In 'Wuthering
Heights' by Emily Bronte, the characters find themselves unable to understand
the meaning of love, but rather engage in a series of destructive,
dysfunctional relationships with one another. In this lesson, we will analyze
the destructive, obsessive relationships in this novel.
Dysfunctional
Relationship : Wuthering
Heights by Emily
Bronte is the story of two generations of Heathcliffs, Earnshaws, and Lintons.
After Heathcliff is recovered from the streets of Liverpool
by Mr. Earnshaw and brought to Wuthering Heights to be part of
the Earnshaw family, he is eventually well-received by his new sister, Catherine,
but not by his brother, Hindley. Mr. Earnshaw's marked favoritism
towards Heathcliff improves the sibling rivalry that already exists to the
point that Mr. Earnshaw's death places Heathcliff in a precarious position of
being raised by a brother that hates him.
With Catherine
as his only ally, they become extremely close, until Catherine marries Edgar
Linton for the social status and wealth he can provide her, although she truly
loves Heathcliff. Heathcliff's jealousy turns into revenge after he comes into
money of his own. He diabolically sets out to hurt the people around Hindley,
Edgar, and Catherine, including Edgar's sister, Hindley's son, Edgar and
Catherine's daughter, and even his own son. Let's look at some of the more
destructive relationships from this novel.
First
Generation Parenting: What was
Heathcliff's life like before he came to Wuthering Heights? We know nothing
about Heathcliff's parents except that they left him alone on the streets of
Liverpool. Whether it is death, abandonment, or an inability to care for him
that left him filthy and starving at the point where Mr. Earnshaw took him in
is unknown, but the destructive effects of being left on your own at the age of
seven are undeniable.
Mr. Earnshaw
adores Heathcliff, but with his own children, he is more of a rigid than a
loving parent. He punishes Catherine for misbehavior by withholding his love
saying, ''I cannot love thee, thou'rt worse than thy brother. Go, say thy
prayers, child, and ask God's pardon.'' Mr. Earnshaw shows a marked preference
for Heathcliff over Hindley and even sends Hindley away to school because the
two can't get along. It is no wonder that Hindley, Heathcliff, and Catherine
are confused about the selfless nature of real love.
Second
Generation Parenting: Catherine dies
in childbirth, so we are unable to see what she would be like as a parent, but
Hindley and Heathcliff are both even worse than their father. After Hindley's
wife dies giving birth to their son, Hareton, Hindley becomes a violent drunk.
Hareton is solely cared for by a servant, Nelly, who hides him from his father
to prevent exposing the child to his rage. At one point, Hindley threatens
Nelly with a knife and says, ''By heaven and hell, you've sworn between you to
murder that child!''
When Hindley
dies and Heathcliff takes custody of Hareton, it is only to torture him and
treat him as a servant to avenge the way Hindley treated Heathcliff as a child.
Heathcliff also takes custody of his own child, Linton, but doesn't treat him
any better. Nelly remarks, ''I could not picture a father treating a dying
child as tyrannically and wickedly as I afterwards learned Heathcliff had
treated him....'' Heathcliff forces his very ill son, Linton, and Catherine's
daughter, Cathy, to get married so that he can become Cathy's father and
inherit Thrush cross Grange upon Linton's death.
Heathcliff and Catherine:
As bad at parenting as the
characters are, they are probably even worse at developing loving romantic
relationships. The worst of these is the destructive nature of the relationship
between Heathcliff and Catherine. Catherine knows that Heathcliff is the one
she wants to be with. She tells Nelly, " It would degrade me to marry
Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how 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; and Linton's is as different as a
moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire." Although she feels
passionately towards Heathcliff, and even at one with him, she marries Edgar
because Heathcliff does not have the means to provide her with material wealth
or social status.
Resolve mistake:
Catherine Earnshaw, Catherine Heathcliff, and Catherine Linton. Cathy begins as Earnshaw, dreams of becoming
Heathcliff, but ends up marrying into the Linton family. Catherine, her daughter, does the opposite:
born Linton, she becomes Heathcliff through her brief marriage to Linton, and
eventually becomes Earnshaw when she marries Hareton.
Hareton
is able to forget Catherine’s unkindness. Their courtship, like Cathy and
Heathcliff’s, is not shown directly. The
only explicit portrayal of their love resides in the scene at the novel’s end
in which Catherine helps Hareton learn to read. Poignantly, this scene shows
how Hareton finally, through the help of Catherine, is redeemed to his rightful
social placing within the family. As
Catherine teaches Hareton to read, rather than scoffing at him, she rewards him
with kisses. Also like Cathy and
Heathcliff, Catherine and Hareton are prone to “late rambles” on the moors
(Brontë 275). Thus, the love story of
Catherine and Hareton revises that of Heathcliff and Cathy. While the first generation breaks their
attachment beyond repair, the novel shows how two very similar, though overall
gentler, characters can make such a relationship work. In this way, the two children undo the bad
decisions made by their predecessors.
