The Love Triangle In Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

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“The course of true love never did run smooth.” -William Shakespeare Love is a very complicated term and like Shakespeare wrote, it never runs smoothly. One mishap in love is a “he loves her, but she loves him” love triangle scenario. Ideas of love triangles in literature have dated back to even in Shakespeare’s works. For example, his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream is written based on a love triangle between Hermia, Lysander, and Demetrius. It is no surprise that Emily Bronte incorporates the love triangle into her novel Wuthering Heights. In the novel, Bronte uses the love triangle scenario to illustrate and define three major characters, Catherine, Edgar, and Heathcliff. Catherine and Heathcliff are introduced when Mr. Earnshaw brings Heathcliff home from a business trip. Despite being from different social castes, Catherine and Heathcliff spend almost all their time together in their youth. When Catherine was troublesome, her parents punished her by keeping her away from Heathcliff. Overtime, Heathcliff experiences immense love for Catherine and it keeps intensifying. In their relationship however, aggravation is still present; no one gets under her skin more than Heathcliff. His love for …show more content…

Catherine starves herself for three days. She is distraught that neither Edgar nor Heathcliff came toto her rescue. Talking to Heathcliff she says, "You and Edgar have broken my heart,"(160) placing the blame at their feet. While she was being honest with Heathcliff, not once did she say she regrets marrying Edgar, proving her want for wealth and power. Heathcliff says “you [Catherine] deserve this. You have killed yourself.” (162) Catherine wanted attention, but the attention she got was not what she wanted. Heathcliff changes his frustrated love to revenge, Catherine turns greed into a grave, and Edgar continues to

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