Wuthering Heights

Heath Cliff

Throughout Wuthering Heights two distinct yet related obsessions drive Heathcliff's character: his desire for Catherine's love and his need for revenge. Catherine, the object of his obsession, becomes the essence of his life, yet, in a sense, he ends up murdering his love. Ironically, after her death, Heathcliff's obsession only intensifies.

Heathcliff's love for Catherine enables him to endure Hindley's maltreatment after Mr. Earnshaw's death. But, after overhearing Catherine admit that she could not marry him, Heathcliff leaves. Nothing is known of his life away from her, but he returns with money. Heathcliff makes an attempt to join the society to which Catherine is drawn. Upon his return, she favors him to Edgar, but still he cannot have her. He is constantly present, lurking around Thrushcross Grange, visiting after hours, and longing to be buried in a connected grave with her so their bodies would disintegrate into one. Ironically, his obsession with revenge seemingly outweighs his obsession with his love, and that is why he does not fully forgive Catherine for marrying Edgar.

After Catherine's death, he must continue his revenge — a revenge that starts as Heathcliff assumes control of Hindley's house and his son — and continues with Heathcliff taking everything that is Edgar's. Although Heathcliff constantly professes his love for Catherine, he has no problem attempting to ruin the life of her daughter. He views an ambiguous world as black and white: a world of haves and have-nots. And for too long, he has been the outsider. That is why he is determined to take everything away from those at Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, who did not accept him. For Heathcliff, revenge is a more powerful emotion than love.

Major Themes of Wuthering Heights

   Of the major themes in Wuthering Heights, the nature of love  both romantic and brotherly but, oddly enough, not erotic  applies to the principal characters as well as the minor ones. Every relationship in the text is strained at one point or another. Brontë's exploration of love is best discussed in the context of good versus evil (which is another way of saying love versus hate). Although the polarities between good and evil are easily understood, the differences are not that easily applied to the characters and their actions.

The most important relationship is the one between Heathcliff and Catherine. The nature of their love seems to go beyond the kind of love most people know. In fact, it is as if their love is beyond this world, belonging on a spiritual plane that supersedes anything available to everyone else on Earth. Their love seems to be born out of their rebellion and not merely a sexual desire. They both, however, do not fully understand the nature of their love, for they betray one another: Each of them marry a person whom they know they do not love as much as they love each other.

Contrasting the capacity for love is the ability to hate. And Heathcliff hates with a vengeance. He initially focuses his hate toward Hindley, then to Edgar, and then to a certain extent, to Catherine. Because of his hate, Heathcliff resorts to what is another major theme in Wuthering Heights — revenge. Hate and revenge intertwine with selfishness to reveal the conflicting emotions that drive people to do things that are not particularly nice or rationale. Some choices are regretted while others are relished.

These emotions make the majority of the characters in Wuthering Heights well rounded and more than just traditional stereotypes. Instead of symbolizing a particular emotion, characters symbolize real people with real, oftentimes not-so-nice emotions. Every character has at least one redeeming trait or action with which the reader can empathize. This empathy is a result of the complex nature of the characters and results in a depiction of life in the Victorian Era; a time when people behaved very similarly to the way they do today.

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Read the following text and do the activities given below.

Martin Wickramasinghe

Martin Wickramasinghe was a great Sri Lankan writer. He was born in 1890 at Koggala, in the Southern Province, close to Galle. He published 14 novels and 104 short stories. His first novel was 'Leela', which was published in 1914. His famous novels are ‘Gamperaliya,' 'Viragaya,' 'Madolduwa,' 'Kaliyugaya' and 'Yuganthaya.' His books have been translated into English, Tamil, Chinese, Russian and many other European languages. He won many local and foreign prizes and awards for his literary works. He died in 1976. He lived for 80 years.

Activity-1

1.    Learn the new words.

2.    Do loud reading.

3.    Write an essay on Martin Wickramasinghe.

4.    Speak about him.

 

Activity-2

1.    Form a dialogue to get information about Martin Wickramasinghe.

1.    What do you know about Martin Wickramasinghe?

2.    He was a great Sri Lankan writer.

3.    When was he born?

4.    He was born in 1890.

5.    Where was he born?

6.    He was born in Koggala.

7.    How many novels did he publish?

8.    He published 14 novels.

9.    How many short stories did he publish?

10.                       He published 104 short stories.

11.                       What was his first novel?

12.                       It was Leela.

13.                       When was it published?

14.                        It was published in 1914.

15.                       What are his famous novels?

16.                       They are ‘Gamperaliya,' 'Viragaya,' 'Madolduwa,' 'Kaliyugaya' and 'Yuganthaya”.

17.                       Have his books been translated into other languages?

18.                       Yes, course. His books have been translated into English, Tamil, Chinese, Russian and many other European languages.

19.                       Did he win awards for his literary works?

20.                       Yes, certainly. He won many local and foreign awards for his literary works.

21.                       When did die?

22.                       He died in 1976.

23.                       How long did he live?

24.                                 He lived for 80 years.