Analyses of the Roots of Protagonists’ Tragic Love in Wuthering Heights

Guowei+Wang

Abstract： The classic is so called classic is that it has been always imitated， but never been surpassed. As Emily Brontes only novel， which published in 170 years ago， Wuthering Heights- narrating tragic love story mainly of Heathcliff and Catherine-is regarded as“ Stephens in literature” and “the literature of the sphinx” full of imagination and abstruse implication and has been controversial and received an army of explanations and interpretations from various perspectives since its publication， but insufficiency still exists in the study of it and few people really understand Emily Brontes inner world about it. This paper is to explore the roots of leading characters tragedy love from the legal perspective followed by family ethic， social ethic and protagonists characters to achieve a deeper interpretation of the novel as well as inspire the contemporary youth to think more about the real life and the pursuit of love.

Key words： Wuthering Heights； tragic love； root analyses； making choices.

1 The family ethic factors

First of all， it is the opposition of the families. Almost everyone， except for Mr. Earnshaw， thinks that Heathcliff who has nothing is not qualified to be together with Catherine. Hendley even has a plan to take him away to look for another way of making a living if Heathcliff continues to be associated with Catherine. Secondly and also the most important is that the love does not conform to the family ethics environment of that time， though they are in the same family and their legal status is the same and they are not blood relations and they are families in the law. Although only Mr. Earnshaw admits that Heathcliff is an adopted son， and others are not approved， it is an indisputable fact that Heathcliff and Catherine do not recognize ethical identity between them， which is also a very important reason that leading to their separation and death.

2 The social ethic impacts

The status of women in the Victorian Age is often considered to be an illustration of the significant discrepancy between Englands national power and wealth and what many sees it appalling social conditions. The legal rights of married women are similar to those of children in The Victorian Era， where they could not vote， charge， or own property. Although the social status of men and women at that time was inequality， but Catherine and Heathcliff， the lover， could not be together happily in that the social ethic impacts， specifically is that Catherine is a wealthy girl， but Heathcliff is an oppressed rabble， though， their status is the same from the perspective of civil law. Heathcliff knows well about that， so he struggles for Catherine for three years， saving up enough money and comes back to Catherines life after he leaves Wuthering Heights for to be together with Catherine. But， to his surprise， Catherine has been married to Edgar when he comes back. So Heathcliff frequently gives a visit to Thrushcross Grange， disturbing their quiet life， and even Catherine askes her husband to become friends with Heathcliff. Heathcliff and Catherines behaviors like that could not be acceptable in reasonable social ethics.

Heathcliff always doesnt understand why his Catherine leaves him because of a coward. In order to win back Catherines love， he marries Edgars sister， and keeps entangle with Catherine in this process， which is contrary to ethical and moral in the 19th century of Britain， though its not illegal at that time. No matter as siblings of the family or as a person that should have the sense of responsibility in society， the love of Heathcliff and Catherine in real life is impossible. In some sense， its understandable that a lot of things Heathcliff does for to be together with Catherine， but many of them are disgraceful consideration against the basic principle of Public Order and Good Customs and of Voluntariness and of Good Faith， and some of them such as gambling with Hendley is illegal.

3 The protagonists characters

Besides family ethic factors and social ethic impacts， there are many other reasons leading to protagonists tragic love， among which the most important reasons are protagonists characters， including of Catherine and Heathcliffs characters.

3. 1 Catherine s characters

Catherine is born in a rich family， but she is wild. She grows up in the wilderness and plays crazily in the wilderness all day， forming unyielding rebellious as the wasteland， defiant and wayward primitive wild beauty. It is well accepted that half of Katherines body is an angel， with the angels beauty and docile pure nature， half is the devil， headstrong crazy wild， free-spirited， passionate and full of extremely complex nature elusive. Heathcliff plays， studies and goes out for fun together with Catherine， spending their days on the moors. For Catherine， there is no one can replace of Heathcliff in the world， as if that even if everything is destroyed only Heathcliff stays， Catherine is still herself.

But Catherine is fascinated by the bourgeois civilization and elegant life in high society in Thrushcross Grange， recognizing that Edgar is her ideal marriage object， and marrying him can make her become the most high-status woman in this area， and can also help Heathcliff to improve his situation. “It is Catherines vanity that makes her betray her beloved Heathcliff， also betray her own soul.” In fact， its hard for us to evaluate that its right or wrong for Catherines choice， in that its her right to make the choice that to marry Edgar to improve her Rights of Personal Status and her families including of Heathcliffs. She makes such choice much accounted for her characters. And finally she bears the result of her choice， living unhappily.

3. 2 Heathcliff s characters

The desolate wilderness is profoundly changeable， gloomy and tragic， highlighting the human nature， indicating that the hero is wild as the natural space fickle， deep， endless loneliness， tough， cold， and crazy. Storm is the main melody of Wuthering Heights. Heathcliffliving in the headwinds， faces the storm of life and when he faces it he must be like the tilted tress， growing up distortedly and release the power； and like the raging fire as burning madness.

Catherine is important for Heathcliff as the meaning of the article says： “Whenever you become Mrs. Linton， he will immediately lose friends， love， and all！” But later， Catherine – his only spiritual pillar – abandons him because of his low status and decides to marry the respectable Edgar， who is the symbol of capitalist civilization. His heart sinks into the foam of despair， because the bourgeoisie can accommodate the wild Catherine， but cant accept the poor rabble like Heathcliff， because Heathcliff has no money and status！ The principle of the supremacy of money and status buries true temperament and distorts humanity as Tillich puts it： the pain of despair is such a pain： “the existent knows he cannot affirm himself due to the power of the nonexistence”.

Heathcliff is at the bottom of the society and cant affirm himself， so he is determined to run away and to dialogue with revenges， and outcry against the unfair of society. Many actions of others especially Hendleys infringe Heathcliffs Personal Rights and cause great damages to him and also that is one of the reasons of forming his characters， but some actions of Heathcliffs later are questionable. As an old Chinese saying “Vengeance has a way of rebounding upon oneself”， not to mention that we should do things legally. So we should learn to look before we leap.

Conclusion

From above discussion， we can have a better and deeper understanding about the novel and Emilys inner world and can also get some enlightenment-when facing the contradiction between the ideal love and the real marriage， how can we make the right choice without regrets. In fact， its a timeless truth that everyone is longing for love whether youre a legal person or not， no matter at home or in abroad， in ancient times or in modern， however， it cant be ended up with “Jack shall have Jill” for every love. But I believe that lots of people will be unremitting efforts for it， just like the protagonists in Wuthering Heights. So sometimes， we have to make tough choices between love and the reality when they have problems. Its a kind of helpless and also the choice of our hearts so that we can make ourselves without regrets.When we really meet the choice，which choice will we make， following our hearts like Heathcliff or against our hearts just as Catherine does？ Its very difficult for us because of being concerned with many factors such as family ethic， social ethic， and others. As far as Im concerned， its up to ourselves， the most important is that we should make it without regrets， wed better make a lawful and reasonable choice， because one cannot put back the clock， and many choices we will make only have one chance for us in the lifetime， and finally only our own bear the result no matter what choice we make.

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