Preview

Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein - Theme of the Divided Self Essay Example

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3626 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein - Theme of the Divided Self Essay Example
Theme of the divided self within Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
<br>
<br>Thematically, the divided self is one of the most interesting themes within both novels and is of great importance to the development or ruin of the characters in both ‘Wuthering Heights' and ‘Frankenstein.' Both authors when primarily exploring this theme focus upon the physical, mental or spiritual division within certain characters.
<br>
<br>In Emily Bronte's novel ‘Wuthering Heights,' the principal characters Cathy and Heathcliff are presented as needing this division within themselves to recognise their need for each other. This endurance of physical, mental and spiritual division whilst alive, allows them only tragically to experience when in death, complete entity within themselves.
<br>
<br>Primarily Cathy is not depicted as divided; instead, she is presented as belonging to a family unit, which seems to stay intact until the arrival of a ‘gypsy brat.' Although Heathcliff creates a divide within the family due to his arrival, Cathy is seen to gain a friend with whom she feels she has an affinity both physically, spiritually and mentally, which will become increasingly evident as the novel progresses. However, this alliance throughout the novel is frequently thrown into turmoil by outside influences or factors. As we are informed from the onset, the "greatest punishment" that could be bestowed upon Cathy was separation from Heathcliff.
<br>
<br>Cathy and Heathcliff's separation only therefore ensues as a result of their initial outing to Thrushcross Grange. Their promise to grow up together as ‘rude as savages,' is destroyed when Cathy and Heathcliff are separated physically by many factors resulting from this visitation. Just as the Linton's dog ‘holds' Cathy, so too is the Linton's house symbolically presented as separating her from Heathcliff, when Heathcliff resorts to peering in through their ‘great glass panes' to see Cathy, after being

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    OverviewThe novel, which features an unusually intricate plot, traces the effects that unbridled hate and love have on two families through three generations. Ellen Dean, who serves both families, tells Mr. Lockwood, the new tenant at Thrush cross Grange, the bizarre stories of the house 's family, the Linton 's, and of the Earns haws of Wuthering Heights. Her narrative weaves the four parts of the novel, all dealing with the fate of the two families, into the core story of Catherine and Heathcliff. The two lovers manipulate various members of both families simply to inspire and torment each other in life and death.…

    • 3193 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wuthering Heights contained many themes throughout the book. However, there are some that were more prominent. Revenge and social classes surround the novel. It shows how the two main characters, Heathcliff and Catherine, were brought together and had this strong connection between them, but the division of society separated them from happiness. Revenge acts like a stimulus for Heathcliff throughout the plotline and builds up the story so it is not some let down love story.…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    In volume 1 chapter 3, Mr Lockwood is sleeping in the room in which Cathy lived as a child. He is awoken by a scratching on the window and awakes the household by screaming loudly. Heathcliff enters the room to investigate first, rather than a servant, which suggests that he hoped to see an apparition of Cathy. His desperation to see Cathy is described later on in the chapter as he “wrenched open the lattice, bursting, as he pulled at it, into an uncontrollable passion of tears”. The violence of these actions-such as “wrenched”, “bursting” and passion”- all highlight that his need to see Cathy is uncontrollable, and is the force that keeps him going. It also suggests that Heathcliff has been repressing his emotions, and the hope of seeing Cathy has unlocked them. It also infers the amount of control Cathy still has over Heathcliff, even twenty years after her death. Furthermore, this display of emotion is a contrast to the coldness Heathcliff displays when Lockwood and Heathcliff are first introduced. Lockwood mentions at the beginning of the novel that he had “no desire to aggravate his impatience” which suggests to the reader that is it clear upon meeting Heathcliff that he is a very controlling person and is easily wound up. This makes Heathcliff’s later behaviour…

    • 2950 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Extremes of behaviours traditionally are characterised as going against the normalities of society. However, in Wuthering Heights these extremes are the ways in which normality is restored, and this paradoxical view allows the ambiguity surrounding the novel to truly become prevalent. These extremes also reflect gothic elements in the novel such as the sublime and moral decay. This is because through the absence of morality extreme emotions such as jealousy, violence, or revenge are allowed to stir. This is particularly the case because extremities allow for social transgression, which the gothic represents. This illustrates how the structure of society can be changed to allow for a modern view that freedom should not be diluted by social boundaries, and if this freedom is allowed to happen then normality will be restored. This can be seen to be how Heathcliff is more of a modern but violent hero of the novel, because it is only through his subversion of traditional social norms that normality is eventually restored when he dies.…

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    'The theme of childhood, voiced by the elder Cathy on her deathbed, is continued in the main action of the second half of the book [.. .] in one way or another childhood is in fact the central theme of Emily Bronte's writing'.' This time in Catherine's life, which is unquestionably associated with Heathcliff's appearance in her house and the strong feelings the boy then arouses in her, is, indeed, described at length by the narrator Nelly, as it will determine the following events in the novel. Catherine's dreams of happiness are associated with childhood all through her life, and even on her death-bed she still looks like a child in Nelly's eyes: 'She drew a sigh, and stretched herself, like a child reviving, and sinking again to sleep and five minutes after I felt one little pulse at her heart, and nothing more!''.Finally it is the ghost of a child that visits Lockwood, the newcomer and second narrator in the novel. Until she dies at the age of nineteen, Catherine clings in a passionate way to her childhood memories. The most revealing passage is the scene which takes place after Heathcliff has returned from a long absence and has just quarrelled with Catherine's husband, Edgar Linton. This scene, in which she raves, is significant as it echoes the childhood scenes in which she suffered from being separated from Heathcliff. Her memories have actually never stopped cropping up in an insistent way and she now…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Wuthering Heights, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the struggles and sufferings the characters have to deal with in their lives. As the protagonists of the novel, Heathcliff and Cathy offer an element of debate in whether death does provide release from these struggles and sufferings.…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Grief in Wuthering Heights

    • 2736 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Emily Bronte incorporates various types of grief into her writing in Wuthering Heights. This may be due to the conditions of many of her own experiences, or it may not, we cannot know. Regardless, the grief that is exhibited by the many different characters, differs for various reasons. The intense feelings of grief demonstrated in Wuthering Heights are most often insinuated by death. The ways in which characters relate to one another vary greatly, and also play a great role in determining the intensity of the sorrow felt by a character. Also, one's personality and capabilities can affect how he/she may feel about another's death. All of these are connected to the conditions in which a character was brought up and how he/she was living at the time of the tragedy, which also bears a large impact on the feelings of grief displayed.…

    • 2736 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    During their first encounter, Catherine gets bitten by a dog and is carried into the Lintons’ home. Right when the family sees Heathcliff, they react by saying, “put him in the cellar,” and stereotypes him as a thief because of his lower status (Brontë 53). They also say that he is “quite unfit for a decent house” and then kicks Heathcliff out of their house (Brontë 53). They view him like a servant that is dirty and not worthy of anything. However, their treatment towards Catherine is completely different.…

    • 973 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this passage of Wuthering Heights, two very important characters in the novel are reunited, but this time, unexpected things occurred. Everyone in the house believed everything would be the same as it was before, but little did they know that they were about to meet a transformed Catherine. In the passage, the meeting of Catherine and Heathcliff is much anticipated, as if a history among both characters existed.…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Heathcliff is treated terribly by all but Catherine, and she becomes his solace; his only friend. Her companionship is likely what kept him sane for longer. When she distanced herself, growing closer to the Lintons after staying there for several weeks (page 52), his attitude changed. Resentment and jealousy begin to form. She was not spending as much time with him, leaving him to endure whatever punishment Hindley forced on him. He was losing the one person he had left who seemed to care about him Therefore, when she announced she was going to marry Edgar Linton, he ran and did not return for years (page 84). While he was away, he probably lost sight of reason, of what he previously thought mattered. He was likely angry that she would leave him for someone he did not like; that she wouldn’t be with him. His madness only worsened when she died, as the thought of life without her was too much for him to bear. He caused her death by running off with Isabella. His madness led to Catherine’s lapse from reality. She lost her mind over his actions, and as a result he lost her. His madness was caused by love, as he didn’t know how to grieve. The message of spiritual love and torment that is present throughout the story is shown throught this aspect of Heathcliff’s madness. He loved Catherine desperately, and her death tormented him for the remainder of his…

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Heathcliff is haunted by his past of childhood mistreatment and grows up with a mentality seeking revenge to those he believes took so much from him. His inability to let go of his past abuse, affects not only himself but the people around him.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Banned Passion

    • 881 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The main characters of Wuthering Heights are Heathcliff, a gypsy-like man brought to Wuthering Heights as a child and eventually ends up owning it; Catherine Earnshaw, a woman Heathcliff falls in love with but eventually dies in childbirth; Edgar Linton, Heathcliff’s archenemy who marries Catherine; and Ellen Dean, a.k.a. Nelly, who is the narrator of the story. The overall conflict of the story is that Heathcliff has always loved Catherine, who also loves him, but never end up together because Catherine marries Edgar Linton instead to raise her status and wealth, and then dies soon after she confesses her love for Heathcliff. The conflict is resolved when Heathcliff dies and is buried next to Catherine, and each other’s spirits are together for all of eternity (Wuthering Heights). One theme in Wuthering Heights are the clash of elemental forces because the universe is made up of two opposite forces, storm and calm. Wuthering Heights and the Earnshaws express the storm and Thrushcross Grange and the Lintons represent the calm. Catherine and Heathcliff are elemental creatures of the storm.…

    • 881 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Novels come in many different genres, mainly separated by fiction and non-fiction. Fiction can also be broken down into subgroups. Gothic romance is a branch of fiction detailing in the dark tragedy including romance. The tragedy tells the tale of death. Shelley was surrounded by death, close family died quickly, she lost her children, her sister committed suicide and as result she had a lot of despair and loneliness in her life. This led to her gothic-romantic style of writing. Frankenstein, stylistically written for Shelley’s time period, is a worthy representation of both gothic and romantic literature. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus is a classic composition that entails conflict and uses point of view to tell the story in a constructive way.…

    • 1211 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte, shows how different aspects of themes are presented for a reader’s consideration. Some of the important themes in Wuthering Heights are, revenge, spiritual feelings between main characters, obsession, selfishness, and responsibility.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the beginning of the novel (and most likely from the beginning of Heathcliff's life) he has suffered pain and rejection. When Mr. Earnshaw brings him to Wuthering Heights, he is viewed as a thing rather than a child. Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to fling it out the doors, while Nelly put it on the landing of the stairs hoping that it would be gone the next day. Hindley had a deep sibling rivalry for the child. Without having done anything to deserve rejection, Heathcliff is made to feel like an outsider. Following the death of Mr. Earnshaw, Heathcliff suffers cruel mistreatment at the hands of Hindley. It seems that in these tender years, he is deprived of love, friendship, and education. He is separated from the family, reduced to the status of a servant, undergoes regular beatings, but most of all, he is forcibly separated from his soul mate, Catherine. The personality that Heathcliff develops in his adulthood has been formed in response to these hardships of his childhood.…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays