Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. Historical background of Wuthering Heights 3
2.1 The Victorian age 3
2.2 About the author 3
3. Coexistence of virtues and evils in Heathcliff’s personality 6
3.1 The virtues in Heathcliff’s personality 6
3.2 The evils in Heathcliff’s personality 8
4. Comparisons between Heathcliff and Hareton 10
4.1 Similarities between Hareton and Heathcliff 10
4.2 Differences between Hareton and Heathcliff 12
4.3 Reasons of the differences between Hareton and Heathcliff 14
5．The transition from Heathcliff to a new one 16
5.1 Heathcliff and his distorted personality 16
5.2 The revival of Heathcliff’s humanity 17
5.3 A new image, another Heathcliff 17
6．Conclusion 20
Acknowledgements 22
References 23
Introduction
Wuthering Heights, the only novel of Emily Bronte, is perhaps the most uniquely passionate and strangest novel in English literature. The impressive, relentless and vigorous love arouses implacable emotions in the depth of the reader’s heart for more than one century, with its ultimate passion, infatuation and great miseries [1] 165-166. Critics of the literary world have made the comment that Wuthering Heights is the only novel which has never lost its glory as time goes [2]40.
Wuthering Heights is complex in that it follows family histories through three generations. One day, Mr. Earnshaw came back from a business trip to Liverpool with an orphan boy whom he raised with his own children. Heathcliff was the boy’s name. He and Catherine soon grew inseparable, spending their days playing on the moors. When Mr. Earnshaw died, Hindley became the master of Wuthering Heights and bullied and humiliated Heathcliff. Heathcliff fell passionately in love with Catherine, but Hindley considered it beneath their family dignity to let his sister marry an orphan like Heathcliff. Catherine’s desires for social advancement prompted her to become engaged to Edgar Linton, despite her overpowering love for Heathcliff. Heathcliff, finding it impossible for him to be united to Catherine, left Wuthering Heights. All kinds of abuses, and mistreatments, and the betrayal of his beloved Catherine triggered Heathcliff’s revenge. He returned three years later, having acquired considerable wealth. He immediately set about seeking revenge on all who had wronged him.
Wuthering Heights centers on the story of Heathcliff. Nelly’s story begins with her introduction of the Earnshaw family, Heathcliff’s vengeful machinations drive the entire plot, and his death ends the book. The desire to understand him and his motivations has kept countless readers engaged in the novel. In Wuthering Heights, readers are deeply impressed by Heathcliff’s consistent love and his intense, destructive revenge. Although some critics have shown their sympathy for Heathcliff, considering his violent revenge as the normal response of ill-treatment, and praising highly Heathcliff’s bravery, endurance, and his unselfish love for Catherine, most of them have criticized Heathcliff, regarding him as a demon, heartless, and full of hatred. This paper attempts to connect two similar images (Heathcliff and Hareton) together, analyzing another “Heathcliff” as embodied in Hareton. On the assumption that some changes take place, a new image, “Heathcliff”, comes into being. The writer attempts to interpret the new “Heathcliff”: If we can consider Heathcliff’s environment as reflected in his personality, and his inhuman ill-treatment, discrimination for years, we may think his wildness and brutality, and his distorted personality are reasonable. The essay intends to display the theme of Wuthering Heights -- the revival of humanity.
This paper will first discuss historical background of Wuthering Heights, including the Victorian Age and the author Emily Bronte. Chapter Three is about virtue and evil coexisting in Heathcliff’s personality. Chapter Four and Chapter Five are the two most important ones, combining Heathcliff and Hareton together, discussing similarities and differences between them, and analyzing the controversial character, Heathcliff. Therefore, we can see those who had suffered the same misery as Heathcliff might cultivate the same behaviors and personality. We may understand his wildness, brutality, and his distorted personality better. Chapter Five is the transition from Heathcliff to a new one.
