Themetic Concerns in Wuthering Heights

Amita C. Jani
Roll no. – 11
SEM – II
Paper no – VI
Year – 2011
Topic: Themetic Concerns in Wuthering Heights

Submitted to Mr. Jay Mehta
Department of English,
Bhavnagar University.

 


“Stronger than a man, simpler than a child” – These are the words used for Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights a strange and powerful book. It is said that Wuthering Heights is one of the finest novel in the English language. Wuthering Heights is one of the most popular and highly regarded novel in English literature. It was published in 1847. Victorian readers found the book shocking in its depiction of passionate, ungoverned love and cruelty and the work was virtually ignored.

Emily Bronte lived in eccentric, closely guarded life. She was born n 1888 and she died in 1848 at the age of thirty. Wuthering Heights has a secure position in the canon of the world literature. Emily Bronte is revered as one of the finest writers of the 19^th century. Wuthering heights is based party on the Gothic tradition of the late 18^th century. Wuthering heights transcend its genre in its sophisticated observation and artistic subtlety. The novel has been studied analyzed and discussed from every imaginable critical perspective yet remains unexhausted

Emily was personality found of nature. Emily’s masterpiece showed her to be a complete individualist. She used me stark Yorkshire setting, not to create suspense but as natural part of   her study. All her characters were human – they had good and bad qualities. They could hate and love with the equal density.

Thematic concerns in Wuthering Heights: 

Ø   Themes :

Wuthering Heights is such a strange and powerful book that every individual who reads it will give it his own interpretation. After gone through the novel we observed that there may be many themes in the novel like term between love and hate, inhuman monster, conflict between good and evil or love and hate, physical versus metaphysical, practical versus transcends, the mean of transformation in many character, worldliness and superficiality, place are used as literary device by Emily Bronte, reality versus illusions, disillusionment estate, secrecy or secret, thwart or illness or sickness but among all this theme revenge is the dominant theme of the novel. 

1) Revenge :-

Revenge is the dominant theme of the novel because if we come to know that each and every character in the novel, is alive for their own revenge. 

For example,

                The hero or rather we can say that the villain of the novel, namely Healthcliff for him we can refer the words of the monster that in the last part of the novel Framkainstain, the monster while lamenting on the death of his master Victor, he says that “Revenge keeps me alive”. So this sentence can also be applied in the case of Healthcliff’s characteristic. Because from the beginning to end he alive for his revenge rather than his love so we considered that Wuthering Heights is all about not love story but revenge story.

2) Conflict between good and evil or love and hate :-

The book is actually structured around two parallel love stories, the first half of the novel centering on the love between Catherine and Heathcliff, while the less dramatic, second half feature the developing love between young Catherine and Haveton. But in both this case it is not easy to decide whether Brante intends the reader to these lovers as blame worthy or to idealize them as romantic heroes whose love transcends social norms and conventional morality. But as newly focus Catherine and Heathcliff’s story, she criticizes both of them harshly condemning their passion as immoral. But here we find that along with the protagonist all the characters of the novel are turn good to evil or love to hate just for the sake of their love. 

For example,

                Catherine has love for Heathcliff but going against her natural love she marries Edger and gives important to the civilized and wordly advantages which Edger offers her and than the result of her marriage is chaos, the goodness of the Heathcliff is turned to evil which he directs against everyone except Catherine.

3) The conflict between nature and culture : -

In Wuthering Heights, we find constant plays of nature and culture each other. Nature is represented by the Eainshow family and by Catherine and Heathcliff in culture is represented. Particularly these characters are govern by their passions not by reflection or ideas of evility.  Same way, the house where they live, Wuthering Heights comes to symbolize a similar wildness. On the other hands family represent culture, refinement, convention and civilization. When in chapter-VI, Catherine is bitten by the dog and brought into Thrushoross Grange at that time, first meeting between the Linton and Earnshow house holds, chaos already began at Wuthering Heights, where Hindley’s cruelty and injustice where as all seems to Grange. However, the influence Wuthering Heights proves over powering and the inhabitants of thrush cross Grange are drawn into Catherine, Hindley  and Heathcliff’s drama. Thus the reader almost may interprets Wuthering Height’s impact on the Linton Emily as an allegory for the corruption a culture by nature creating a curious reverse of the more traditional story of the corruption of nature by culture.   

4) Illness / Sickness :

Illness and sickness is one of the recurrent motifs of the novel and from the very first chapter, we find that there is something ill or morbid happens in the novel and it ends with someone’s death. Here the action of the Heathcliff shows the mental condition or psychological illness of the character. Here matter is not about the physical illness of the character.

For example,

In the second chapter of the novel we shows that how the Lookwood was treated by the Heathcliff, Joseph and Zillah. Because when Mr. Lookwood enters in the hose Wuthering Heights at that time they had a conversation between Mr. Lookwood and Heathcliff and this conversation when Mr. Lookwood asked about Heathcliff’s wife so at that time wife is dead and that girls is his daughter-in-low. Even when Mr. Lookwood had to sleep with Hareton or Joseph adhered and insulted and the way Mr. Lookwood rushes out into yard or Joseph immediately sets the dogs on him so this whole incident shows the psyche of the character and when Heathcliff speaks of the black art, Heathcliff casting speas and the evil age. So this all shows us the psychological illness of the character because we noticed the novel that from the beginning to the end of the novel  that first one character become ill and his or her illness leads him to his or her death.

        For example,

In the chapter-V, we come to know about Mr. Earnshow’s illness and in the same chapter one evening in the October, in the midst of the happy scene, Mr. Earnshow dozes off and dies. In chapter-VIII one june morning in the year 1778, Nelly is summoned from the fields but the doctor that Frances Hindley’s wife has given birth to a son and is not expected to live, as she has been suffering from consumption for the some time. Neither Hindley nor Frances believes she is dying. They support one another in this belief, but a week later Frances dies in Hindley’s arms and in chapter-XII Catherine commands her Nelly to tell Edger to make his peace with her because she is burning with fever and than Mr. Kenneth, the doctor says he does not thing Catherine will survive in this illness and in chapter-16 at the 12 o’clock that night, Catherine died after giving birth to a delicate baby girl and in the very next chapter – 17 we come to know about two death mat are Isabeal’s death and after s5x month of Isabela’s death, Hindley dies and then in chapter – 24 Linton was in a state of collapse and Linter had recovered but was very sulky and in chapter 25 Linton’s health is deteriorating  as quickly as his own. The doctor does not visit at Wuthering Heights and nobody sees Linton to report on his condition. In chapter – 27 Edgor’s health grows steadily worse and even Cathy knows he is dying. In chapter – 28 we come across about to two deaths 1^st is edger’s death and 2^nd is Edgar Linten’s dead. In the climax chapter of the novel, in chapter 29, we find that Heathcliff appears half mad and Catherine’s death has affected Heathcliff, he feels haunted and in chapter -32 Healthcliff come to a “queer end” and In chapter 31^st when Nelly was walking around the house she saw Healthcliff’s window was opened the doors of me panel bed and shows that Healthcliff is lying there dead. So from all these examples, we can conclude here that how illness or death become of recurrent motif of the novel.

               

5) Thwort :

Thwort is also one of the major trimetric concerns of the novel or it can be for education love estate and even in the communication.

For Example,  

The character of the Heathcliff in the very beginning of few chapter we find that Heathcliff was constantly thwort from love, education, estate and he was treated like outsider by the Hendly. Same way Hendly’s son Hearton was also treated like outsider by Heathcliff and treated like servant in the ending chapter of the novel. Second the character of Isabella the sister of Edger was also seemed in the same condition in the novel because after the elopement of Isabella with Heathcliff, she is also thwort from her estate and love by brother.  Edger and also his husband Heathcliff. Even Leanton also thwort from his father, love when he was ill. The same was the character of Cathey was thwart from love, education, care and treated very badly in the Wuthering Heights by Heathcliff.

6) Transformation :

In Wuthering Heights one of the theme can be the mean of transformation because we find transformation in many character in the novel.

For example,

                The character of Hendly was totally changed when his father Mr. Unshow dies, means in the presence of Mr. Unshow, he didn’t show his towards Heathcliff but after his father’s death, Heathcliff was treated like outsider by Hendly. Again in the character of Catherine we find transformation because in the beginning chapter of the novel we find that Catherine loves Heathcliff passionately but after her first meeting with Edger it’s become superficial, after staying five week in Mr. Lintens house when hair is groomed and she is attired in a riding halble, she shows Heathcliff with kisses but at the same time upbraiding him for his dirty and slovenly appearance. Same way we can also find the transformation in the Edger after knowing that Issabella becomes infatuated  with Heathcliff and then he consensus Issabella about her relationship with Heathcliff and vows that if she continues to encourage him, he will not longer consider his sister. So in the end of the novel we find that each and every character of the novel transfer them natural to artificial for their own purpose and transformation becomes one of the mean of the novel Wuthering Heights.

7) Illusion – Disillusionment :

 Every character of the novel is in the disillusionment.

For example,

                The character of Issabella that she is in disillusionment that Heathcliff loves her and in the fatel love, she is the fatal woman because he has reduced the lady like Issabela Linton to a slovenly drab and has separated her from Edger for his revenge plane. Even the character of Heathcliff as well as Catherine are also in the illusion that they loves each other very much but unfortunately they have to depart from each other. Catherine marry with Edger and Heathcliff mary with Issabella.The character of Lookwood also in illusion that he will stay easily in the Wuthering Heights but unfortunately he can’t stay there.

8) Repetition :

Repetition is another thematic element which is employs in Wuthering Heights by Bronte. In the novel it seems that nothing ever ends in the world of this novel. Instead, time seems to run in recycled, and the horrors of the past repeat themselves in the present. The way that that names of the character are recycled, same way the name of the younger generation also recycled of the name of their parents and it shows that how plot element also repeat themselves. Heathcliff’s degradation of Hareton repeats Hindley’s degradation of Heathcliff. Also, the young Catherine’s monkery of Joseph’s earnest evangelical zealousness repeats her mother’s. Even Heathcliff’s second try at opening Catherine’s grave repeats his first.

9) Ghosts  :

Ghosts appear throughout Wuthering Heights, so it can be one of the character of the thematic element of the novel. But ghosts ate always presents them in such a way that whether they really exists or not? It remaining question for us.

For example,

                Catherine’s spirit when it appears to Lookwood in chapter-III may be explained as nightmares. The villager’s alleged sightings of Heathcliff’s ghost in Chapter-XXXIV could be shows as a superstitious, so whether or not the ghosts are “real”, may symbolize the manifestation of the past within the present.

Ø  Conclusion : 

So all this thematic element of the novel, make the novel most unique Gothic novel and complex one because it deals with human relationship and with the help of all this element she is capable to communicate well, in the novel her sentence are simple but full of deep meaning.