第1个回答 2008-09-01
The Love and Hate in Wuthering Heights
Shi Xueping
1. Introduction
Wuthering Heights, the great novel by Emily Bronte, though not inordinately long is an amalgamation of childhood fantasies, friendship, romance, and revenge. But this story is not a simple story of revenge, it has more profound implications. As Arnold Kettle, the English critic, said," Wuthering Heights is an expression in the imaginative terms of art of the stresses and tensions and conflicts, personal and spiritual, of nineteenth-century capitalist society.” The characters of Wuthering Heights embody the extreme love and extreme hate of the humanity.
1.1 Introduction of the auther
Emily Jane Bronte was the most solitary member of a unique, tightly knit, English provincial family. Born in 1818, she shared the parsonage of the town of Haworth, Yorkshire, with her older sister, Charlotte, her brother Branwell, her younger sister, Anne, and her father, the Reverend, Patrick Bronte. All five were poets and writers; all but Branwell would publish at least one book.
Fantasy was the Bronte children's one relief from the rigors of religion and the bleakness of life in an improverished region; they invented a series of imaginary kingdoms and constructed a whole library of journals stories, pomes, and plays around their inhabitants. Emily's special province was a kingdom she called Gondal, whose romantic heroes and exiles owed much to the poems of Byron.
Brief stays at several boarding schools were the sum of her experiences outside Haworth until 1842, when she entered a school in Brussels with her sister Charlotte. After a year of study and teaching there, they felt qualified to announce the opening of a school in their own home, but could not attract a single pupil.
In 1845 Charlotte Bronte came across a manuscript volumn of her sister's poems. She knew at once, she later wrote, that they were "not at all like the poetry women generally write... they had a peculiar music-wild, melancholy, and elevating." At her sister's urging, Emily's poems along with Anne's and Charlotte's, were published pseudonymously in 1846. An almost complete silence greeted this volume, but the three sisters, buoyed by the fact of publication, immediately began to write novels. Emily's effort was WUTHERING HEIGHTS; appearing in 1847, it was treated at first as a lesser work by Charlotte, whose JANE EYRE had already been published to great acclaim. Emily Bronte's name did not emerge from behind her pseudonym of Ellis Bell until the second edition of her novel appeared in 1850.
In the meantime, tragedy had struck the Bronte family. In Septermber of 1848 Branwell had succumbed to a life of dissipation. By December, after a brief illness, Emily too was dead; her sister Anne would die the next year. WUTHERING HEIGHTS, Emily's only novel, was just beginning to be understood as the wild and singular work of the world.
1.2 Introduction of the story
The beginning of the story was Mr. Lockwood’s visiting of Wuthering Heights. His amazement of Heathcliff's surliness and curiosity of beautiful Catherine's rudeness urged him to listen to a very strange and frightening love story from Nelly Dean. In the summer of 1771 Mr. Earnshaw brought home an orphan later called Heathcliff he had found in Liverpool. This waif was persecuted by young Hindley, but deeply loved by his daughter Catherine. So there was contradiction between Hindley and Heathcliff since childhood. After the death of their parents and his own marriage, Hindley treated Heathcliff as a servant, but this was relieved by the pleasant times with Cathy.
On one of their expeditions they reached Thrushcross Grange where she stayed as the Linton’s guest for several weeks. When she returned to the Wuthering Heights, she was altered a lot: she had been deeply attracted by the dress, luxury of the Lintons, especially the handsome and gentle Edgar Linton. Although she still loved Heathcliff she could not compare Heathcliff’s snobbishness with the gentility of her new friends. Heathcliff was even more badly treated by Hindley after his wife’s death, which increased Heathcliff’s more anger. After overhearing part of Catherine’s conversation with Nelly that she would marry Edgar, Heathcliff could not bear the indignation and degradation and left Wuthering Heights.
Catherine’s conversation with Nelly was that if Heathcliff could remain, even though all else perished, she should still continue to be. She and Heathcliff belonged to the same kind. But Heathcliff didn’t hear it. So after Heathcliff’s leaving, Catherine was desperately ill and recovered by the care of Linton couple. Three years later Catherine was married to Edgar.
Six months later, Heathcliff, a different man, appeared. Catherine was so pleased at the news. But out of her surprise Heathcliff took on his two-fold revenge, first on Hindley who had treated him so badly in the past, secondly he threatened Catherine to marry Linton.
Unfortunately Edgar’s sister Isabella fell in love with Heathcliff and Heathcliff married her out of love, but for the property of Thrush cross Grange. At the same time Catherine locked herself in the room because Edgar refused Heathcliff. The she became delirious from illness and had brain fever. Eventually she recovered but remained delicate. Edgar worried too much about Catherine’s health and emotion.
Then Heathcliff and Catherine met again. There was a terrible scene between them. Both of them showed their anger and love to each other which worsened Catherine’s health. Then two hours after her daughter — Cathy’s birth Catherine died. When Heathcliff got the news he was desperately sad.
After Catherine’s death Isabella returned to Thrushcross Grange after three months with Heathcliff. Hindley died and Heathcliff took Wuthering Heights.Thirteen years later Isabella died, leaving her son Linton to Heathcliff, a weakling boy. Then Edgar Linton and young Linton died and so Heathcliff, Cathy and Hareton, an ill-assorted trio, were left at the Heights; while Thrush Grange was left to Lowood, to whom Nelly told the tale.
The story ended with the death of Heathcliff and the marriage of Hareton and Cathy. This was two generations’ love story. The first generation’s love was transcendental and the second generation’s love was earthy.
1.3 Introduction of social background
In Viction's period, the rich are enormously proud of their success and property; the secular sense of hierarchy penetrates into the daily life of common people; money and property is nothing but everything. In literature, the smoky, threatening, miserable factory-towns were often represented in religious terms, and compared to hell. The poet William Blake, writing near the turn of the nineteenth century, speaks of England’s “dark Satanic Mills.” Therefore, under the control of this concept, the spirit of human is vehemently suppressed, and the humanity is cruelly twisted and deformed. At this time, Emily who has great rebelling spirit and strong desire of freedom, wrote WUTHERING HEIGHTS, disclosed the evilness of society. The work depicts how humanity was twisted, broken, band destroyed under the hand of violent devastation. But the great death is the steady faith of and yearns for happy life. In the world reined by Heathcliff, the bud of love, coming from Hareton and Cathy, broke through the hard soil of hatred. The betrayal of love brings the twist of humanity but pure love cures the wound, consoles the injured heart, and saves the degenerated soul. Emily shows her positive attitude to the pure love and their destructibility of humanity.
1.4 Theme of the novel
Wuthering Heights, the creation of Emily Jane Bronte, depicts not a fantasy realm or the depths of hell. Rather, the novel focuses on two main characters' battle with the restrictions of Victorian Society. Social pressures and restrictive cultural confines exile Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff from the world and then from each other. Hate can't make love disappear, and love is stronger than hate.
2. Love
Wuthering Heights is a love novel. It has praised human’s moral excellence, has attracted the will of the people’s darkness, unfolding the human with the common custom life and pursueing the fine mind.
Love in the novel is manifested in many respects.
2.1 Earnshaw's love for Heathcliff
Forty years ago Wuthering Heights was filled with light, warmth and happiness. Mr.Earnshaw, a farmer, lives happily with his boisterous children Catherine and Hindley. However, being a kind and generous fellow, he can’t help rescuing a starving wretch off on the streets of Liverpool, a gypsy child named Heathcliff. In time Heathcliff becomes one member of the family, loved by all except Hindley (who nurtures the feeling of being usurped). Thus it can be concluded that Earnshaw's love for Heathcliff stems from sympathy.
2.2 Catherine' love for Heathcliff
As a child, her father was too ill to reprimand the free spirited child, ‘who was too mischievous and wayward for a favorite. (P46). Therefore, Catherine grew up among nature and lacked the sophistication of high society. Catherine removed herself from society and, "had ways with her such as I never saw a child take up before; she put all of us past our patience fifty times and oftener in a day; from the hour she came downstairs till the hour she went to bed, we had not a minute’s security that she wouldn’t be in mischief. Her spirits were always at high-water mark, her tongue always going--singing, laughing, and plaguing everyone who would not do the same. A wild, wicked slip she was--"(P51). Catherine further disregarded social standards and remained friends with Heathcliff despite his degradation by Hindley, her brother. ‘Miss Cathy and he [Heathcliff] were now very thick; ’(P46) and she found her sole enjoyment in his companionship. Catherine grew up beside Heathcliff, ‘They both promised to grow up as rude as savages; the young master [Hindley] being entirely negligent how they behaved, ’(P57). During her formative years Catherine’s conduct did not reflect that of a young Lady, ‘but it was one of their chief amusements to run away to the moors in the morning and remain there all day, (P57). Thus, Catherine’s behavior developed and rejected the ideals of an oppressive, over-bearing society, which in turn created isolation from the institutionalized world. Therefore, Catherine's love for Heathcliff is pure, and Heathcliff's love for Catherine is tinged with danger and violence.
2.3 Isabella's love for Heathcliff
The first time when Isabella sees Heathcliff, attracted by the charming man, she falls in love with him. No matter how Catherine persuades her, she makes her mind to get married with Heathcliff. Her love for Heathcliff is pure. While, Heathcliff just uses Catherine's sister-in-law Isabella Linton as a weapon, caring not for the poor lass.
2.4 Catherine's love for Edgar
When Catherine and Heathcliff exist their private island unchecked until Catherine suffers an injury from the Linton's bulldog. Forced to remain at Thrushcross Grange----the Linton's home, which isolates Catherine from Heathcliff and her former world of reckless freedom. Living amongst the elegance of the Lintons transforms Catherine from a coarse youth into a delicate lady. Her transformation alienates Heathcliff, her soul mate and the love of her life. Catherine fits into society like a square peg trying to fit in a round hole. However, she feels pressure to file her rough edges and marry Edgar Linton. All in all, it is the social pressures and restrictive cultural confines that force Catherine to pretend to fall in love with Edgar. However, Edgar loves Catherine with gracious and transquility.本回答被提问者采纳