Nature and Culture in Withering Heights - Essay Example

Nature and Culture in Wuthering Heights Refinement and culture is the hallmark of human civilization; however, natural instincts in human beings are still latent and very powerful, and possess the potential to become destructive when they are not harnessed properly. This is illustrated in Emily Bronte’s eighteenth century classic Wuthering Heights (1847), as the power play between estates of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. This essay shall argue that nature and culture are metaphors through which the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange are described; the former as possessing unbridled wildness, while the latter are portrayed as passionless, educated, rich, and class-conscious. The following pages shall cite examples to explain the above, and illustrate that, the movement between the two houses is a ploy to bring out the power struggle between the conflict between nature and culture, with Cathy’s journey being one of restoring equilibrium between the two. Wuthering Heights vs. Thrushcross Grange Nadia Attia, a film journalist, comments on the adaptation of Bronte’s novel into a movie that, “Nature itself is as much a character on screen as Heathcliff and Cathy, with North Yorkshire’s stunning landscapes influencing the way Arnold represented 19th century life” (Attia 1). Indeed, the first thing that strikes the reader about the estate of Wuthering Heights is its location; it is placed overlooking the moors wherein the “power of the north wind blowing over the edge” is so intense that the building had to be “strong”; likewise,the inhabitants who were unpredictable due to the loss of love in their lives, the “range of gaunt thorns [appeared to grow] all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the sun” (Bronte 2). Social activity here was minimal with desolation filling most part of its inhabitants’ lives, while Thrushcross Grange itself appeared more warm and habitable, with plentiful social activities taking place there. The polish and careful cultivation that is an everyday routine at the Grange is conspicuously absent in Wuthering Heights. Thus the buildings themselves reflect the nature of the dwellers and vice-versa in the novel. The inhabitants, starting from Hindley and Catherine Earnshaw, Heathcliff and Hareton Earnshaw all portray anger, jealousy, stubbornness, love, passion, hard-work and strength undisguisedly; Heathcliff especially is bent upon taking revenge on Hindley and Edgar Linton, and quite ruthless in his manner. This can be seen in the way he refuses to educate Hareton Earnshaw, reduces him to the level of a servant even though he is actually the rightful inheritor of Wuthering Heights, and even forces Cathy Linton to marry Linton Heathcliff (who is already sickly), just so that he will be able to control Thruscross Grange, after Edgar dies. His love for Catherine Earnshaw is barely concealed, even after her marriage to Edgar Linton. On his sudden reappearance, Heathcliff says unabashedly, “just to have one glimpse of your face, a stare of surprise, perhaps, and pretended pleasure; afterwards settle my score with Hindley;” (Bronte 96). Similarly, Catherine Earnshaw is shown as passionate and stubborn, sometimes uncontrollable. She first declares to Nelly that [Edgar] “he will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighbourhood, and [by marriage] I shall be proud of having such a husband” (Bronte 78) while shortly declaring that she is not only in love with Heathcliff, but much more, they are made of the same soul, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same” (Bronte 80). She boxes Edgar’s ears and then accepts to marry him; she challenges Edgar to fight with Heathcliff and throws the key of the door into the fireplace, all this pointing to the strong and sometimes rough nature that rules her heart. In contrast, the Lintons’ are always shown as the epitome of education, good-manners and culture. Mrs. Linton even teaches Catherine Earnshaw how to conduct herself like a young lady when the latter stays at the Grange after the dog-bite. Edgar Linton is also described by Catherine Earnshaw as “handsome”, “young and cheerful” and most importantly “rich”. Everything about the Linton household is well organized and they are extremely class-conscious, and they remark on seeing little Catherine with Heathcliff as “culpable carelessness” of Hindley Earnshaw, who allowed his sister to grow up in “absolute heathenism” with the “gypsy” who was a “wicked boy” (Bronte 48). They scorn the rustic and uneducated manners of the Wuthering Heights dwellers and this turns into deep dislike and hate later when Heathcliff comes back to Catherine and courts Isabella Linton openly, and Edgar calls Heathcliff’s visits “moral poison that would contaminate the most virtuous”. However, the weakness of culture is also exposed, when Catherine scorns at Edgar to fight Heathcliff by fair means, “If you have not courage to attack him, make an apology, or allow yourself to be beaten. It will correct you of feigning more valour than you possess” (Bronte 114-5); Edgar does not fight Heathcliff but calls for his armed servants instead, intensifying the need for vengeance in the latter. Catherine and Heathcliff are portrayed as forces of nature, much like the house that they inhabit, rough may be, but strong, unchanging and passionate with little concern for the careful, cultivated, manners of the cultured and civilized society that the Lintons’ and their estate Thrushcross Grange so illustrate. This is also seen in the manner in which Heathcliff and Catherine utterly disregard all else in their need to be with each other; her apparitions continue to haunt Heathcliff even after her death, until finally, he too joins her in his death. Thus, Bronte has skilfully used nature and culture as metaphors to depict the conflict between the two families. Uneven Power Play Emily Bronte has subtly brought out the multi-dimensional power in-equations that existed in Victorian England, in various ways. The differences between the haves and have-nots, the educated and the less educated, the nobility and the commoner, the landlord and the farmer, are all inherently understood through the voice of the protagonists, in this case, Lockwood and Ellen Dean. The social stratification of class is visible at the very beginning it self, when the “gypsy” boy is brought in by the kind-hearted elder Earnshaw. He is described by the Wuthering Heights household as being “dirty, ragged, black-haired child” and had apprehensions regarding his origins. While this is so, the Lintons’ who are socially upscale and more wealthy and respected than the Earnshaws, are pictured as chiding Hindley Earnshaw for not taking proper care of his sister and allowing her to wander off the country side with an urchin boy. Even Catherine Earnshaw states that she cannot marry Heathcliff because it would “degrade” her to marry Heathcliff  (Bronte 80), displaying how important money and class was in that era. Even when Heathcliff returns after three years with money, he is still not readily accepted into the two households; while Hindley wants to manipulate and take hold of Heathcliff’s money, Edgar clearly is unhappy about the “ploughboy’s” return; it is Ellen who gives a vivid description of the transformed Heathcliff, as contrasted with her present master, Edgar Linton: “He had grown a tall, athletic, well-formed man, beside whom my master seemed quite slender and youth-like. His upright carriage suggested the idea of his having been in the army. His countenance was much older in expression and decision of feature than Mr. Linton's; it looked intelligent, and retained no marks of former degradation. A half-civilized ferocity lurked yet in the depressed brows and eyes full of black fire, but it was subdued, and his manner was even dignified -- quite divested of roughness, though too stern for grace”. (Bronte 95) Furthermore, Ellen Dean herself, who is a servant, remains unchanged in position or status, despite being more than a housekeeper to many members of both the households. She is a confidante of Catherine Earnshaw, one who understands Hindley’s feeling of neglect for some time, a good nurse and sympathizer to Heathcliff, a good friend of Isabella Linton, a foster mother to Hareton Earnshaw and Cathy Linton. She continues to be in the same level as did her mother – who was a nurse to Hindley Earnshaw (Bronte 34-5). Gender inequalities even in the upper classes, are all too obvious in the novel. Isabella Linton is treated very cruelly by her husband from the time she gets married to him “I assure you a tiger or a venomous serpent could not rouse terror in me equal to that which he wakens” (Bronte 145). Ellen Dean, despite being a trusted friend of Catherine, is slapped by the latter. Cathy Linton too is reduced to the level of a servant, despite being the daughter of Edgar Linton by Heathcliff. In general, women are considered to rank lower than men across all classes and only a few strong-willed women claim special attention, like for example, Catherine Earnshaw and Catherine Linton towards, the end. A gentle mockery of religious hypocrisy is shown through servant Joesph, who gives sermons to Catherine and Heathcliff, while cursing and swearing in the foulest language from the Bible itself. Thus, throughout the story, the unevenness of power distribution is understood. It story revolves around the wrong-doings of the characters fuelled by one, taking revenge on the other, through three generations. The Journey of Cathy Linton in Restoring Equilibrium Feeling of hatred and revenge is hardly absent from the plot. The elder Earnshaw warns Hindley of his jealously towards Hindley and sends him away to college. Hindley Earnshaw views “Heathcliff as a usurper of his parent's affections and his privileges, and he grew bitter with brooding over these injuries” (Bronte 36); he reduces Heathcliff to the position of a servant and stops his education, treats him badly, and insults him at every instance. This continues into the third generation when Hindley dies, Hareton is made to work and ill-treated by Heathcliff the same way as Heathcliff was treated by Hindley. At another angle, Heathcliff also thirsts for revenge on Edgar, and despite Linton being his own son, Heathcliff “seemed to dislike him ever longer and worse” (Bronte 211) and hardly treats him with affection. This is because the younger Linton is more like Edgar and Isabella with his “white complexion”, “thin frame” and languid eyes” (Bronte 206) and was weakly and “a tiresome inmate” (Bronte 211) lacking the strength or toughness that Heathcliff himself was made of. He forces young Cathy to marry sickly Linton immediately so as to get hold of the Grange. His injustice to young Cathy causes her to retort to him, “Mr. Heathcliff, you have nobody to love you; and however miserable you make us, we shall still have the revenge of thinking that your cruelty arises from your greater misery” (Bronte 288). However, it is young Cathy, who has the refined culture of Edgar naturally, combined with the looks and sweetness of her mother, devoid of the compulsions of vengeance, who resets the balance. Though she mocks at Hareton’s crudeness and illiteracy initially, she realizes towards the end that she has wronged him, and nurses him back to health when he accidentally shoots himself and soon after they make a pact that Cathy will not tease him anymore, and he will learn to read from her (Bronte 314). Their friendship grows, devoid of any poison that plagued the earlier relationships; they were even, both orphaned, both reduced to workers even though they were the heirs to their properties, and both needed love; with Hareton learning to read and write, and Cathy learning to view him for what he holds out to her rather than his status, the unevenness seemed to vanish and meet a balance in their love. Even Heathcliff seems to identify Catherine in both of them, and thereby no longer feels the necessity of taking revenge anymore. In the end, Heathcliff too seems to be released from his desolation and misery when he finally in death he seems to unite with his love - Catherine, since he has let go of his craving for vengeance. Thereby, young Catherine’s journey has been one of fulfilling and repairing all the injustices of the past. Conclusion In Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights (1847) nature and culture are used as powerful metaphors that depict the conflicts between the two neighbourhood families, Heathcliff and the Lintons’. Even though culture, as exemplified by Thrushcross Grange, is attractive and comfortable, it cannot be compared to the unbound power of the natural as symbolized by Wuthering Heights; the struggle between the raw, undisguised, force inherent in the latter and the weak, passionless, cultivated demeanour of the former is uneven, as depicted by the author, and ultimately nature restores equilibrium, after taking its toll. Bronte’s expert portrayal of characters, make them compelling and almost real. List of Works cited Attia, Nadia (2011). “Wuthering Heights: Love in a Cruel World – Article” in CornerHouse Online version available at http://www.cornerhouse.org/film/film-news/article-wuthering-heights-love-in-a-cruel-world Bronte, Emily (1847). Wuthering Heights Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. 1993. Online version available at http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=BroWuth.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=teiHeader Read More

She boxes Edgar’s ears and then accepts to marry him; she challenges Edgar to fight with Heathcliff and throws the key of the door into the fireplace, all this pointing to the strong and sometimes rough nature that rules her heart. In contrast, the Lintons’ are always shown as the epitome of education, good-manners and culture. Mrs. Linton even teaches Catherine Earnshaw how to conduct herself like a young lady when the latter stays at the Grange after the dog-bite. Edgar Linton is also described by Catherine Earnshaw as “handsome”, “young and cheerful” and most importantly “rich”.

Everything about the Linton household is well organized and they are extremely class-conscious, and they remark on seeing little Catherine with Heathcliff as “culpable carelessness” of Hindley Earnshaw, who allowed his sister to grow up in “absolute heathenism” with the “gypsy” who was a “wicked boy” (Bronte 48). They scorn the rustic and uneducated manners of the Wuthering Heights dwellers and this turns into deep dislike and hate later when Heathcliff comes back to Catherine and courts Isabella Linton openly, and Edgar calls Heathcliff’s visits “moral poison that would contaminate the most virtuous”.

However, the weakness of culture is also exposed, when Catherine scorns at Edgar to fight Heathcliff by fair means, “If you have not courage to attack him, make an apology, or allow yourself to be beaten. It will correct you of feigning more valour than you possess” (Bronte 114-5); Edgar does not fight Heathcliff but calls for his armed servants instead, intensifying the need for vengeance in the latter. Catherine and Heathcliff are portrayed as forces of nature, much like the house that they inhabit, rough may be, but strong, unchanging and passionate with little concern for the careful, cultivated, manners of the cultured and civilized society that the Lintons’ and their estate Thrushcross Grange so illustrate.

This is also seen in the manner in which Heathcliff and Catherine utterly disregard all else in their need to be with each other; her apparitions continue to haunt Heathcliff even after her death, until finally, he too joins her in his death. Thus, Bronte has skilfully used nature and culture as metaphors to depict the conflict between the two families. Uneven Power Play Emily Bronte has subtly brought out the multi-dimensional power in-equations that existed in Victorian England, in various ways.

The differences between the haves and have-nots, the educated and the less educated, the nobility and the commoner, the landlord and the farmer, are all inherently understood through the voice of the protagonists, in this case, Lockwood and Ellen Dean. The social stratification of class is visible at the very beginning it self, when the “gypsy” boy is brought in by the kind-hearted elder Earnshaw. He is described by the Wuthering Heights household as being “dirty, ragged, black-haired child” and had apprehensions regarding his origins.

While this is so, the Lintons’ who are socially upscale and more wealthy and respected than the Earnshaws, are pictured as chiding Hindley Earnshaw for not taking proper care of his sister and allowing her to wander off the country side with an urchin boy. Even Catherine Earnshaw states that she cannot marry Heathcliff because it would “degrade” her to marry Heathcliff  (Bronte 80), displaying how important money and class was in that era. Even when Heathcliff returns after three years with money, he is still not readily accepted into the two households; while Hindley wants to manipulate and take hold of Heathcliff’s money, Edgar clearly is unhappy about the “ploughboy’s” return; it is Ellen who gives a vivid description of the transformed Heathcliff, as contrasted with her present master, Edgar Linton: “He had grown a tall, athletic, well-formed man, beside whom my master seemed quite slender and youth-like.

His upright carriage suggested the idea of his having been in the army.

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