The tragedy of love in Emily Brontë’s classic
“I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!”
Wuthering Heights is a tragic romance written by Emily Brontë. It was considered extremely controversial when it was first published in 1847 due to its gothic and unconventional themes.
In Wuthering Heights, we see how self-destructive love can be. With the theme of love,hatred, revenge, obsession and social divide, it gives a haunting picture of the lives lived by the book characters set up in Victorian era England.
The two main characters, Heathcliff and Catherine, have a love so intense that it leads to their destruction and the destruction of those around them.
Heathcliff was brought into the Earnshaw family when he was a child, by Mr. Earnshaw the father of Catherine and Hindley. Mr. Earnshaw used to favor Heathcliff over Hindley, his own son, which sparked jealousy in Hindley.
Initially Catherine showed disdain for Heathcliff but as time went on they developed a deep and intense bond. Their relationship is more than what are normally considered romantic feelings, what they have is more than mere love or friendship; they're connected, their souls are alike.
Catherine says this about Heathcliff-
"I love him; and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."
Tragically when Mr Earnshaw died, Hindley became the master of Wuthering Heights. As Heathcliff didn't own anything himself, he was under the mercy of Hindley who exploited this.
Hindley turned Heathcliff into a manual labourer and a servant. This leads to Heathcliff having trouble keeping up with Catherine and her new wealthy friends "The Lintons".
As time went by, Catherine finds herself torn between her love for Heathcliff and the societal advancement she could get by marrying a Linton.
She once states-
"I was only going to say that heaven did not seem to be my home, and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth….. I've no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven; and if the wicked man (Hindley) in there had not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldn't have thought of it. It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now."
She eventually marries Edgar Linton. This heartbreak turns Heathcliff into a bitter and vengeful person. Consumed by this deep desire to take revenge, he does everything in his power to destroy the lives of people he thinks have wronged him, like Edgar Linton and Hindley.
Even the next generation is not spared by the consequences of Catherine and Heathcliff's love.
I picked up this book because I thought it might be similar to Pride & Prejudice or Jane Eyre (a book written by Emily Brontë's sister Charlotte Brontë). But it's totally different and a highly unique novel.
The start of this book is rather slow. We are first narrated by a tenant, Lockwood, who comes to visit Mr. Heathcliff (his landlord). Then we're mostly narrated by Ellen Dean (the family servant).
By these unreliable narrators Emily Brontë displays the complexity of the characters in the book. We learn about the whole story through someone who certainly has strong biases which creates ambiguity.
The ambiguity doesn't stop there, Wuthering Heights also doesn't have a clear villain or a hero; though it can be argued that the bad disposition of the main characters doesn't take away their title of Hero and Heroine. But I must mention, Heathcliff is considered by many as an Anti-hero (a main character who isn't entirely moral). In fact, Wuthering Heights is considered one of the early books which had an Anti-hero.
But who should be given the title of Villain is still one of the most controversial topics concerning Wuthering Heights. It's best to leave it to the reader to discern who is the villain.
But the one thing no one denies is the role love plays in this tragedy. Love at first bonds the main characters, but later becomes the reason for the demise of both of them.
Love as we see in Wuthering Heights proves that intense obsession and love can be detrimental.
Furthermore, Marriage is also shown in a negative light, as the characters that get married always end up in a sad situation.
Overall, I think it’s an exceptionally unique novel. I love it! It makes me feel all kinds of emotions.I sometimes absolutely adore Heathcliff and Catherine’s relationship, the next moment I’m more in awe of Edgar Linton. Every character is complex not only the main characters.
It can be annoying for someone who only likes to see the good side of love. With its gothic, morbid and revenge-packed plot, this surely is a unique classic piece.
I’ve not delved into great detail and tried not to give any spoilers because it’s a must-read and the plot and story of Wuthering Heights feels the best when discovered ourselves! Enjoy reading!
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