in her novel further proving that Wuthering Heights is a novel of violence. An essay written by Judith E. Pike describes the some of the physical violence that occurs and the novel. Pike describes the physical violence the Isabella Linton experienced at the hands of Heathcliff,
Presently, society is constructed in such a way that the upper class and the lower class cannot work to change places unless they are extremely fortunate. The ladder of society has always existed in this manner, and many authors have chosen to explore what pushing the constraints of a set society will do. In Wuthering Heights, a novel by Emily Brontë, the social constraints of the community in which the characters live, are constantly being pushed as the characters change social classes, through marriage and hard work, and in the treatment of other characters. The actions are often motivated by a superficial impression; many interactions between the characters are based on the influence of social classes, and the changes that shift the characters from one social class to another which Brontë occurs as an overlaying theme in the story. Brontë illustrates the differences in the classes using the literary devices of imagery, symbols, dialogue, and irony. A change in the social class for a certain character leads to a change in the interactions with that character.
In Emily Bronte’s legendary story, Wuthering Heights, everything is mostly centered on one character: Heathcliff. As the story moves through three stages, Heathcliff’s traits begin to change. Wuthering Heights captures the unique romance felt between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw. Heathcliff’s desire for Catherine consumes him, and eventually drives him to dark stages in his life. At the beginning of this story, Heathcliff is quite blissful. However, throughout the story he begins to fall deeper into the shadows of greed. At the story’s end, Heathcliff has shifted into an astonishingly evil man. Throughout the story, Heathcliff becomes a prime example of what love can do to a person.
Vengeance unleashes its utmost immoral behaviors in its perpetrators. And although its success brings temporary happiness, it ultimately rewards remorse. In the novel, Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte, the current tenant of Thrushcross Grange learns the history of the events that took place on the Yorkshire moors: the intense, dramatic romance between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, her betrayal of him, and Heathcliff’s resentful vengeance on the innocent heirs. In conversations of Bronte’s classic, Wuthering Heights, questions about the book’s meaning inevitably emerge. While many argue that the book focuses on love, others assert that the nature of redemption lies at the heart of the
The novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte tells a story of a man named Heathcliff who spends his whole life fueled by jealousy, revenge, and love. As a young boy, he and a girl named Catherine spend a lot of their time together. Heathcliff falls in love with Catherine and wants to pursue a marriage with her, however Catherine has other plans. Catherine is in love with a man named Edgar, but for all the wrong reasons. Thus begins the story of Heathcliff’s revenge.
Wuthering Heights is a novel written by Emily Brontë and is considered by many to be a straightforward and intense, love story. However, the story is truly about revenge and the ramifications of taking action on vengeful thoughts. It follows the life of Heathcliff, a mysterious, angry and sometimes malicious individual from childhood to his death in his late thirties. Heathcliff becomes well-loved by his dad in his adopted family, however after his adopted father’s death, he is reduced to the status of a servant and runs away when the woman he loves (Catherine Earnshaw) decides to marry another man (Edgar Linton). He returns later, rich and educated, and sets about gaining his revenge on the two families that he believed ruined his life.
Born in 1818, Emily Bronte, known as the Laureate of the Moors, feared that people would not read her novel because of her gender. When Bronte turned twenty-seven, she published Wuthering Heights. At approximately the same time, her two sisters, Charlotte and Anne, published their literary works. Looking at Emily Bronte’s Victorian novel, Wuthering Heights, this literary work seems to be yet another book about a grumpy man who tries to take revenge on everyone who hurts him throughout his life. Looking deeper into this novel, readers see that the story revolves around several complex characters who must endure indescribable pain and suffering in their quest for love. The Earnshaw family decides to make Heathcliff who is the primary
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.
In the haunting book Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, love, rejection, and revenge are the main topic points of this composition. Rejection is a very large factor in this book: Catherine rejects Heathcliff because he is poor, to marry Edgar for money, and she ends up rejecting him as well. But all that is on Heathcliff’s mind is Catherine’s rejection of him and the revenge he wants to get on Edgar and Hindley. Throughout the book, Heathcliff’s want for the love of Catherine and his feel of rejection with her get stronger and stronger as well when Catherine’s ghost ignores him. Though rejection is the theme and revenge is a large portion of Wuthering Heights, a main key point is love. The love Catherine has for Heathcliff, the love Catherine has for Edgar’s money, Edgar’s love for Catherine, and Heathcliff’s love for Catherine. Heathcliff’s entire existence is wildly obsessed with Catherine and her ghost after she passes. Although Wuthering Heights does have some lighthearted moments, rejection and a dark love, revenge, and the psychology behind it all are not happy-go-lucky. The characters in this novel all experience rejection, love, and revenge in different ways but Heathcliff and Catherine, whose passion for one another is an over abundance, are the characters who experience the most somber feelings of love and rejection which later cause the need for revenge.
In Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Catherine Earnshaw tells Nelly Deane that ‘[i]t would degrade me to marry Heathcliff’ (p. 94).
To begin with, the novel’s title, Wuthering Heights, demonstrates that Brontë wants to accentuate the idea of hostility. It is a direct indication to an unpleasant point, such as “hostility emerging from unrestricted exposure to whirling winds” (Analysis of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë). Furthermore, Bronte even states that “wuthering” refers to “the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather” (Brontë 2). Simultaneously, the explanation of the events and residents in Wuthering Heights is
In “Wuthering Heights” Emily Bronte vividly present the main character, Heathcliff, as misanthropist after he suffers abuse, degradation, and loses his beloved Catherine. Heathcliff, a black, orphan gipsy child, is brought to live in upper-class society by Mr. Earnshaw’s generosity. Heathcliff is an outcast in his new society. Thus, Heathcliff’s temperament is depicted in “Wuthering Heights” as cruel, abusive, and vindictive against those who humiliated and not accepted him in society.
For instance, he conducts physical violence to Cathy and Nelly after kidnapping and locking them in Wuthering Heights: he “administered a shower of terrific slaps” on Cathy’s head and smacked Nelly’s chest (Bronte 261). The imprisonment and “diabolical violence” parallel with Hindley’s maltreatment of Heathcliff when he used to imprison him in the attic. Revenge continues as a theme in producing more violence and repeating the same pattern of events throughout the story (Florman & Kestler). Heathcliff’s direct revenge towards Hindley takes place when Hindley tries to kill Heathcliff. Instead, the knife “closed into its owner’s wrist. Heathcliff pulled it away by main force, slitting up the flesh as it passed on, and thrust it dripping into his pocket” (Bronte 174). Through violence, Heathcliff manages to avenge his past as he claimed to do so as a child. Subsequently, Bronte uses the gothic element of violence to produce the major theme of the story,
The story, “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte, is a tale that surrounds vengeance, social divide, and most important love. The story also shows how far an individual will go in order to get what they desire whether it is good or bad. Bronte does a splendid job in creating complex characters that can shock the audience yet maintain a level of understanding between them. The character Heathcliff displays a prime example of a complex character that the audience would think twice on. The actions displayed by Heathcliff can be certainly seen as evil however, due to his presentation from the beginning as an innocent child who suffered to a cold cruel man in the end invokes the audience with a great sense of understanding and sympathetic response.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë explores the themes of love throughout the novel, which endorses a damaging and obsessive infatuation that brings about pain and despair for all characters included in the novel. The relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine can undoubtedly be seen by readers as the most important relationship in the novel, and their desire for one another is intricate and complicated. It can be argued that their longing for one another leads to Heathcliff’s ultimate revenge and obsession towards Catherine, highlighting the destruction of their love, not only destroying each other, but also everyone around them with their agonising romance. In fact, the novel is a revengeful love story of Heathcliff, the protagonist, and his obsession with his one true love, Catherine.
Emily Brontë, who wrote by the pen name of Ellis Bell, published a novel and dozens of poems purely with her experiences and imagination. Being one of three authors in her family, one of the most well known Brontë works was Wuthering Heights (Emily). In this story about revenge and love, a strange boy was adopted into a wealthy family called the Earnshaws. Mr. Earnshaw adores the boy and names him Heathcliff, but when Mr. Earnshaw dies, his son, Hindley, degrades Heathcliff. While doing this, Hindley keeps his younger sister, Catherine, away from Heathcliff. Later, Catherine ends up marrying another man, betraying Heathcliff’s love. Because of these events, Heathcliff was lead into a life of mysterious wealth, vengeance, and insanity. Emily Brontë experienced tragedy just as these characters have. Throughout Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, one can connect the characters’ experiences and personalities to Brontë’s own family, life, and career.