Wuthering Heights Canines Analysis

A large Mastiff guard-dog named Keeper stalked Emily Brontë everywhere she went, acting like her second shadow. The affectionate duo had grown up together, and after her death, he howled in agony for numerous days, lamenting her departure. The importance canines had in her life parallels the significance of canines in her book. Throughout the novel Wuthering Heights, dogs function as symbols that reveal a character’s future.
On the narrator Lockwood’s second visit to the dreary and cryptic Wuthering Heights, he is faced with the nonattendance of his landlord, Heathcliff, at his manor. While returning in dismay to his residency at the Grange, “two hairy monsters flew at [his] throat,” attacking him while the returning Heathcliff cynically laughs in amusement
This personification of the Linton’s estate conveys the imprisoning she endures after her wedding to the esteemed Edgar Linton. Although Catherine proceeds in their marriage with the notion of climbing the social ladder, she ultimately regrets her vows to Edgar because she realizes her love for Heathcliff surmounts all social barriers. Thus, she becomes trapped in a relationship that she is truly not committed to. In Catherine’s case, the canine symbolizes her future confinement to an unpromising marriage with Edgar. Likewise, the cruel murder of Isabelle Linton’s dog also foreshadows to the future of the character. The dog is hanged with a handkerchief tied around its neck, which emphasizes Heathcliff’s dominance. This trait continues into their marriage, and he becomes an oppressive patriarch to the innocent Isabelle. The physical abuse she endures in her future is analogous to the inhumaneness the canine underwent. The death of her dog symbolizes her own demise that will result from the maltreatment this newly wed will suffer in her future from