Consider the presentation of characters, settings and narrative in chapter 1 of Enduring Love and Wuthering Heights
Consider the presentation of the characters, settings and narrative technique in Chapter 1 of Enduring Love and Wuthering Heights.
Enduring Love and Wuthering Heights are both novels that confront several issues of violence, conflict, death and most prominently, love. Though the narrative styles are similar, with accounts and perspectives given through love letters or gossip, and pathetic fallacy dominates the settings and subsequent events, contrasts still cause these novels to be different, yet effective uniquely.
In Enduring Love, Joe is conveyed as a logical character, referring to emotions and events scientifically, “The force and the direction of the force define all consequent pathways” and he appreciates “mathematical grace”. This is contrary to Clarissa, his wife, a romantic obsessed with Keats and love letters, “she has written me some beauties, passionately abstract in their exploration of the ways our love was different and superior to any that had ever existed.” Like Catherine in Wuthering Heights, Clarissa has a fondness for writing and is poetic also in her speech, using oxymoron to describe her husband as “the world’s most complicated simpleton”, and similarly, they both use vivid imagery to convey the superiority of their love, with Heathcliff repeatedly calling Cathy his ‘soul’. However, unlike Catherine, Clarissa does not bear the same arrogance and obsession with social class. Joe appears to have a touch of arrogance about him, suggesting “I knew that if I had been the uncontested leader the tragedy would not have happened”, in reference to the balloon incident, which could hint towards a biased and unreliable account, yet he still describes himself as a “clumsy, balding fellow” in relation to the “beautiful woman” that is his wife. This suggests that he believes in practical and logical areas, he is dominant, yet when it comes to love and feelings, he is not. This idea is conveyed often through his inability to express himself emotionally. Despite being inarticulate with feelings, he still seems romantic at times, embracing the familiarity of the woman he has been with for 7 years, “the size and feel of her hand, the warmth and tranquillity of her voice”. This just shows how settled and comfortable they are, “there was nothing that threatened out free and intimate existence”. Heathcliff, the male protagonist in Wuthering Heights has very little in common with Joe, in both his spontaneous personality, and in his love with Cathy. Although they assume the same position as the main male roles, we can instead draw more similarities between Jed Parry and Heathcliff. Despite contrasting appearances and entirely different morals (Heathcliff throws a bible into the stables whilst Jed worships the same book) they both become resentful as the object of their desire does not actively reciprocate the emotion and in both cases, it resorts in violence or revenge, particularly on the spouse of the loved. Jed takes Clarissa hostage whilst Heathcliff threatens to fight Edgar Linton. Heathcliff also vow to take revenge on Catherine’s brother, who treated him so badly after Mr. Earnshaw’s death and in a way, acted as a barrier between his and Catherine’s happiness. He says “I’m trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back, I don’t care how long I have to wait, If I can only do it at last, I hope he will not die before I do”, displaying his vengeful side. We can also compare the sympathy we feel at times for both characters, when they seem weak and pathetic due to their all-encompassing love, which at times, and especially with Heathcliff, shrouds their true terrible personality. A saying at the time was “a reformed rake makes the best husband”, and although the reader may constantly justify Heathcliff as a Byronic hero, many critics, such as Charlotte Bronte argue that he is “violent and destructive”.
