Two of the most distinguished novels in 19th century England include Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Both of these novels illuminate the lives of the Aristocracy of England and the dramas and errors the class makes for love and importance. In Wuthering Heights, Bronte tells the dark love tale of Heathcliff and Catherine. Contrastingly, Austen’s classic novel focuses on a lighter more vapid side of upper class England. Regardless, both authors create characters that both annoy and endear readers. A primary comparison can be drawn between Lydia Bennet of Pride and Prejudice and Catherine Earnshaw of Wuthering Heights. While each are distinct in their own way, both female characters show some of the same mentalities and make very similar choices.
A primary example of the similarities between Catherine and Lydia is their impulsiveness. In Pride and Prejudice, Lydia runs away to marry the deceitful soldier Wickham. Similarly, Catherine marries her affluent neighbor Edgar Linton. Both of their decisions to marry show how they truly live for their own pleasure. Lydia marries Wickham primarily to lord her marriage over her sisters. Also, Lydia believes that Wickham will be able to provide a glamorous lifestyle for her. Catherine marries Edgar Linton believing that it will be best for her as he is wealthy and handsome and is her only option as it seems Heathcliff will not return to her. Marriage for the two ladies is simply another way for them to be taken care of while still living rather vapidly. Their impulsiveness is allowed to flourish because of the environments that they are in.
Catherine and Lydia are raised in environments where they are taught to behave li...
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...loved the idea of being married to Wickham. In the end it is Catherine’s love for Heathcliff which slightly redeems her for all the pain she has caused him, her husband and all the others forced to put up with her.
In conclusion, Catherine Earnshaw and Lydia Bennet enact similar behaviors but end their stories with different results. While both act recklessly, their motives for doing so vary greatly. Lydia acts mostly to make her life more interesting for herself while Catherine acts to ease her own pain from a love that she has kept herself from. Wuthering Heights gives its female characters dark lives and even darker ends whereas Pride and Prejudice allows its characters to truly enjoy love. Both Jane Austen and Emily Bronte wrote highly acclaimed classics of English literature which have continued to thrive and teach for the past two centuries.
The Regency Period in England was an extravagant era often associated with prominent social, political, economic, and artistic advancements. It took place in the early 1800’s and was a time of much elegance and aristocracy. Movies and books set in this time period all seem to highlight the elegance and romance that was prevalent at the time. Famous Regency Era literary works, such as Pride and Prejudice, portray young English women getting their happily-ever-after endings with their true loves. Unfortunately, such endings did not actually happen to real women of the era because they lived very austere and vapid lives. They hardly had a choice in many of their lives’ decisions and had little to no career options. These women were raised from birth to be lady-like, obedient, and agreeable in order to attract respectable men to marry, as they were fully dependant on men. Women were essentially treated as property passed on from their fathers to their husbands. They had many restrictions placed on them and often weren’t even allowed to walk outside without proper accompaniment. Because the expectations placed on women were so rigid and absurd, some feminist authors from the time ridiculed these social standards in their writing. Famous novelist Jane Austen was known for satirizing many social customs of the Regency Period in her romantic fiction novels, placing a special emphasis on women’s rights. Pride and Prejudice in particular depicted protagonist Elizabeth Bennet as a smart, headstrong, free thinking individual who didn’t let negative outside forces sway her beliefs. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen challenges the social propriety and creates her own ideals for women through Elizabeth Bennet’s independence, intelligence, and stron...
In both stories, Catherine and Daphne are much alike in that they are the point around which the two men in their lives dance circles around. Catherine and Daphne are both willful, doing as they please, Catherine fostering her love for Heathcliff, and Daphne secretly seeing Hari Kumar. "At fifteen, she [Catherine] was the queen of the country-side; she had no peer, and she did turn out to be a haughty, headstrong creature" (WH, p. 51). And of Daphne, "She had to make her own marvelous mis...
In conclusion Emily Bronte employs the literary devices of repetition and anthesis to make closure for the wild love of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff with the union of Hareton and Cathy’s love.With the characters being so similar the reader can't help to tie these sets of doubles together making Catherine’s and Heathcliff's forbidden love acceptable with the peaceful relationship of Cathy’s and Haretons relationship.
Heathcliff's love for Catherine transcends the normal physical "true love" into spiritual love. He can withstand anything against him to be with her. After Hindley became the master of Wuthering Heights, he flogged Heathcliff like a slave. Although Heathcliff could have simply run away, his decision to endure the physical pains shows his unrelenting devotion to Catherine. Fortunately, Catherine feels as deeply for Heathcliff as he does for her, explaining to Nelly that "Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same…" Their love for each other is so passionate that they can not possibly live apart. At Catherine's death, Heathcliff hopes that she will not rest, but will haunt him until he dies. This absurdity contradicts the traditional norm that one should pray that the dead rest in peace. Near the end of the novel, we learn that Catherine has haunted Heathcliff, allowing him only fleeting glances of her. This shows that despite their physical separation, nothing can part them spiritually. When Heathcliff dies and unites with Catherine once again, the neighbors see them haunt the moors. We finally see the power of their love; Not only does this love transcend physical barriers, it transcends time as well...
In Wuthering Heights, it described vividly the goal of Heathcliff and Catherine, who wanted to be with one and another. However, when Catherine rejected Heathcliff, he turned his potential of dream of good into evil. It also reflected the Heathcliff was prejudged by Mrs. Earnshaw, Hindley, Edgar, Mr. and Mrs. Linton. It also showed that love and hate between Heathcliff and Catherine made their relationships quite intense.
The complicated nature surrounding Heathcliff’s motives again adds an additional degree of ambiguity to his character. This motivation is primarily driven by Catherine’s marriage to Edgar and past rejection of Heathcliff, since he was a servant whom Hindley disapproved of. Prior to storming out of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff overhears Catherine say, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now…” (Brontë 87). The obstacles that ultimately prevent Heathcliff from marrying Catherine provide insight into Heathcliff’s desire to bring harm to Edgar and Hindley. The two men play prominent roles in the debacle, Edgar as the new husband and Hindley as the head figure who refused Heathcliff access to Catherine. Following this incident, Catherine says, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same…” (Brontë 87). Catherine’s sentiment indicates she truly would rather be with Heathcliff, but the actions of others have influenced her monumental decision to marry Edgar. Furthermore, Heathcliff is motivated to not only ruin Edgar’s livelihood, but also gain ownership of his estate, Thrushcross Grange. This becomes clear when Heathcliff attempts to use Isabella
Catherine Earnshaw appears to be a woman who is free spirited. However, Catherine is also quite self-centered. She clearly states that her love for Edgar Linton does not match how much she loves Heathcliff. She is saying that she does love both, and she is unwilling to give one up for the other; she wants “Heathcliff for her friend”. Catherine admits that her love for Linton is “like the foliage in the woods”; however, her love for Heathcliff “resembles the eternal rocks beneath”. She loves Heathcliff and yet she gives him up and marries Linton instead, Catherine believes that if she marries Heathcliff it would degrade and humiliate her socially.
Catherine is trapped between her love of Heathcliff and her love for Edgar, setting the two men down a path of destruction, a whirlwind of anger and resentment that Catherine gets caught in the middle of. Catherine is drawn to Heathcliff because of his fiery personality, their raw attraction and one certainly gets the sense that they are drawn together on a deeper level, that perhaps they are soulmates. C. Day Lewis thought so, when he declared that Heathcliff and Catherine "represent the essential isolation of the soul...two halves of a single soul–forever sundered and struggling to unite." This certainly seems to be backed up in the novel when Catherine exclaims “Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind--not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being...” This shows clearly the struggle Catherine feels as she is drawn spiritually to Heathcliff, but also to Edgar for very different reasons. Edgar attracts Catherine predominantly because he is of the right social class. Catherine finds him "handsome, and pleasant to be with," but her feelings for him seem petty when compared to the ones she harbours...
...e between Catherine, Heathcliff, and Edgar. The actions that these three took as a result of this affected each other and their children greatly. The forced “love” that existed between the relationships of Edgar and Catherine and Catherine II and Linton is one type of love to the novel. The absence of love in the marriage of Isabella and Heathcliff adds another depth to the story. The great love that caused Hindley to result to alcoholism following his wife’s death adds another form of love to Wuthering Heights. The “happy-ending” love between Catherine II and Hareton is another type of love within this novel. Finally, the love between Catherine and Heathcliff that began as a love between playmates in childhood and transformed to obsession following Catherine’s death is a powerful type of love in this story that affects all of the rest of the characters.
Since there is not a lot of information known about Emily Bronte, people have speculated on how Wutheirng Heights came to be written by Emily. When Mr. Bronte returned from a trip on time, he brought Emily’s brother, Branwell, a box of wooden soldiers. The Bronte siblings began writing stories and plays about these soldiers, which some have said influenced Emily’s writing of Wuthering Heights later on in her life (Vine 6). Harold Bloom believes that “early marriage and early death [which are seen in Wutheirng Heights] are thoroughly High Romantic, and emerge from the legacy of Shelley, dead at thwenty-nine, and of Byron, martyred to the cause of Greek independence at thiry-six” (Bloom 8). Maggie Bewrg suggests that the character of Heathcliff was influencecd by “Byron’s anti-heroes, although he outdoes the Byronic hero in his romantic rebellion” (5). Because there is not much information on Emily, her influences for the book are just speculation.
In Wuthering Heights, Brontë does not idealize love; she presents it realistically, with all its faults and merits. She shows that love is a powerful force which can be destructive or redemptive. Heathcliff has an all-consuming passion for Catherine. When she chooses to marry Edgar, his spurned love turns into a destructive force, motivating him to enact revenge and wreak misery. The power of Heathcliff’s destructive love is conquered by the influence of another kind of love.
(4) Wuthering Heights’s mood is melancholy and tumultuous. As a result, the book gives off a feeling of sorrow and chaos. For example, Catherine’s marriage with Edgar Linton made Heathcliff jealous and angry. In retaliation, Heathcliff married Edgar’s sister, Isabella, to provoke Catherine and Edgar. Heathcliff and Isabella’s marriage ignited a chaotic uproar with Edgar and Catherine because Linton disapproved of Heathcliff’s character, and Catherine loved Heathcliff in spite of being married to Edgar. Inside, Catherine wanted to selfishly keep Heathcliff to herself. Their relationships all had tragic endings because Catherine died giving birth to Edgar’s child. Isabella also died, leaving behind her young son. Heathcliff and Edgar resented each other because of misery they experienced together. The transition of the mood in the story is from chaotic to somber.
During the first half of the book, Catherine showed different types of love for two different people. Her love for Heathcliff was her everything, it was her identity to love and live for Heathcliff but as soon as she found out how society views Heathcliff, she sacrificed their love and married Edgar Linton in the hopes of saving Heathcliff from Hindley and protecting him from the eyes of society. In her conversation with Nelly, Cathy who professed her love for Heathcliff quoted “My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff's miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning: my great thought in living is himself.” Catherine proved Nelly Dean that the only person who can make her feel pain and sorrow is Heathcliff. The extent of her love was uncovered when she sang her praise of “I am Heathcliff” because this was the turning point in the book that allowed the readers to truly understand and see the depth of Cathy's love for Heathcliff. On the other hand, Catherine's love for Edgar wasn't natural because it was a love that she taught herself to feel. It might have come unknowingly to Cathy but she did love Edgar as she said “My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees.” Cathy knew that it was not impossible to love Edgar for he was a sweet and kind gentleman who showed her the world but unlike ...
After a realization of his true noble personality, Elizabeth then found true love with Mr. Darcy, which cannot be said for the beautiful Catherine Earnshaw, in Wuthering Heights, who is a daughter from a gentry family. At a very young age, an orphan named Heathcliff joined the Earnshaw family. Both Catherine and Healthcliff have been madly in love with one another since then. One would expect them to marry due to their strong attraction for one another but because Catherine has an immature desire for social advancement, she married Edgar Linton, instead of Heathcliff. Catherine is a very spoiled socialite which very well contradicts the honest and virtuous Elizabeth Bennet, but although they make different decisions and are different as a person, both these free-spirited women want to choose their own future that satisfies their desires.
Emily Bronte, who never had the benefit of former schooling, wrote Wuthering Heights. Bronte has been declared as a “romantic rebel” because she ignored the repressive conventions of her day and made passion part of the novelistic tradition. Unlike stereotypical novels, Wuthering Heights has no true heroes or villains.