Assignment: Paper E-C- 201,

Topic:  Variety of Themes in 'Wuthering Heights',

Students Name: Pooja N. Trivedi,

Roll No – 20,

M. A. Part – I, Semester –II,

Batch Year – 2010-2011,

Submitted To – Mr. Jay Mehta,

                                Department of English,

                                Bhavnagar University,

                                Bhavnagar.

M.H.Abrams in his ‘ A Glossary of Literary Terms’ points out that The term THEME is more usefully applied to a general concept of doctrine whether implicit or asserted, which art imaginative work is designed to incorporate and make persuasive to the reader.’Wuthering Heights’ is such a strange, agonizing and powerful book that every individual who reads it will give it his own interpretation.

As a novelist Emily is known by her one single masterly production ‘Wuthering Heights’. It is a masterpiece which has been the subject of many ardent eulogies and appreciations almost poetic in their enthusism. It is a work of art extremely strange, wild and elemental in character and requires some poetic fire in the reader to appreciate it fully. It is a novel of extra ordinary power intense passion, fiery emotion , deep love, strong hate and stormy feelings. It is a novel of terror and it thrills us at several places by its lyrical intensity of passion and its emotional exuberance. The novel fully justifies the opinion of Matthew Arnold, that the author’s soul:

“ Knew no fellow for might,

   Passion, vehemence, grief

   Daring, since Byron died.”

The structure of this novel is complex woven with multiplicity of themes of love, revenge, good versus evil etc.

The first and foremost tendency of that presented by Emily Bronte is of the love relationship of Heathcliff and Catherine, but not that of the other lovers as an archetype. It expresses the passionate longing to be whole, to give oneself unreservedly to another and gain a whole self or sense of identiiy back, to be all-in-all for each other. So that nothing else in the world matters andto be loved in this way forever.

For instance Catherine likens her love for Heathcliff to ‘the eternal rocks beneath’ telling the house keeper,

“Nelly, I am Heathcliff !”

Even Heathcliff at the time of Catherine’s death and afterwards also craves for her love. As he speaks,

“ I’ll not lie there by myself; they may burry me twelve feet deep and throw the church down over me, but I won’t rest till you are with me I will never.”

He cries,

“ Oh, Cathy! Oh my life! How can I bear it?”

Their love exists on a higher or spiritual plane: they are soul mates two people who have an affinity for each other which draws them together irresistably. For that C.Day Lewis observes,

“ Heathcliff and Catherine represent the essential isolation of the soul the agony of  two souls- or rather, shall we say? Two salves of single soul- for- ever sundered and struggling to unite.”

Their love for each other is so passionate that they can not possibly live apart. “ he shall never know how I love him, and that not because he’s more myself than I am.

Further love of heath cliff and latherine becomes the central theme of the first volume; his revenge and its consequences are the main theme of the second volume.

To quote W.H.Auden’s words,

“Those to whom evil is done do evil in return.”

Revenge of heath cliff, is the dominate theme of the dominant theme of the second half of the novel, al though Heathcliff abandons his plan for vengeance.

The revenge motif of heath cliff is presented in two fold manner, one of that throated and another is the social degradation by her brother. These both circumstances make Heathcliff too much frustrated that he puts himself in the category of lovers who can go u to the extent of crime for their love. One the other hand constant blous of humiliation degradations make him stone sking that he wants to take revenge by look or crook. He is caring pandemonium in  hi s heart. A constant hellfire is burning with in him. He tells to Nelly,

“I am trying to settle how I shall pay Findlay back, I don’t care how long I wait if I can only do it at last. I hope he will not die before I do.”

“No God won’t have the satisfaction that I shall.”

“I only wish I knew the best way”.

Let me alone and I’ll plan if out while  I’m thinking of that I don’t feel pain.”

His craving ;for revenge covers everyone around him rains everyone around him and his ownself . He rages,

“ I have no pity” And claims,

“The more the worms writhe (with in me) the more I yearn to crush out their entrails it is a moral teething and I grind with greater energy in proplation to the increase of pain.”

Upto the extent that cruelty becomes the ;middle name if Heath Clift . But how this revenge motif pains Heathclift is presented as.

Heathclift is , in reality, a man whose soul is torn between love and hate, and because of the depths of his passions he hates as much as he loves. Finally his long revenge turns sour and he starves himself to death in order to reunited to Catherine  underground.

The glimpse of Heathecliff’s revenge motif also can be seen in his treatment of young catlry and Hareton. He is determined to brutal ire Hareton as he himself was brutalized.

Another interpretation would be the conflict between good and evil. [love and hate] Actually the spirit of the novel is a religious one and contends that for a nature to be fully complete it must make contact with an existence beyond this life here on earth.

The good in Heathcliff is turned to evil, which he directs against everyone except Catherine while Catherine herself is torn apcut spiritually , mentally and emotionally seeks release in death. Knowing that only in death will she and Heatclliff be united.

Love is the only element that remains contact. Everything else withers away ambition hate and we find that love conquers even Heathcliff  in the end. The novel triumphs of goodness and presents the slow wearing out of evil from the earth in the defeated intensions of Heathcliff. In the history of English fiction , this novel is unique for its dark and thunderous atmosphere and its powerful fusion of inordinately passionate love and hate.

One shall never really know what Emily Bronte is saying in her look but she seems to be pointing our two things all our strivings on the earth amount to nothing, and it is not until we are dead, and merged with the Almighty being that we shall find our greatest satisfaction the power of good is stronger than the power of evils and will eventually prevail.