Sep 26, 2010 04:13 PM
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In words of Charlotte Bronte:"Whether it is right or advisable to create things like Heathcliff, I do not know; I scarcely think it is. But this I know; the writer who possesses the creative gift owns something of which he is not always master."
Wuthering Heights is a True Classic. Written by Emily Bronte, it is a tale of love. Not romantic love as we know it, but passionate, vengeful, unforgiving love that transcends the barriers of time and life.
The story is set in 1800s in the English moors of Yorkshire.Much of the story is in the form of a flashback, as narrated by a family servant to a new tenant. A small poor boy of unknown origins is adopted into the Earnshaw family, and soon forms a close bond with the daughter Catherine. He is named as Heathcliff. Their bond soon turns into a childish love based on common perceived injustice and suffering, and then turns into a possessive and obsessive love.
However Catherine marries Edgar Linton- a boy from a rich neighboring family. Heathcliff leaves and returns after a few years, letting a maelstrom of vengeance against all he blames, which destroys the life of two families and two generations, including Catherine's daughter and his own son.
Here the story shifts into present time as seen through the eyes of the tenant.
The characterization and the symbolism is unique.The prose is dramatic. The story includes several Gothic elements including dark houses, ghosts and haunted moors. Heathcliff and Catherine are characters not in the mould of romantic heroes and heroines- they are uncivilzed, unsympathetic and sometimes despicable. Their love is neither unselfish nor forgiving but it is a tangible presence throughout the book. They hate themselves, each other and everyone else yet they identify with each other so completely as if they are one being. For me it will always be a mystery how Emily Bronte.daughter of a curate leaving in peaceful English countryside, was able to create this tale which enthralls, horrifies and stimulates one at the same time.
Wuthering Heights is a story that does not get old with reading and re-reading. It will be read by generations and remembered always. It is a masterpiece which "haunts you long after you finish reading it."
I would like to add these unforgettable lines by Catherine Earnshaw-"If all else perished and he remained, I shall still continue to be;and if he were annihilated the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it. My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it. My live for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath; a source of little visible delight, but necessary. I am Heathcliff!"
