Preview

Wuthering Heights Essay Example Revenge

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
943 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Wuthering Heights Essay Example Revenge
Violent Dreams
As a Latin proverb states, “revenge is a confession of pain.” The main character, Heathcliff, is a victim of a broken heart; in which, constructs feelings of inflicting pain on the ones who cause his suffering. In Emily Bronte’s novel, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff is tremendously affected by the characters in the story that spawn his reasons for vengeance. Initially, Hindley views Heathcliff as a usurper of Hindley’s position as Mr. Earnshaw’s son, and quickly begins to display signs of animosity toward him. Subsequently, Catherine’s decision to separate herself from him fuels his revengeful schemes. Ultimately, the cruel, superior actions manifested by Edgar prove aggravating and unacceptable to Heathcliff.
As Hindley treats Heathcliff horribly for taking the place of his father’s son, this creates massive agony in Heathcliff resulting in a wretched home within Wuthering Heights. Hindley also has a desire for revenge and “swears he will reduce him to his right place.” His jealousy takes over and promises to set Heathcliff straight by commencing a series of mistreatment and abuse. Another method of how Hindley demonstrates his loathing of Heathcliff is his commands to have him work as diligent as a servant. He forces him to “labour out of doors” and constantly “do as hard as any other lad on the farm.” This punishment is barbarous because a man should not harass his sibling to labor on a field. Lastly, Hindley’s realization of Heathcliff and Catherine’s late night stroll brings upon new measures of wickedness to his mind. The “luckless adventure made [him] furious” so he encourages the opportunity for Catherine to obtain an extended visit at the Linton’s household. Misery occurs in Heathcliff because of this great chance to separate the two lovers.
In the times of Heathcliff’s infatuation for Catherine, her separation from him transforms her into a woman of improvement that boosts her standards greater than Heathcliff can provide her

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Earnshaw, went from his fields, Wuthering Heights, to Liverpool for a business trip where he finds a young boy who was abandoned on the streets. Mr. Earnshaw takes him home with him to join his family. He names the boy Heathcliff after his own son who passed away. Heathcliff then meets Catherine and Hindley, the daughter and son of Earnshaw. He becomes close friends with Catherine, however Hindley doesn’t take a liking to him because he felt liked he was being replaced. After Earnshaw’s wife passed away, he sent Hindley away to college to become more worthy and to put less stress on the household. Soon, Earnshaw’s health was declining and after he passed away, Hindley returned home married to a young woman. He became true heir of their household and used his powers to reduce Heathcliff to a servant of the house. However, Catherine and Heathcliff continued their relationship and didn’t care about punishments. One day, they ran to Thrushcross Grange where they met the Lintons. They also had a son and a daughter, Edgar and Isabella who were polar opposites of Heathcliff and Catherine. The Lintons welcomed Catherine, but rejected Heathcliff making him feel like an outsider again. Heathcliff starts to think of revenge after and is soon filled with jealousy after seeing Catherine spending more time with Edgar. He then runs away from Wuthering Heights after overhearing Catherine telling Ellen she can never marry…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The setting of this story takes place on the planet Prelandra, also known as Venus. This planet consists of many floating islands. The islands are quite beautiful, the clouds are purple and the sky is a golden color, the seawater is green and drinkable, from the distance the water looks like glided glass. The islands are not very stable, and they can shake if water hits the mobile islands. All of the islands are mobile, except the main island, which remains stationary. Maledil, the people's god, forbade them to spend the night on the main island; therefore the inhabitants of Perelandra stay on one of the mobile islands. There are many different types of inhabitants on Perelandra, dragons, exotic fish, possums, and unusual looking birds. Ransom, the books main character, mistook the birds for bat-winged reptiles when he first arrived on Perelandra. The tropical climate provides a pleasant atmosphere on Perelandra, thus allowing the inhabitants to move about freely, basking in the agreeable weather.…

    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë is a forbidden love story that has a loveless controversial marriage and a "love after death" scenario. Brontë shows emotions in her novel that force characters to do things that are not a "traditional" behavior for a person. Although the main theme throughout "Wuthering Heights" is love, it is equally based on revenge. Examples of that revenge are mainly between the characters Heathcliff and Hindley. For example, when Hindley decided to make Heathcliff's life a living hell it caused Heathcliff to plan revenge on Hindley. Additionally, when Hindley became so fed up, he wanted to murder Heathcliff and also wanted his soul and blood.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Heathcliff is a prime example of a character with a “diseased mind” that causes him suffering. He spends the majority of his life contemplating and acting out revenge towards Hindley and the Lintons because he believes it was their fault Catherine thought it would “degrade” her to marry Heathcliff, even though she loved him; this is one example of his unstable mind set. In chapter 9 Nelly foreshadows the suffering of Heathcliff by saying “if you [Catherine] are his choice, he’ll be the most unfortunate creature,” this is because Nelly understands that society wouldn’t accept the pair to marry, therefore Heathcliff will be unfortunately heartbroken. Heathcliff believes that Catherine is a part of him: “I cannot live without my soul,” he says which highlights that he is suffering without her. It is from this heartbreak and suffering that his “diseased mind” commenced. Heathcliff’s “diseased mind” heightens when he asks for Catherine to “haunt” him when she is dead; haunting is an element of the Gothic genre but the madness of Heathcliff is enhanced when he requests that Catherine drives him “mad.” The word “mad” is ambiguous in this quotation because it could be viewed that Heathcliff wants to be haunted until he is angry with Catherine so he can destroy his love for her. An alternative view is that Heathcliff wants to be haunted until he is insane and suffering since he is desperate to see Catherine, this becomes true because after Catherine’s death Heathcliff’s mind is haunted by his love for her. Jerold E. Hogle explains this is accurate because characters in Gothic novels are “haunted psychologically” and this is accurately shown through the…

    • 646 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    OverviewThe novel, which features an unusually intricate plot, traces the effects that unbridled hate and love have on two families through three generations. Ellen Dean, who serves both families, tells Mr. Lockwood, the new tenant at Thrush cross Grange, the bizarre stories of the house 's family, the Linton 's, and of the Earns haws of Wuthering Heights. Her narrative weaves the four parts of the novel, all dealing with the fate of the two families, into the core story of Catherine and Heathcliff. The two lovers manipulate various members of both families simply to inspire and torment each other in life and death.…

    • 3193 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cathy provides evidence for the theory that death is seen to be a welcome release from the tortures of living. Her first ‘torture’ can be seen to be the fact that she is second to Heathcliff in her own fathers eyes, and this is highlighted to her in her father’s telling her that he ‘cannot love’ her. Another problem Cathy must face is that of her class and gender. As a woman of the 1700s, she would be expected to marry into a wealthy family … The biggest ‘torture’ in Cathy’s life is that of romance. She…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Heathcliff Justice Quotes

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the story “Wuthering Heights”, almost all of the characters were seeking for justice in their own way. However, the character who stood out most was Heathcliff. He was treated horribly for ages and came looking for revenge/justice to Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff was most hated by Hindley throughout his entire childhood and even some adulthood. Although the majority of Heathcliff’s hatred went to Hindley, Heathcliff still developed hatred towards Edgar for having Catherine choose him over himself.…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights, he is no longer the impoverished boy as before. He is wealthy now and has lost all compassion for others. The first person he seeks revenge on is Hindley, who was responsible for the time that Heathcliff spent as a laborer. Hindley is impressionable due to a drinking problem and Heathcliff draws him into a debt which allows him to inherit the manor after Hindley's death. By seeking revenge on the brother of his former love, Heathcliff begins his acquisition of the things which he believes are rightfully his. As Hindley was abusive as a youth, the reader doesn't necessarily feel bad for the revenge Heathcliff so deeply desires. However, these actions are what will ultimately lead to Heathcliff's death, as he will realize that all he has wrought on those who've made his life miserable can't return the love he felt with Catherine or cease his haunting by her memory.…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Had the story been told chronologically, the linear progression of events would not have had the same air of mystery- had it been clear early on that Catherine was able to truthfully say ‘I am Heathcliff’, Heathcliff’s obsession with her would not have puzzled or interested the reader in the same way. By presenting the aftermath of Heathcliff’s obsession for revenge, and progressively providing the reader a frame to use through which to view the incarnation of Heathcliff we are first shown.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Literature

    • 2830 Words
    • 12 Pages

    8. Catherine is pained by Hindley's punishment of Heathcliff, yet she continues to entertain her guests. What change does this reveal?…

    • 2830 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Lockwood gets a bad introduction to Wuthering Heights when Gnasher –Heathcliff’s dog- attacks him. Heathcliff himself doesn’t get a great introduction to Wuthering Heights, firstly Cathy spat in his face and Hindley constantly hit him and insulted him calling him a “vagabond” and a “gypsy” on several occasions. A prime example of violence upon Heathcliff is in chapter four Heathcliff threatens to tell on Hindley for hitting him -“if I speak of these blows, you will get them again with interest”-so Hindley hits him again. It almost seems as if Heathcliff wants Hindley to hit him so that he has something to hold over him. This is a great example of rising action as this harassment leads to his craving for revenge for the rest of the novel. As with relationships in Wuthering Heights violence and desire go hand in hand. Cathy hits Edgar in chapter eight but he is so besotted with her that he ignores the incident thus refusing to heed the warnings of her troubled behaviour and instead he proposes to her. His desire makes him similar to Heathcliff who has a masochistic attraction to drama – which is the reason he married Isabella to cause friction between the two Lintons and to make Cathy jealous of…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Story of Catherine and Heathcliff began when Catherine's father goes on a trip and instead of bringing back gifts he brings back a gypsy boy with dark skin and even darker hair. While others hated the newcomer, Catherine took a liking to him right away and they became inseparable. But after an injury Catherine or “Cathy” was forced to reside at the Linton’s, a pristine family who re-molded Cathy into a well mannered, well behaved, well spoiled girl. At her stay with the Linton’s Catherine learned about the value for money and social status. She realized that as much as she loved Heathcliff she would never marry him because he had no money or title, so instead she married Edgar Linton. An ill treated Heathcliff was devastated and ran away…

    • 1960 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Catherine Earnshaw

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Heathcliff is considered to be the main protagonist of the novel so Catherine is the dominant female spirit, which prevails the novel. She is a character dominated by obsession and her single greatest obsession is her love for Heathcliff. It is this, which gives food to her soul, which controls her life and gives a sense of meaning, purpose and…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why Is Heathcliff Wrong

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the novel Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë, an individual named Heathcliff was wronged many times. He was treated poorly all of his life by his “brother”. Heathcliff fell in love with a woman who loved him back, however she married another man, because he was rich and had a higher social rank. All of the times Heathcliff was wronged during his life inspired him to get revenge on those that treated him incorrectly. Overall, Heathcliff is a maniacal man who is driven by all of the times that people have mistreated him in the past.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The theme of destructive love with the relationship in shakespeare Macbeth and Wuthering Heights Is presented though sexium,jealousy,and betrayal. Writers present destructive love and how this affects relationships in Macbeth and Wuthering Heights. How do women get control in a relationship? Lady macbeth is a very controlling women and very outspoken person. She is a commanding , mean, -suicidal, hard loving , and despicable lady. Lady Macbeth wants sovereignty for her benefits to use against Macbeth. Also the mastermind behind all evil that is done in this novel.…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays