Is Wuthering Heights Romance or Tragedy
"Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living" (Bronte, 163)! In this quote, Heathcliff's pain from Catherine's death is obvious. Wuthering Heights is a Victorian novel regarding the lives of the Earnshaws and Lintons. Through three generations, they all experience wave after wave of tragedy all originating with Heathcliff's overwhelming desire for revenge against the Lintons. This hatred is brought on by the treatment Heathcliff receives from the Lintons as well as Edgar Linton's marriage to Catherine, his soul mate. Although many passages of love are exposed in Wuthering Heights, the true genre of this book is tragedy due to the role of characters other than Heathcliff, the untraditional happy ending, and the death of the heroine early in the story. The role of several characters makes this novel a tragedy. Hindley, Hareton, Cathy, and Linton would be completely unneeded if this were a true love story. Hindley becomes Heathcliff's Nemesis from the very beginning. He is cruel and hateful towards Heathcliff. "He [Hindley] drove him [Heathcliff] from their company to the servants, deprived him of the instructions of the curate, and insisted that he should labour out of doors instead, compelling hi
Additionally, our heroine dies early in the novel. She is consumed with brain fever and never recovers. Her love for Heathcliff is only apparent during the childhood years. Selfishness and anger overwhelm any feelings of love she has toward him as an adult. With her gone and half the book remaining, it is impossible to continue with any type of love story between them. In fact, Heathcliff spends the rest of his life eaten with anger and anger does not breed love. He is even angry towards Catherine because she married Edgar instead of following her heart. "Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy? I have not one word of comfort" (Bronte, 158). Their love is, in fact a tragedy, because it is a spiritual, rather than physical love and they are only truly united after their deaths. There seem to be no feelings of happiness related to any feelings of love between Heathcliff and Catherine. Furthermore, this novel does not have a traditional love story ending. Nearly the entire key characters die and most before the book is halfway over. In the first half, Heathcliff and Catherine are soul mates, yet she marries another. To the last day of her life, they argue and blame each other for their unhappiness. In their last moments together, Heathcliff berates Catherine for the pain she has caused him. "I have not broken your heart - you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have
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Approximate Word count = 940
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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