THEMES WITHIN WUTHERING HEIGHTS

REVENGE
1. Predominant Theme throughout the novel
2. When H.C cannot have the woman he loves, he turns to tormenting his childhood tormenter
3. Hindley never refused a chance to humiliate H.C
  1. So as vengeance H.C seeks control of the Heights and the Grange
    1. He also seeks to destroy Hindley
4. Vengeance is made easier for H.C because Hindley drinks and gambles
5. Revenge is a major motivator for H.C
  1. And he succeeds on his quest for vengeance
    1. Though he admits by the end of the novel that his quest for vengeance has lost its thrill
6. Not everyone is bitter though
  1. Despite his degredation Hareton rises above his abuse and is a decent person
LOVE
1. H.C and Cath1 obviously have a transcendent romantic connection
2. Cath1's love for Edgar is tied to her desire to become 'the greatest woman of the neighborhood'
  1. So much that their love has hardly any romance to it
3. However Cath1 is so hateful of H.C societal position that she questions his capacity to love early on the novel
4. H.C and Cath1 impassioned affection connects them from their childhood to the afterlife
5. All of the other examples of love – or, more precisely, marriage – are diminished in comparison
  1. Except Cath2 and Hareton who enjoy a rare experience of genuine love
6. Bronte explores many different types of love (Familial, Platonic, Romantic, Erotic
  1. But mystical love transcends them all
FAMILY
1. Families in WH are a source of violence, alienation, jealousy, and greed.
  1. As in opposed to comfort
2. The events that transpire in the novel can be seen as a result of H.C's addition to the family
3. H.C is perhaps the illegitimate son of Mr Earnshaw
  1. As H.C is the name of a child that died in infancy
  2. However H.C is never christened as an Earnshaw
4. Most of the primary characters in the novels are either Linton/Earnshaw, or both
  1. Except H.C, Nellie, Lockwood
  2. H.C is neither he gets revenge by taking everything that belongs to the Earnshaws and Lintons
    1. However family recovers in the end as Hareton becomes owner of the Heights
      1. Whose relative and namesake(?) built the Heights in 1500
5. The gothic aspect is also emphasised as her lovers are related
  1. She brings them together because they are related
SUPERNATURAL
1. The SPN completely permeates the novel
  1. When the ghost of Cath1 tries to enter the Heights, Lockwood curiosity is piqued
2. The people, setting, environment are all infused with SPN natural elements
3. From the outset, H.C is teased for being a dark advocate of the SPN - Nellie dubs him 'imp of Satan'
  1. Nellie later on in the novel contemplates whether he is a ghoul or vampire
4. The novel ends with the suggestion that H.C and Cath1 will haunt the moors forever
5. The Moors, even the local village all seems to be touched by something ominous
  1. Including the local Chapel
6. Bronte complicates the gothic genre by making H.C a very complex and multi-faceted character
SUFFERING
1. Nearly everyone in the novel suffers from physical or emotion trauma
  1. Some die from it
2. H.C avoids physical illness his love for Cath1 leads to the suffering of others
  1. However he seems to enjoy suffereing
    1. Pleads for Cath1's ghost to haunt him
3. No one really wants to take responsibility for the misery that results from his or her own foolish decisions
  1. Including Isabella
4. H.C and Cath1' s suffering surpasses the others
  1. As they still blame each other
5. Suffering is central to Catherine and Heathcliff's expression of love
  1. Without their misery, their love would not be provocative to the readers
SOCIETY AND CLASS
1. Despite the setting, both families abide by the rules of society
2. Brontë lets us know through Catherine's aspirations to marry Edgar Linton that Thrushcross Grange is superior
3. Both the Lintons and the Earnshaws are middleclass
  1. But marriage is still the only way Cath1 can better herself
4. 'Did it never strike you that if Heathcliff and I married, we should be beggars?'
5. Being an orphan with no family ties and no land, Heathcliff is the lowest part of society
  1. Hindley denies Heathcliff an education implies that he is trying to force him to become a servant
6. It makes sense that Heathcliff's revenge is tied directly to the novel's class issues
  1. Heathcliff seeks to punish Hindley's son, Hareton, by keeping him in a low station and denying him an education
7. Heathcliff threatens Hindley's status as heir to the Earnshaw fortune.status as heir to the Earnshaw fortune.
  1. However ,ultimately Hindley's own behavior that loses him his family home.
BETRAYAL
1. H.C frames Cath1's betrayal dishonesty to herself
2. Isabella betrays Cath1 and Ed's trust concerning H.C
  1. Ed betrays family loyalty by disowning her
3. Cath2 betrays her father by leaving the Grange
4. Self liberation is more important to characters than abiding to loyalty
5. Like REVENGE, it drives the plot forward
  1. If Mr Earnshaw had not brought H.C the W.H
    1. He never would have violated the families boundaries
      1. Or betrayed his wife
6. Although Cath1 marries Ed, she does not see it as betraying her love for H.C
  1. However H.C does
OTHERNESS
1. Heathcliff is made to feel like an outsider by his own adoptive family
  1. Fuels his desire for revenge
2. It is never clear where H.C originates
  1. He is 'found' in Liverpool, a port City where immigrants entered England
3. 'Imp of Satan'
  1. H.C referred to as a gipsey - SPN
4. Dichotomy of H.C dark complexion
  1. And Ed's fair skin and features
  2. H.C's otherness may explain Cath1 and Isabella's attraction to him
5. 'We don't in general take to foreigners here...' Nelly to Lockwood

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