Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Wuthering Heights pt.2


To say that I was disgusted with this book is an understatement. I say this because of all the hatred and suffering that this book brought. During the first half of this novel I thought the things the Heathcliff and Catherine did to each other were bad but it got worse. How Heathcliff and Linton treated Nelly and Catherine* were just miserable. Here I thought that the novel was going to end on a good note with Linton and Catherine* falling in love and having a better marriage than both of their parents. But No! Heathcliff had to go and belittle Linton and corrupt him. By Heathcliff talking down to Linton, Linton starts to hate himself. For example, “Papa talks enough about my defects, and shows enough scorn of me, to make it natural I should doubt myself. I doubt whether I am not altogether as worthless as he calls me, frequently; and then I feel so cross and bitter, I hate everybody! I am worthless, and bad in temper, and bad in spirit, almost always; and, if you choose, you may say good-bye: you’ll just get rid of an annoyance (page 245).” I think that Heathcliff is just doing this to get back at Catherine. He is driving Linton crazy so that he turns angry and takes it out on Catherine*. He also is forcing Linton to marry Catherine* so he gains control over the Grange. Heathcliff really wanted this so he could show off the power that he had over Edgar and gain more control. Heathcliff obviously did not need anymore land since he has Wuthering Heights but he figured that it would be another stab at Catherine.

Now that I am done reading this novel it makes me wonder why it was referenced so much in the Twilight Saga. I mean there is not a couple in this book that was a wonderful romance or anything like Edward and Bella. Maybe it was because both stories are sort of tragedies. I think that they are similar in the sense that Heathcliff and Catherine love each other but the fact that Heathcliff does not have money keeps them apart. And in Twilight Bella is human and Edward is a Vampire, but in this case they did not let the obstacle get in the way of their love. In the Twilight Saga Bella is the one who really loves this novel and Edward hates it because of how selfish the characters are (as I also believe). So thinking about Twilight and Wuthering Heights I think about other similarities. I think about the love triangle that is in both. I think about how when Edward leaves Bella she goes to Jacob and wins his affection kind of how Catherine runs to Edgar when Heathcliff leaves. No matter the fact that Jacob could be better for Bella and maybe Edgar was better for Catherine, both these stories show how love rules all.

Catherine*- Catherine and Edgar’s daughter

4 comments:

  1. I completely agree with you about the selfishness of all the characters in this novel. The whole time I was reading I just kept thinking, wow these are some seriously petty and selfish characters. Instead of someone being the bigger person or showing any sort of sympathy at all, they just continue to degrade each other; not only in word, but in their actions as well. "He (Heathcliff) seized her with his liberated hand, and, pulling her on her knee, administered with the other a shower of terrific slaps on both sides of the head, each sufficient to have fulfilled his threat, had she been able to fall."
    The hatred in his heart never stops. Like you said he continues his onslaught by making young Catherine marry Linton so he can inherit the Thrushcross Grange. About half to three fourths of the way through the book you can tell that Heathcliff’s desire for revenge is insatiable. Unfortunately he has to achieve this by belittling his very family and friends. He causes so much pain and hate to both Catherine and Linton that it basically ruins their lives. Only once Heathcliff is dead can Catherine truly be happy and marry whoever she chooses. I would comment on the twilight references but I have never read the books or seen the movies.

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  2. I also agree about the selfishness of the characters of 'Wuthering Heights'. The book was very well-written, and found the characters to be deep and emotionally believable, but it was very hard for me to connect to this story because there were very few characters with any redeemable qualities. It just seemed to keep a continuous pace of one bad thing leading to another, and like you said, nobody could bring themselves to break the pattern of betrayal and maliciousness that carries on for years and years (the entire book). Everything seemed to be driven by the mentality of 'If I can't be happy, no one can'. Whether it was Catherine's ghost haunting Heathcliff, or Heathcliff's constant meddling in the affairs of others, it seemed as though none of the characters would ever find peace of mind.

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  3. Yes I don't think that there could be any argument about how selfish both Heathcliff and Catherine are in this story, but I do not think that Bronte wrote this story for the reader to be sympathetic to the two main characters, otherwise she most likely would have told it from either Catherine or Heathcliff's perspective. I also agree that it is very difficult to compare the Twilight saga to W.H. mainly because the main characters Bella and Edward are very different from Catherine and Heathcliff.
    One similar characteristic that I can find in Twilight and W.H. is that Bella and Edward's relationship seems to have a negative effect to anyone close to them. Edward's family is put in danger of exposure. Bella's father is constantly in danger of being attacked. Finally, there is Jacob who is truly in love with Bella.
    Similarly, Catherine and Heathcliff's relationship is also destructive to the people around them. The difference is the characters in Twilight love Bella and Edward and will do anything as long as they are happy. The characters in W.H. are not so kind. Not only do they show that they care very little for the happiness of Catherine and Heathcliff on many occasions, they are possibly as selfish as the main characters themselves.

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  4. I agree with you. I have also read the Twilight Series, and wondered why they would use Wuthering Heights in the novels. I do see the comparison of the "love conquers all" theme, and I completely agree on that. There was definitely a love triangle in both. That is pretty much the only comparison I can see between the two books as well. Neither Jacob or Edward are selfish in the books, in fact they both try to look out for Bella, whereas in Wuthering Heights both Edgar and Heathcliff seem at times to care more about themselves than others.
    Very well written blog, and I love that you introduced something that is relatable to the present in your blog.

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