Wuthering Height - Research Paper Example

Wuthering Heights Introduction ‘Wuthering Heights, a novel by Emily Bronte is an incredibly intricate narrative. In it, we find generations of characters, stories that are full of stories and flashbacks that minute the plot about who married whom. The theme of love is dominantly explored in the novel (Bhattacharyya 93). Of such kind is the love between Heathcliff and Catherine that turns out to be self-destructive. A love triangle manifests in the theme of love. Therefore, this essay explores the theme of love and the character Heathcliff within the context of Bronte’s ‘Withering Heights’.

Theme of Love in Wuthering HeightsThe theme of love in the novel is predominantly discussed and becomes a link to other thematic issues like revenge. The nature of the love explored in the book is both brotherly and romantic but not erotic (Hagan and Wells 84). The theme involves both the major and minor characters in the novel. However, every love relationship in the novel gets strained at some point in time. Bronte explores the theme of love by making a contrast between good and evil. Despite the fact that the polarities between right and wrong are easily comprehensible, the differences between them cannot easily be applied to the characters and their actions.

The theme of love is best manifest in the relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine (Wasowski 77). Their love appears to take a nature that goes beyond the ordinary contemplation of what love entails in the contemporary world. The love between Heathcliff and Catherine takes a spiritual plane that supersedes any of the types ever found on earth. It is a love that is born out of rebellion and not their sexual desires. Heathcliff and Catherine do not understand the complex nature of their love and hence betray one another.

Each ends up marrying the people they do not like despite the knowledge of their love for one another. In effect, their relationship becomes self-destructive. The two lovers are in a precarious circumstance, with class divisions and passionate personalities. The two are kept asunder in the hopelessness of a situation that drives them to self-destruction. Catherine and Heathcliff put each other through a pain that is atoned for to an extent when the two come to share a brief moment of harmony.

Trapped between her love for Heathcliff and Edgar, Catherine sets the two men on a path of destruction and hatred (Mezo 17). However, Catherine gets attracted to Heathcliff because of his fiery personality on a deep level that makes them appear soul mates. The theme of love regains continuity in another generation between Heathcliffs son Linton and Catherines daughter Cathy. Similarly, the union that Heathcliff had bestowed much hope is thwarted by death too. The love between Heathcliff and Catherine post-humously continues when Catherine’s spirit comes to Heathcliff purportedly causing his death.

Bronte contrasts love and hatred in the novel. Heathcliff comes to hate several people with a vengeance. He hates Edgar, Hindley, and to a certain extent Catherine. This hate makes a link to the theme of vengeance in the text.Heathcliff has Byronic and Romantic traits that lead him to love and later seek revenge. His romantic character makes him get attracted so much to Catherine (Varghese 46). Heathcliff is a savage in that he is untouched by social norms where the author contrasts between nature and society.

He is portrayed as a Byronic hero with dark characteristics in romance. Heathcliff is brooding and is ostracized from the society in some way. He is an arrogant character. However, he is highly aware of himself and intelligent.ConclusionThe theme of love is explored in the novel ‘Withering Heights’ in a manner that makes it a complicated affair. Although there is a deep love between Heathcliff and Catherine, their relationship results to self-destruction. Love is taken as an intergenerational affair, and that involves a love triangle, the primary cause of hatred and subsequently vengeance.

Works CitedBhattacharyya, Jibesh. Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 2007. Print.Hagan, Sandra, and Juliette Wells. The Bronte’s In the World of the Arts. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate, 2008. Print.Mezo, Richard E. A Students Guide to Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronteˆ. Parkland, Fla.: Brown Walker Press, 2002. Print.Varghese, Dr. Lata Marina. Stylistic Analysis of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. IOSRJHSS 2.5 (2012): 46-50. Web.Wasowski, Richard.

Cliffsnotes Wuthering Heights. 2011. Print.