Robert's

Robert Albertini
AP English block A
2/18/04
Wuthering Heights Essay

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights presents significant observations of social life in England during the first half of the nineteenth century. The novel is set during the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Europe. The revolution brought about the development of the middle class and reshaped the roles of the upper and lower classes. The author provides much social commentary about class and roles as they were developing at the time. The novel focuses heavily on the limitations imposed upon individuals based on their social status. Bronte’s novel illustrates the negative consequences of restricting a person’s actions to the expectations of their class. The author presents immense contrast between the impulsive, naturalistic character, Heathcliff, and the rest of the characters, who are more bound to social class, to portray the absurdity of the developing mechanical society.

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The most psychologically complex character of Wuthering Heights is Heathcliff. Although published long before human psychology became an area of focused study, this novel presents the author’s keen understanding of human nature. Heathcliff is the character most in touch with nature and instinct, which is shown through the repeated use of the word “savage” to describe his nature and mannerisms. Furthermore, the story establishes Heathcliff as an outsider, an individual who starts out isolated from the mechanical social interactions of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. In the fourth chapter, Nelly Dean describes young Heathcliff as a “dirty, ragged, black-haired child...that nobody could understand.” Here, the narrator focuses on the anomalies in Heathcliff’s character, which leads the reader to infer that Nelly’s social norm consists of clean, well-dressed and educated individuals. Heathcliff is also referred to merely as “it” several times to reinforce the idea that his character is initially detached from the social community. It becomes clear to the reader that Heathcliff and the rest of the characters lie at opposite ends of the civil spectrum; the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights are highly civilized while Heathcliff is not. In this new social environment, Heathcliff is forced to adapt to a new way of life. A very common means of human social adaptation is for one to mimic the actions and customs of those around them. Bronte demonstrates an understanding of this concept as she shows the character development of Heathcliff. He becomes a mirror to his surroundings, which explains why he later reflects the pain and injustice that he is subject to upon others. Therefore, his harmful actions are not resultant from an intrinsic evil, but rather from his experience and observation of his new social environment.
Emily Bronte presents the upper-middle class’ perception of love to be completely erroneous in this novel. In a conversation with Nelly, Catherine lists her reasons for loving Edgar. Nelly easily identifies the flaw in loving someone merely for physical attributes: “you would love him without [his love for you], probably; and with it you wouldn't, unless he possessed the four former attractions.” Despite this valuable insight, Catherine fails to change her mind on the matter. Wealth and appearance have more influence than authentic emotion on Catherine’s decision of whom to marry. That which benefits social status is seen as better than what will satisfy a natural emotional need. Heathcliff’s character is used to further portray the flaws of establishing relationships solely based on social expectations. Although Catherine’s decision is made without malicious intent, it has devastating effects on Heathcliff. His emotions and trust have been painfully betrayed. Because of his adaptive nature, he responds to this by reflecting the action back upon Catherine. However, his response is intended to cause harm, since he perceives that Catherine aimed to hurt him. He vows to her, “If you fancy I'll suffer unrevenged, I'll convince you of the contrary.” Because Heathcliff is a character tied to authentic nature and impulse, the betrayal done to authentic nature through engaging in illusory love is shown through his anguish. Bronte demonstrates that those bounded by class expectations and a desire to maintain or improve social status are virtually incapable of attaining authentic love. It is essential to note that in this novel with a theme of true love at its heart, the phrase “true love,” or anything synonymous to it, does not appear at all in the text.
The author presents her belief that the betrayal of human nature negatively impacts the individual’s soul as well as their mortal life. The eternal unrest that results from ignoring an authentic emotion is revealed early on in the story as Lockwood encounters Catherine’s ghost. The ghost exclaims, “Twenty years. I've been a waif for twenty years!” She describes herself as a stray soul, unable to be at peace. At this point in the story, the encounter serves to foreshadow the tragedy that is to take place. In hindsight, the reader is able to infer that the ghost cannot be at rest due to its unaccomplished emotional necessities in life. This theme is reiterated with Catherine’s expression of unhappiness in heaven: “I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; and the angels were so angry that they flung me out into the middle of the heath on the top of Wuthering Heights; where I woke sobbing for joy.” Bronte establishes that the betrayal of natural urges in order to satisfy social standards deeply harms the person mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
With the cultural shift brought about by the Industrial Revolution in Europe, it became a social trend to sacrifice authentic natural desire for social status. Emily Bronte is clearly a critic of such behavior, as this novel points out the flaws and potential tragedies associated with it. Wuthering Heights, expresses how striving to adhere to a social class is in direct opposition of nature. Her work illustrates that suppressed human nature and authenticity yield misconceptions of love and eternal repercussions.

Works Cited

Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. Norton Critical Edition. W W Norton & Company, Inc., New York. 2003.

Wuthering Heights essay

2007-05-12

15:44:50 Wuthering Heights essay

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