Antony and Cleopatra

Love was a very popular idea that was explored in both literature and media in our society. In media, love was romanticised where people fell in love with each other the second they laid eyes upon each other but love in real life was different. Love was a commitment that constantly needed the adjustment of both people lifestyles to be compatible with each other. The novel, Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Brontë explained that love needed good communication, being considerate of each other, and willingness to change for the benefit of the relationship. Communication was the backbone of every relationship. It allowed the people in the relationship understand how each other felt. In the novel, Healthcliff and Catherine Earnshaw had terrible communication. After Catherine had gone back to Wuthering Heights from Thrushcross Grange for the first time, she was disgusted by how uncivilized Heathcliff was after becoming accustomed to Edgar Linton's proper manners. Heathcliff finally snapped and ran away after overhearing Catherine tell Nelly that she could not marry Healthcliff because he was too low classed for her. When Healthcliff ran away, Catherine realized that he did not know how much she loved him. Due to the lack of communication between Healthcliff and Catherine, Healthcliff misunderstood Catherine thinking that she loved Edgar more than him. Both Catherine and Healthcliff were destroyed by this misunderstanding and their love relationship fell apart. Loving somebody meant that one was selflessly caring for the beloved and thinking in his shoes. Catherine's love for Healthcliff and Edgar were very selfish. Catherine did not want to choose between the two men so she chose them both. She did not consider how Heathcliff or Edgar felt about sharing her. In fact, she wanted to use Edgar's wealth to help Healthcliff climb in class because she knew that Edgar would obey her every command. She selfishly planned to use Edgar's loyalty to help Healthcliff become proper so that it would not be a disgrace to be with him. In her mind, using Healthcliff and Edger was a form of love. When Edgar finally made her choose between Healthcliff or him, she locked herself away making Edgar worry for her. She knew how much Edgar and Healthcliff cared for her and yet she still chose to starve herself in order to have things the way she wanted it: to have both Edgar and Healthcliff. Catherine's selfish love caused a great amount of suffering in both men's hearts. A relationship constantly went through ups and downs. Although most of the times, couples tend to agree with certain decisions, there were times when each person needed to compromise to keep the relationship alive. In the beginning, Young Catherine made fun of Hareton Earnshaw for not being able to read and Hareton would throw a fit and ran off because he had a lot of self pride. After speaking with each other, Catherine was able to change her mocking behaviour and help Hareton learn how to read instead. Hareton also compromised his pride to allow Young Catherine to educate him. Since both parties were able to adapt to the other's personality, they were able to have a strong relationship which led to a happy marriage. Love was not something that just happened on a single day. Time and effort needed to be put into love for it to be everlasting. Catherine Earnshaw and Healthcliff demonstrated how the lack of communication and consideration of the other person resulted a depressed and broken relationship. Hareton and Young Catherine were able to trust each other and change to fit with each other's needs making their love strong and unbreakable. A strong relationship did not just magically connect two people; this bond must be constantly be reinforced for the relationship to work.