Wuthering Heights Love

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Although banned by many, and put on a shelf for many years, Wuthering Heights still delivers the shock value which is anticipated when reading books written in the 1800’s. Daughter of a clergy man, Emily Bronte the nom de plume of the author Ellis Bell, penned Wuthering Heights and left British society in an uproar due to the content within the pages while having touched upon forbidden love, the supernatural, dark passion, incest, race, and women’s rights. Due to the scandalous nature of Wuthering Heights, it was buried for many years and was not praised for its’ brilliant writing until much later by literary critics. Even today, there are some communities which still have Wuthering Heights banned, but society should ask; why is it that disturbing realities captive the human mind and make them want more, but as distorted as love can be, Wuthering Heights is a giant when it comes to love stories.

When reading Wuthering Heights one is naturally drawn to the love story, as sad and perverse as it may appear on its face, the torrid affairs and events which came about through primarily through the very selfish, self-centered, and sadistic individuals Catherine and Heathcliff, as the two of them destroyed lives of the people that were involved with them. What started out innocently with Mr. Earnshaw loving an orphan boy, whom he named Heathcliff, and taking him into his family as a son, soon turned into jealousy and conflict between his natural born children and Heathcliff. Hindley, natural born son of Earnshaw and the brother of Catherine, hated Heathcliff from the day he arrived the manor at Wuthering Heights. At every opportunity Hindley scoffed at the love his father felt for the “dark skinned” boy and shamed his father at ...

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...pe of love, including the love of their own children and never put their own children’s needs above their own greedy need for the insatiable, unfillable and relentless feelings of obsessive love.

All in all, the love centered relationships of Wuthering Heights may not be what society considers healthy but it does fall within the meaning of love in different aspects throughout the novel. From the innocent love to a distorted view of obsession, Wuthering Heights will open the eyes, appall, enrage, and give a whole new meaning to love with each chapter. It is up to the reader’s own interpretation as to whether or not they believe that the relationships between the parties is true love, hate, obsessive love, or a twisted and distorted view of what society calls love.

Reference(s)

Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. 1847. New York: Penguin Books, 2003.

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