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relationship analysis
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Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and Maurice by E.M. Forster
An interesting plot isn’t always enough to make a novel a good piece
of literature. It’s the believability of the characters that ensnares
the reader into the world that the author has created. As characters
develop, so do their interactions with one another. In Wuthering
Heights by Emily Bronte and Maurice by E.M. Forster, each novel’s main
characters have relationships which shape the story with their
uniquely definable characteristics. The relationships between
Catherine and Heathcliff, as well as Maurice and Alec both say
different things about the fundamental nature of a relationship, the
validity of union between different classes, and the idea that “love
conquers all.”
Whether we consider the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff
in Wuthering Heights to be successful is not the focus of this
discussion, instead it is the nature of their relationship. Ever
since childhood the two were best of friends and shared a very close
bond. Illustrating this, in Chapter 9 Catherine says, “It would
degrade me to marry Heathcliff, now; so he shall never know how I love
him…because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made
of, his and mine are the same, and Linton’s is as different as a
moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.” (page 80) The
relationship between Edgar and Catherine is not one based on “true
love”, unlike her relationship with Heathcliff. The definition of
“true love” is something which could spawn its own thesis, but in this
example we can take it to mean that Catherine’s relationship with
Heathcliff contains a more real and c...
... middle of paper ...
...ire; even with no seemingly logical reason for
Alec and Maurice to come together, they do anyway. Forster’s want for
this ending is almost too apparent as it makes the ending to Maurice
seem rushed, unrealistic, and leaves the development of their
relationship left to be desired.
Without exception, characters and their interactions are what make the
story. Not only do these interactions drive plot, but the way these
relationships are constructed govern so much more. In Bronte’s
Wuthering Heights and Forster’s Maurice, the main couples are used by
the author to comment on relationship fundamentals, the effect of
class differences on couples, and the classic idea that “love conquers
all.” One would be hard-pressed to find two couples that differed in
more ways than Catherine and Heathcliff do from Maurice and Alec.
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek to find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
At Gateshead Jane Eyre grew up with her malicious cousins and Aunt. This fictitious location is placed in a part of England north to London. The name Gateshead has significant meaning in the book. This location was the “gateway” to the rest of the world. Also, this is where Jane grew up, so evidentially it was the “head” or beginning of all her tribulations in life. Throughout the rest of the book, all that Jane has to deal with is linked back to her childhood there at Gateshead. Abused verbally and physically by her Aunt and cousins, Jane felt an outsider among her kinsmen. She was ostracized by Aunt Reed from the rest of the family. At one point when her Aunt became extremely oppressive, she locked adolescent Jane into the dreaded “red room”, where Mr. Reed had died. She was frightened that his spirit haunted the room. Jane clearly describes how she feels when saying, “…I lifted my head and tried to look boldly round the dark room: at that moment a light gleamed on the wall. Was it, I asked myself, a ray from the moon penetrating some aperture I the blind? No; moonlight was still, and this stirred: while I gazed, it glided up to the ceiling and quivered over my heard… I thought the swift-darting beam was a herald of some coming vision from another world. My heart beat thick, my head grew hot…I was oppressed, suffocated: endurance broke down-I uttered a wild, involuntary cry-I rushed to the door and shook the lock in desperate effort.” (Bronte 17-18) Once Bessie came to rescue Jane’s, Aunt Reed to decided maliciously punish her for crying out and even went to say, “Let her go…loose Bessie’s hand child: you cannot succeed in getting out by these means, be assured. I abhor artifice, particularly in children; it is my duty to s...
Emily Bronte wrote only one novel in her life. Wuthering Heights written under her pen name, Ellis Bell, was published in 1847. Although, Wuthering Heights is said to be the most imaginative and poetic of all the Bronte's novels, Emily's book was not as popular as her older sister, Charlotte's, new release, Jane Eyre ("Bronte Sisters" 408). In looking at Bronte's writings, the major influences were her family, her isolation growing up, and her school experiences.
In a failed attempt to discourage Isabella Linton’s budding desire for Heathcliff in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Nelly Dean does not hesitate in standing behind Catherine’s assertion that he would destroy Isabella if she were to pursue him romantically: “She is better acquainted with his heart than I, or any one besides,” Nelly warns, “and she would never represent him as worse than he is” (103). While Nelly’s plea falls upon deaf ears, her admission rings true—if there is anyone in Wuthering Heights with more insight on Heathcliff’s actions and motives, it is Catherine Earnshaw. Had Brontë aimed to interrogate Heathcliff’s individual growth and regression in Wuthering Heights, Catherine may have narrated the tale, but as the original
...f’s connection, it is difficult to decide if it is really worth the troubles it is causing. The only two people that can decide if the ends justify the means are Catherine and Heathcliff themselves. However, is it really fair for two people who obviously find more happiness in themselves and each other to care about anybody else, be hands in fate for others? A difficulty in life is to find someone who makes one happy without making anybody else upset. Emily Brontë clearly demonstrates in her novel that it is difficult sometimes does not exist because the two people in love find each other, but cannot be with each other without causing sorrow. Catherine and Heathcliff are one of the most romantic couples, because the tragedy is not the pain that they inflict on others, it is the pain that they inflict on themselves and each other on account of their disastrous karma.
Wuthering Heights seems to be a series of destructive decisions. Heathcliff and Catherine never achieve a life of happiness together; their actions cannot lead to a blissful ending. The other characters are guilty of creating their own strife, whether from personal faults or lack of wisdom. In a way, Emily Bronte’s ability to weave flaws into each person’s character lends a sense of reality or humanness to the novel; no one is seen as entirely good or bad. Without lecturing her readers, Bronte demonstrates just how regrettable succumbing to impulses can be. I realized while reading that even though their lives have an aspect of romance, I would never want to live the way that they did.
In the gothic novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, the author hides motifs within the story.The novel contains two major love stories;The wild love of Catherine, and Heathcliff juxtaposing the serene love of Cathy,and Hareton. Catherine’s and Heathcliff's love is the center of Emily Bronte’s novel ,which readers still to this day seem to remember.The characters passion, and obsession for each other seems to not have been enough ,since their love didn't get to thrive. Hareton and Cathy’s love is what got to develop. Hareton’s and Cathy’s love got to workout ,because both characters contained a characteristic that both characters from the first generation lacked: The ability to change .Bronte employs literary devices such as antithesis of ideas, and the motif of repetition to reveal the destructiveness of wild love versus a domestic love.
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
Love has been seen in one unusual way throughout Wuthering Heights. As previously mentioned, there is a love triangle that is created between Catherine, Edgar, and Heathcliff. Catherine and Heathcliff’s passion for one another is the center of Wuthering Heights,
Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights is a novel about lives that cross paths and are intertwined with one another. Healthcliff, an orphan, is taken in by Mr. Earnshaw, the owner of Wuthering Heights. Mr. Earnshaw has two children named Catherine and Hindley. Jealousy between Hindley and Healthcliff was always a problem. Catherine loves Healthcliff, but Hindley hates the stranger for stealing his fathers affection away. Catherine meets Edgar Linton, a young gentleman who lives at Thrushcross Grange. Despite being in love with Healthcliff she marries Edgar elevating her social standing. The characters in this novel are commingled in their relationships with Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.
...ctive. Catherine is pushed to death and Heathcliff to brutal revenge, bordering on the psychotic. Yet before Cathy’s death, the knowledge that the other loves them is strong enough to make Wuthering Heights such a classic love story, and “that old man by the kitchen fire affirming he has seen two of 'em looking out of his chamber window, on every rainy night since his death,” shows that as they walk together on the moors, their self destruction may have led them to death, but also to what they most desired-being together.
Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Bronte, has 323 pages. The genre of Wuthering Heights is realistic fiction, and it is a romantic novel. The book is available in the school library, but it was bought at Barnes and Nobles. The author’s purpose of writing Wuthering Heights is to describe a twisted and dark romance story. Thus, the author conveys the theme of one of life’s absolute truths: love is pain. In addition, the mood of the book is melancholy and tumultuous. Lastly, the single most important incident of the book is when Heathcliff arrives to Edgar Linton’s residence in the Granges unannounced to see Catherine’s state of health. Heathcliff’s single visit overwhelmed Catherine to the point of death.
Wuthering Heights is a novel which deviates from the standard of Victorian literature. The novels of the Victorian Era were often works of social criticism. They generally had a moral purpose and promoted ideals of love and brotherhood. Wuthering Heights is more of a Victorian Gothic novel; it contains passion, violence, and supernatural elements (Mitchell 119). The world of Wuthering Heights seems to be a world without morals. 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. Young Cathy’s love for Hareton is a redemptive force. It is her love that brings an end to the reign of Heathcliff.
Wuthering Heights is not just a love story, it is a window into the human soul, where one sees the loss, suffering, self discovery, and triumph of the characters in this novel. Both the Image of the Book by Robert McKibben, and Control of Sympathy in Wuthering Heights by John Hagan, strive to prove that neither Catherine nor Heathcliff are to blame for their wrong doings. Catherine and Heathcliff’s passionate nature, intolerable frustration, and overwhelming loss have ruined them, and thus stripped them of their humanities.
The basic conflict of the novel that drives Heathcliff and Catherine apart is social. Written after the Industrial Revolution, Wuthering Heights is influenced by the rise of new fortunes and the middle class in England. Money becomes a new criterion to challenge the traditional criterias of class and family in judging a gentleman’s background. Just as Walpole who portrays the tyrannies of the father figure Manfred and the struggles of the Matilda who wants to marry the peasant Theodore, as depicted in the quote “(…) improbability that either father would consent to bestow his heiress on so poor a man, though nobly born”(p. 89), Brontë depicts a brutal bully Hindley who torments Heathcliff and separates Catherine from him. Heathcliff, a gypsy outcast picked u...