Villains and Victims – is that all there is to ‘Wuthering Heights?’

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Villains and Victims – is that all there is to ‘Wuthering Heights?’

     In the novel ‘Wuthering Heights’, Emily Bronte shows how different aspects of themes are presented for a reader’s consideration. Some of the important themes in Wuthering Heights are revenge, spiritual feelings between main characters, obsession, selfishness, and responsibility. Although it may seem like a tale of villains and victims, Wuthering Heights’ plot is extremely perplexing.

     The story takes place in northern England in an isolated, rural area. The main characters involved are residents of two opposing households: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. It is a tale of a powerful love between two people, which transcends all boundaries, including that between life and death.

     The author, Emily Bronte, uses parallelism in this novel. Much of what happens in the first half of the story corresponds to events in the second half. This parallelism extends also to the characters; the first generation of characters is comparable to the second generation. In many ways these characters are duplicates of each other and they share many traits.

     This is not the case for Catherine Earnshaw and Cathy Linton, a mother and her daughter. The contrast between these two characters is one of the key themes in the novel. They are different in numerous aspects of their personalities and lifestyles. Catherine Earnshaw and Cathy Linton differ a great deal when it comes to their family life.

     Catherine’s father did not love her because she was forever misbehaving. He once told her “Nay Cathy, I cannot love thee; thou’rt worse than thy brother. Go, say thy prayers, child, and ask god’s pardon. I doubt thy mother and I must rue the day we ever reared thee!” It could be argued that Catherine is slightly victimised because her father does not appear to love her, but the reason for this is her misbehaviour. In relating the tale to Lockwood, Nelly noted that young Catherine was such a “wild, wicked slip” that she never seemed as content as when she was being scolded.

     Catherine also treated her brother Hindley poorly. As a child, she neglected him in favour of Heathcliff. As an adult, Catherine made no effort to help Hindley with his drinking problem. Catherine’s disregard for her brother makes her more villainous.

     Cathy Linton, on the other hand, enjoyed a very loving atmosphere at Thrushcross Grange. She and her father, Edgar, were very fond of each other. Edgar was anxious to protect her from the twisted world of Wuthering Heights. Cathy demonstrated her love for her father when she devoted herself to nursing him during his illness. This shows her to be a heroine, in contrast to her mother.      Cathy never had any siblings, but she wished that she had one. She once said “Pretty Linton! I wish you were my brother.”

The reader is certain that if Cathy had a brother they would have been very close.

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     Catherine Earnshaw was an intensely emotional character. From the time she was a child, she made choices based on her urges and feelings, and would become irritated if her will was not maintained. One time she became violently abusive when Nelly insisted on supervising her visit with Edgar. She pinched and slapped Nelly, shook Hareton when he began to cry and then slapped Edgar when he attempted to intervene.

     This sort of unstable emotional state made Catherine very frail she often became ill after an outburst. Following an argument she had with Heathcliff and Edgar, ...

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