love in wuthering heights essay

Wuthering Heights

Emily brontë, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Wuthering Heights explores a variety of kinds of love. Loves on display in the novel include Heathcliff and Catherine's all-consuming passion for each other, which while noble in its purity is also terribly destructive. In contract, the love between Catherine and Edgar is proper and civilized rather than passionate. Theirs is a love of peace and comfort, a socially acceptable love, but it can't stand in the way of Heathcliff and Catherine's more profound (and more violent) connection.

The love between Cathy and Linton is a grotesque exaggeration of that between Catherine and Edgar. While Catherine always seems just a bit too strong for Edgar, Cathy and Linton's love is founded on Linton's weakness—Linton gets Cathy to love him by playing on her desire to protect and mother him. Finally, there's the love between Cathy and Hareton, which seems to balance the traits of the other loves on display. They have the passion of Catherine and Heathcliff without the destructiveness, and the gentleness shared by Edgar and Catherine without the dullness or inequality in power.

Love and Passion ThemeTracker

Love and Passion Quotes in Wuthering Heights

Love in Wuthering Heights

Valuable lessons, favoritism’s bad impact, social influence, money vs. love, breaking the vicious circle.

In her classical literary work, Wuthering Heights , Emily Brontë contemplates the topic of love and its importance in each person’s life by portraying the consequences that arise when somebody lacks it. The story continues attracting readers’ attention, as, without exaggeration, it covers an exceedingly crucial issue for contemporary citizens, considering current social and political unrest in the world. Although the author solely describes the difficult relations within and between two English families, she nevertheless manages to elaborate on certain patterns of human sentiments that are universal and relevant to broader groups of people. Brontë’s genius revealed itself through a skillful combination of gothic fiction and romanticism, which allowed the author to depict love – normally considered as something pure – within complex and cruel social reality. On the surface, this blend of styles causes the feeling of pessimism towards human nature and love in readers. However, a deeper analysis reveals that the writer seeks to reinstate the trust in humanity and especially in the concept of love but insists that the latter should be dealt with carefully to bring goodness.

Brontë (2020) chooses to emphasize the importance of love by displaying how the lack of it can induce the dramatic chain reaction effect that will only resolve at the end of the story. Moreover, the author illustrates the opposite instances when one should trust their hearts and when one should not. Such a realism of controversial facts is intended to pass the wisdom that applies to real life and seeks to prevent the reader from repeating mistakes similar to the characters in the book.

The first lesson that Brontë (2020) tries to convey is related to the idea that love should be equally granted to all family members without exceptions. Ellen Dean’s story that she told to the narrator begins with Heathcliff’s appearance in the Earnshaw family as a baby. Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw, who already had two kids – Catherine and Hindley – decide to adopt him. However, as children grow up, it becomes obvious that the father of the family has a stronger affection towards Heathcliff than to Hindley, causing the latter to become jealous and start hating the former. The scientific literature as well presents strong evidence for the negative consequences of either parents’ preference towards one child over another. Stocker et al. (2020) assert the positive relationship between parental favoritism towards one of the siblings and the feeling of depression, anxiety, hostility, and loneliness of the other one. However, neither of that would have happened if Mr. Earnshaw provided the same amount of love for all the children.

Secondly, the author emphasizes that the lack of love from a person’s surroundings can cause him to become a bad person. Human beings are prone to social influence, and any attitude towards an individual from others would be crucial for his character formation (Baumeister & Bushman, 2020). After the death of Mr. Earnshaw, Catherine was the only person who loved Heathcliff, whereas others despised or hated him. Hindley often physically and psychologically assaulted him, Edgar laughed at his appearance. That had a tremendous impact on Heathcliff and further formed his twisted character, and he started wishing for revenge. Eventually he would begin wishing to torture others and enjoy sufferings of the people that are close to him. His life motto, therefore, represented by following words: “…you are welcome to torture me to death for your amusement, only allow me to amuse myself a little in the same style” (Brontë, 2020, p. 157). Thus, it is evident that the further abusive relations that Heathcliff had with people around him were strongly affected by a lack of love and care from his peers.

The third lesson that the author transmits: when one faces a dilemma between true love and social status and norms, he/she should choose the former. Catherine’s example best proves that statement as she chose to marry Edgar Linton due to his wealth instead of marrying Heathcliff, whom she strongly and faithfully loved. The further development of the story revealed the utmost significance of such a decision to further tragic circumstances. Losing the last person that loved him, Heathcliff finally cements his life philosophy. He constantly intervenes in the married couple’s life, causing the latter to exist in a state of misery. Finally, that continuous struggle of choice between two men representing two sides of the life leads to Catherine’s death (Schakenraad, 2016). If contrary, she chose to be with Heathcliff from the beginning, she would most probably be happy and her loved one would not become a devil.

Finally, the vicious circle of hatred can only be won by love, not hatred. Cathy Linton’s life is a colorful example of it. She is the only character in the story, apart from Ellen, who can be called a positive hero and serves as the opposite to others, especially Heathcliff. Even though she also experienced the life of hatred living in Wuthering Heights and was influenced by it, she could discover the love in her heart. The character of Cathy serves Brontë (2020) as an exception from the second lesson mentioned above. Indeed, some people possess inner strength and can overpower external circumstances. That is the reason why the novel should not be considered as pessimistic but, on the contrary, optimistic. Through Cathy, the author wanted to reach all the readers who faced similar situations as the book’s characters. Brontë (2020) attempts to motivate those surrounded by hatred or who feel a lack of love to change that situation if they discover love within. Therefore, it is important that each person at least occasionally thinks how he/she can provide more affection and care for the people around him/her to make the life of everyone at least a bit better.

In summary, the lessons above clearly demonstrate that love is the central topic of Wuthering Heights novel. The author attempts to guide the reader from the darkness of hatred caused by the lack of love towards the light through love. The examples of Hindley, who did not feel his father’s love, and Heathcliff, who was despised, hated, and abused, serve as lessons for readers to be more attentive to people who are close to them. Love cannot be traded for wealth or social status as it is, in the author’s opinion, the road to suffer and tragic end as in the case of Catherine. On the other hand, Cathy’s dedication to love allowed her and all the house members to become happy finally. On the philosophical level, she defeated Heathcliff with her kind heart as the latter lost his taste for hate and revenge, seeing Cathy and Hareton happy together.

Baumeister, R. F., & Bushman, B. J. (2020).  Social psychology and human nature . Cengage Learning.

Brontë, E. (2020).  Wuthering heights . Oxford University Press.

Schakenraad, J. (2016). The matter of fouls: Philosophical aspects of Wuthering Heights .  Brontë Studies, 41 (4), 340-349.

Stocker, C. M., Gilligan, M., Klopack, E. T., Conger, K. J., Lanthier, R. P., Neppl, T. K., O’Neal, C.W & Wickrama, K. A. S. (2020). Sibling relationships in older adulthood: Links with loneliness and well-being.  Journal of Family Psychology, 34 (2), 175. Web.

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'Wuthering Heights' Themes, Symbols, Literary Devices

A Novel About Love, Hate, Class, and Revenge

Hate and Revenge

Social class, literary device: multiple narrators within a frame story, literary device: doubles and opposites, literary device: using nature to describe a character, symbols: the ragged wuthering heights vs. the pristine thrushcross grange.

• M.A., Classics, Catholic University of Milan
• M.A., Journalism, New York University.
• B.A., Classics, Catholic University of Milan

While love seems to be the prevailing theme of Wuthering Heights, the novel is much more than a romantic love story. Intertwined with the (non-consummated) passion of Heathcliff and Cathy are hatred, revenge, and social class, the ever-prevailing issue in Victorian literature.

A meditation on the nature of love permeates the entirety of Wuthering Heights. Of course, the most important relationship is the one between Cathy and Heathcliff, which is all-consuming and brings Cathy to fully identify with Heathcliff, to the point that she says “I am Heathcliff.” Their love is everything but simple, though. They betray one another and themselves in order to marry a person for whom they feel a tamer—but convenient—kind of love. Interestingly, despite its intensity, the love between Cathy and Heathcliff is never consummated. Even when Heathcliff and Cathy are reunited in their afterlife, they do not rest peacefully. Instead, they haunt the moorland as ghosts.

The love that develops between young Catherine and Hindley’s son, Hareton, is a paler and gentler version of the love between Cathy and Heathcliff, and it’s poised for a happy ending.

Heathcliff hates as fiercely as he used to love Cathy, and most of his actions are motivated by a desire of vengeance. Throughout the novel, he resorts to exact some form of retribution from all those who, in his mind, had wronged him: Hindley (and his progeny) for mistreating him, and the Lintons (Edgar and Isabella) for taking Cathy away from him.

Oddly, despite his all-consuming love for Cathy, he is not particularly nice towards her daughter, Catherine. Instead, while assuming the role of the stereotypical villain, he kidnaps her, forces her to marry his sickly son, and generally mistreats her. 

Wuthering Heights is fully immersed in the class-related issues of the Victorian era, which were not just a matter of affluence. The characters show that birth, the source of income, and family connections played a relevant role in determining someone’s place in society, and people usually accepted that place.

Wuthering Heights portrays a class-structured society. The Lintons were part of the professional middle class, and the Earnshaws were a little below the Lintons. Nelly Dean was lower-middle class, as she worked non-manual labor (servants were superior to manual laborers). Heathcliff, an orphan, used to occupy the lowest rung in society in the Wuthering Heights universe, but when Mr. Earnshaw openly favored him, he went against societal norms.

Class is also why Cathy decides to marry Edgar and not Heathcliff. When Heathcliff returns to the heath a well-dressed, moneyed, and educated man, he still remains an outcast from society. Class also explains Heathcliff’s attitude towards Hindley’s son, Hareton. He debases Hareton the way Hindley had debased him, thereby enacting a reverse class-motivated revenge. 

Wuthering Heights is mainly told by two narrators, Lockwood and his own narrator, Nelly, who tells him about the events that took place in Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. However, other narrators are interspersed throughout the novel. For example, when Lockwood finds Cathy’s diary, we are able to read important details about her childhood spent with Heathcliff in the moors. In addition, Isabella’s letter to Nelly shows us firsthand the abuse she suffered at the hands of Heathcliff. All of the voices in the novel create a choral narrative by offering multiple points of view of the lives of the inhabitants of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights.

It's worth noting that no storyteller is fully objective. Although Lockwood might appear removed, once he meets the masters of Wuthering Heights, he becomes involved with them and loses his objectivity. Likewise, Nelly Dean, while at first appearing to be an outsider, is actually a flawed narrator, at least morally. She often picks sides between characters and changes allegiances—sometimes she works with Cathy, other times she betrays her. 

Brontë arranges several elements of her novel into pairs that both differ and have similarities with one another. For example, Catherine and Heathcliff perceive themselves as being identical. Cathy and her daughter, Catherine, look much alike, but their personalities differ. When it comes to love, Cathy is split between her socially appropriate marriage to Edgar and her bond with Heathcliff.

Similarly, the estates Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange represent opposing forces and values, yet the two houses are bonded through marriage and tragedy in both generations. Even Nelly and Lockwood, the two narrators, embody this dualism. Background-wise, they could not be more different, yet, with Nelly being too involved in the events and Lockwood being too far removed, they are both unreliable narrators. 

Nature plays an important role in Wuthering Heights as both an empathetic participant in the setting of the novel—a moorland is prone to winds and storms—, and as a way to describe the characters’ personalities. Cathy and Heathcliff are usually associated with images of wilderness, while the Lintons are associated with pictures of cultivated land. Cathy likens Heathcliff’s soul to the arid wilderness of the moors, while Nelly describes the Lintons as honeysuckles, cultivated and fragile. When Heathcliff speaks about Edgar’s love for Cathy, he says, “He might as well plant an oak in a flower-pot and expect it to thrive, as imagine he can restore her to vigor in the soil of his shallow cares!” 

As an estate, Wuthering Heights is a farmhouse in the moorlands ruled by the cruel and ruthless Hindley. It symbolizes the wildness of both Cathy and Heathcliff. By contrast, Thrushcross Grange, all adorned in crimson, represents cultural and societal norms. When Cathy is bitten by the guard dogs of Thrushcross Grange and she’s brought into the Lintons’ orbit, the two realities begin to clash. The “chaos” of Wuthering Heights wreaks havoc in the Lintons’ peaceful and seemingly idyllic existence, as Cathy’s marriage to Edgar precipitates Heathcliff’s vengeful actions. 

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Wuthering Heights - Free Essay Examples And Topic Ideas

Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë, known for its tragic love story, complex characters, and exploration of social class distinctions. Essays on this novel might explore the gothic and romantic elements, the symbolic use of the natural environment, or the psychological complexities of characters like Heathcliff and Catherine. Other discussions could delve into the novel’s commentary on social mobility and morality, or its influence on Victorian literature and subsequent literary trends. A vast selection of complimentary essay illustrations pertaining to Wuthering Heights you can find in Papersowl database. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

A Deeper Meaning of Wuthering Heights

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Destructive Love in Novel Wuthering Height

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Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights”

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Wuthering Heights Plot Summary

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Wuthering Heights Break Assignment

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Chapter 29 Edgar has passed away, leaving the title of Thrushcross Grange master unfilled. Nelly, Edgar’s servant, seeks a new job at Wuthering Heights as a servant for Heathcliff but he denies. Right before the death of Edgar, his daughter Cathy forcedly marries Linton, Heathcliff’s son. The marriage gives Linton and Heathcliff say over the Grange estate after Edgar’s death, therefore making Heathcliff the new master, replacing Edgar. Now the master, Heathcliff use the Grange as a space to rent […]

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The five examples that I have come across with, that represent the gothic theme in the novel from chapter 1 through 10 are weather, supernatural, revenge, suffering, and death. One day a huge snowstorm has approached that prevent Mr. Lockwood from leaving, and no one seems to be interested in helping him to reach home, Mr. Heathcliff shows no hospitality and “Gnasher and Wolf—become so excited by the scene that they floor Lockwood, giving him a bloody nose”(chapter 2). Weather […]

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Symbols - mostly settings Wuthering Heights - an old farmhouse that Heathcliff and Catherine grew up together symbolizes energy, excitement and affection. Thrushcross Grange is the house owned by the Lintons and later visited by Lockwood. It symbolizes a place with disciplined, elevated and civilized culture. Moors- A place where great adventures dwell in Catherine’s and Heathcliff’s memories. It symbolizes ferocious tendencies and exciting and mysterious mood of the unknown. The moor helps establish a certain mood in the novel […]

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Novels – Plot of the Story

"The majority of the time, novels will use hate to create havoc in the plot of the story. Wuthering Heights uses Heathcliff’s hate toward the other characters to insert conflict in the story. Wuthering Heights illuminates the source of Heathcliff’s hate as well as the effect it has on the other characters throughout the story. Heathcliff’s relationships with other characters also suggest the theme that hate only breeds hate. Heathcliff never finds peace through his revenge. With every act of […]

Emily Bronte – Facts of Life

"Emily Bronte was born on July 30, 1818, in a village located in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. She had five other siblings but sadly lost her mother to cancer when she was only three years old. Emily was extremely shy and loved animals. She had a passionate nature and wrote several poems with her two sisters in 1845. They published the poems under pseudonyms, which began her literary endeavors. Emily began her teaching career at Law Hill School in November of […]

Devon Komar Honors English

The book is set in an extremely secluded area within England. This suits Lockwood extremely well, as he defines himself as a “misanthropist”. Lockwood states, “‘Wuthering’ being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather. Pure, bracing ventilation they must have up there at all times, indeed: one may guess the mower of the north wind blowing over the edge…” (2). This shows that the property is often exposed to harsh […]

The Extraordinary Life of Novelist and Poet Emily Brontë

“Emily Brontë has become mythologized both as an individual and as one of the Brontë sisters” ("Overview of Emily Brontë"). Emily made her way as an individual with the release of her best selling and only novel, Wuthering Heights, in 1847. Life before Emily found her passion in writing was chaotic. Emily’s life was unusual and often unhappy, but everything changed when she learned how to sit down and write ("Overview of Emily Brontë"). Emily Brontë is an English novelist […]

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Student Essay: Fate and Choice in Wuthering Heights

By Anastasia Leffas

Though often hailed as a story of love spoilt by circumstance, brontë's novel is in truth a story of self-inflicted tragedy..

Heathcliff and Catherine, two figures in Emily Brontë’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights,  share a bewitching and devastating relationship. Both characters, as well as their relationship, serve as a tribute to the notion that circumstances, while powerful, do not–and cannot–take away the power of one’s will. Wuthering Heights poses, by these two wildly different characters, the question, “Can one be a product of one’s environment?” Emily Brontë strives to answer this age-old problem of human nature through Catherine and Heathcliff’s tumultuous relationship, a relationship that spans through generations, and is explored in the moors and estates found in Yorkshire. Through their mutual desire and destruction, Brontë proves that humanity can choose courageous love, or its opposite, beyond what one’s circumstances provide.

Brontë first introduces the reader to Heathcliff as the villainous (yet, some claim, misunderstood) anti-hero of Wuthering Heights . Heathcliff, taken in by the Earnshaw family as  an orphaned child, is often scorned and abused for his wayward nature and lack of known heritage. Of the few who show him kindness in his new home, Catherine stands out as an ideal playmate and eventual lover. In return for Catherine’s acceptance, Heathcliff endeavors to better himself for her sake, dressing with dignity and presenting himself with manners. This action of Heathcliff, while he was still a young teen, shows a glimpse at what his future could have been if he would have chosen beyond himself for the sake of his love. Yet this is not to be the courageous path that he chooses: in a fit of anger following a tragic misunderstanding, Heathcliff abandons his newfound purpose, and resigns himself to a deviously twisted temper and a lifetime of revenge and aggressive resentment.

While some may argue that Heathcliff comes to approach life in such a manner because of the abuse he experiences, and the rejection with which he is met, Brontë clearly denies this claim—as the masterful storyteller that she is, she provides the reader with the glimmer of hope that is Heathcliff’s brief yet powerful transformation. However, this ideal world is not to be in the tempestuous and brooding setting of Wuthering Heights ; Heathcliff is quickly shown to descend into a hellish state of hideous evil that he will remain in for the rest of the book. He is not merely a victim, but rather chooses to abandon that which provided him hope. This is the start of the demise of his love story with Catherine. It is doomed from this moment onward, and it is doomed through his freely-made choice.

Turning now towards Catherine, Brontë provides an alternate example of this treacherous choice that her characters are afforded. Catherine is initially depicted as a sort of carefree nymph, a symbol of civilized love that provides an opposite to the abuse and resentment that is occurring around her. Yet is this idealized image of Catherine a true one? Once again, Brontë dives into ugly realities by proving that she is not. Catherine is conceited and selfish more often than not; although she truly cares for Heathcliff, first as a companion and then as something more, she too lacks the courage to go beyond herself. Her own ego, fed by her status as a somewhat upper-class, pampered girl, begins to be what she loves more. She teases Heathcliff to her nurse, busying herself with her newfound “rich” friends. In fact, it is this unfortunate habit of discussing what she wants, and the shortcomings of others like Heathcliff, that leads to a misunderstanding catastrophic enough to end their love. Catherine, shaped by her status and ego, eventually chooses to love another man and let Heathcliff go. 

Brontë here provides an example that is opposite, and yet in a way identical, to Heathcliff’s situation. In contrast to Heathcliff’s scornful environment, Catherine lives in one of acceptance and freedom. She is not met with a hateful home, and yet what is her choice? The same as Heathcliff’s. It is one of selfish pettiness and hatred, not one of courageous love. She cannot, or perhaps more accurately does not, choose to love Heathcliff despite his lower-class status. While it was Heathcliff’s lack of character that led to his downfall, it was Catherine’s seemingly overfull one that destroys her. She fixates on her own desires, driving those whom she truly loves away and leaving her empty and broken. While it is Heathcliff’s choice to leave Catherine’s love, it is also Catherine’s choice to leave Heathcliff’s. 

Both Heathcliff and Catherine are the epitome and example of reckless, selfish, and destructive choices. While they claim to love each other, neither one is able to fully choose the other, not due to circumstances, but their own broken attitudes. Brontë, through her shadowy, haunting novel, tells this tale of doomed and miserable desire so beautifully, touching on the exact root of the problem. Circumstances and tendencies do not predestine the outcome; people have the power to choose to love with extreme and sacrificial courage—or not. Catherine and Heathcliff’s love could have been a great love, a love for the ages, if they chose in such a manner. Yet Brontë allows them to choose the opposite; to choose themselves, in such a primal and devious manner that their so-called “love” is doomed from the start.

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Anastasia Leffas is a seventeen-year-old senior at her Catholic high school in northern VA. She loves pursuing beauty by means of her academic studies, Irish dance, and music, and is considering collegiate study of psychology or history.

The top forty students from every CLT are invited to contribute an essay to the Journal. Congratulations to Miss Leffas on her high score! If you’d like to read more from our top students, try these posts on the double-edged influence of social media and the productive paradox of mercy and justice ; or you might enjoy this author profile of Henrik Ibsen . And be sure to check out our weekly podcast on education, policy, and culture, hosted by our founder Jeremy Tate.

Page image of High Cup in the Yorkshire Pennines, taken by John Clive Nicholson ( source ).

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Love In Wuthering Heights Essay

The story of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights has been one of the most influential and powerful piece of literature ever written. After being published, it garnered a lot of interest because of the theme that was deemed misleading and critically unfit for society. The main theme of the book revolves around the evolution of love, passion and cruelty.

During the first half of the book, Catherine showed different types of love for two different people. Her love for Heathcliff was her everything, it was her identity to love and live for Heathcliff but as soon as she found out how society views Heathcliff, she sacrificed their love and married Edgar Linton in the hopes of saving Heathcliff from Hindley and protecting him from the eyes of society.

In her conversation with Nelly, Cathy who professed her love for Heathcliff quoted “My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff's miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning: my great thought in living is himself.” Catherine proved Nelly Dean that the only person who can make her feel pain and sorrow is Heathcliff. The extent of her love was uncovered when she sang her praise of “I am Heathcliff” because this was the turning point in the book that allowed the readers to truly understand and see the depth of Cathy's love for Heathcliff.

On the other hand, Catherine's love for Edgar wasn't natural because it was a love that she taught herself to feel. It might have come unknowingly to Cathy but she did love Edgar as she said “My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees.” Cathy knew that it was not impossible to love Edgar for he was a sweet and kind gentleman who showed her the world but unlike her reasons to love Edgar, Heathcliff doesn't have to be anybody or anything for her to love him (Phillips, 2007). Catherine proved that changing love cannot compare to the love she and Heathcliff has for each other for they have a love that cannot be broken, as long as forever is they are bound to each other. 

Though Catherine and Heathcliff's love brings joy to each other it has also caused them great pains and the people around them. Their love destroyed innocence and purity. Catherine was going to marry Edgar because of his wealth and status. By marrying Edgar, it would give her a name she can be proud of and the people would envy her (Seichepine, 2004). This marked the lost of innocence for Catherine because she now knows the rules of society.

Heathcliff once thought that if he could only leave Catherine then he would be free from the fate that binds them but he cannot escape because for him there is no escape and apart from Catherine there is nobody else that mattered. When Heathcliff returned 3 years later, he used Isabella Linton as a means of revenge on both Catherine and Edgar. Heathcliff was not scared nor did he even shared a drop of pity on Isabella. He was going to use her innocence to hurt the people she loved and even the woman he loved. 

Isabella, on the other hand really loved Heathcliff and prayed that somehow he begins to see someone else other than Catherine. She knew that she never reflected in Heathcliff's eyes but she chose to stay with him because of her love. Isabella has the type of love that will never be returned. She accepted the fact that Heathcliff only loves Catherine and chose to forsake her family but this love destroyed her. In the end, she left Heathcliff with their child but he didn't even care.

Edgar Linton, towards Catherine has the type of love that entraps. He, like Heathcliff, is trap in a love that will never set him free. His love for Catherine allowed him to accept everything about her, even the love she shares with Heathcliff. Edgar gave her the chance to choose between the two of them but Catherine couldn't pick one over the other. She used her pregnancy to tie Edgar to him and make him follow everything she says. Edgar like Isabella, has the love that can never be returned. No matter how much kindness and love he shows Catherine, it would never compare to the love she and Heathcliff has shared. 

Wuthering Heights is a haunting story of love and passion because it is centered around the destruction of love and how it destroys the people themselves. Love unabled Catherine to choose between Heathcliff and Edgar even though her true love is Heathcliff. Heathcliff on the other hand vowed revenge on the people that have wounded him including Catherine. His passion for revenge supported him and changed him.

After Catherine's death, Heathcliff lost the emotions to live as a human. He even wanted her ghost to haunt him and stay with him forever. Heathcliff quoted “And I pray one prayer—I repeat it till my tongue stiffens—Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you—haunt me, then”, this has been the most intriguing line in the book as it goes beyong moral teachings and ethic. For Heathcliff, Catherine's death didn't free him instead it trapped him more to her. Heathcliff out of grief and misery said“Be with me always—take any form—drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!' If Catherine is Heathcliff, for him he is the very soul that makes him alive. Her death was the beginning of his end. Now that she has left him, he has nothing. For Edgar, it is a haunting love because he has to practically beg Catherine to love him and when she finally does, he has to share it with Heathcliff because Catherine loves both of them. Hindley was also played by love because when his wife, Frances died he turned to alcohol and made him hate his son. The depth of love he had for his wife was in a way, surprising because Hindley was described as a selfish man who only loves himself. When he lost the only person who ever showed him real love, he must have been unable to come into terms with reality. 

Emily Brontë exploited love and used it to support her writing. Even the second generation was not able to escape the curse of love. Hareton was taken in by Heathcliff but he treated him like a servant the same way his father, Hindley treated Heathcliff but nevertheless, Hareton loved Heathcliff like a child loves his parent. Heathcliff used his son Linton to inflict more pain on Edgar even on his death. By forcing little Cathy to marry Linton, Heathcliff was robbing Edgar of the little time he had left to spend with his daughter, the same way he was robbed of his right to be with Catherine on her death bed. 

Cruelty is another theme of Wuthering Heights that revealed the dark side of society. It all began with Catherine telling Nelly Dean that marrying Heathcliff would be degrading but she would not allow Heathcliff to love anyone other than her. Catherine's selfishness towards Heathcliff and Edgar is a form of cruelty because she does not think about how the two would feel. Heathcliff and Edgar have to satisfy her wimps because that is how much they love her, it came to the point where they can no longer turn back.

Catherine would starve herself to punish both Edgar and Heathcliff, it was her choice to get sick in order to get the attention of the two which ultimately led to her death (Bloomfield, 2011). Heathcliff abandoned his wife, Isabella even though she is pregnant because he does not love her. And Isabella sacrificed her family to be with Heathcliff and in the end, Edgar decided to close his heart on his only sister. The chain of misfortune continues as Heathcliff carries out his plan of revenge on Hindley. He even included the young Hareton who wanted nothing but his happiness. 

Though it is love that destroyed him, it was also love that freed Heathcliff. He witnessed how little Cathy and Hareton's love was blossoming, it might have reminded him of how he was before and thus finally gave up on everything. It is amazing to think how these characters sacrificed themselves to love and to be loved. True love can never be replaced by any other love. It was the driving force that created a monster in Heathcliff. He only wanted to love Catherine but society separated them and they have grown apart but even so, they found themselves back to each other. No matter how they were separated, their longing for each other is a strong and concrete evidence that true love only happens once. 

Love developed the characters and made them act based on their passion. However, it was also love that destroyed and created cruelty. Happiness is a choice and so is love. The purest kind of love can inflict the greatest pain in the world just like how Heathcliff and Catherine's love was, so close yet so far. 

Bloomfield, Dennis. "An Analysis Of The Causes And Effects Of Sickness And Death In Wuthering Heights." Bronte Studies 36.3 (2011): 289-298. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.  Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. 1847. New York: Penguin Books, 2003.  Phillips, James. "The Two Faces Of Love In Wuthering Heights." Bronte Studies 32.2 (2007): 96-105. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.  Seichepine, Marielle. "Childhood And Innocence In Wuthering Heights." Bronte Studies 29.3 (2004): 209-215. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. 

Author: Craig Brown