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European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 03
March 2019
Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 998
Wuthering Heights As A Tragedy Of Extreme Passions
Nisha
B.P.S. Mahila Vishwavidyalaya,
Khanpur Kalan, Sonipat (HR)
Abstract: Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte’s only Novel was published in 1847 under the
pseudonym of “Ellis Bell”. It was written between October 1845 and June 1846. After Emily’s
death, Charlotte Bronte edited the manuscript of Wuthering Heights. Although Wuthering
Heights is now a classic of English literature but it was controversial because of its unusually
stark depiction of mental and physical cruelty and it challenged strict Victorian ideals regarding
religious hypocrisy, morality, social classes and gender inequality. The novel is about love and
revenge, about loss and desire Wuthering Heights is symbolic of the storm and discord- its
inmates – Hindley, Heath cliff and Catherine are all children of the storm. On the other hand
Thrush cross Grange is symbolic of the calm, gentle, orderly life- its inmates, Edger Linton,
Isabella are children of the calm. There are two inter- marriages Heath cliff of the Heights
marries Isabella of the Grange; while Cathy of the Heights marries Edgar of the Grange. Later
Catherine the daughter of Edgar and Catherine, marries Hare ton, the son of Hindley and
Frances thus bringing the two families and houses into harmony. Heath cliff and Catherine’s
passionate love and Heath cliff’s revenge is the main theme of the novel. This paper will analyze
treatment of passion of love and passion of revenge.
Keywords: Love, Revenge, Passion
Introduction: In the novel “Wuthering Heights” Catherine and Heath cliff’s passion for one
another is the centre of the story. Catherine appears to struggle with her choice in love
displaying immaturity in how she sees the love between herself and Heath cliff. Heath cliff’s
love for Catherine is more of a true love, however ‘true Love’ soon turns into an obsession that
leads him to madness and eventually to his death. Catherine and Heath cliff’s love is all
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European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 03
March 2019
Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 999
consuming passion for each other, which while noble in its purity is also terribly destructive. In
contrast, the love between Catherine and Edgar is proper and civilized rather than passionate.
Theirs is a love of peace and comfort, a socially acceptable love, Love between Cathy and Linton
is founded on Linton’s weakness- Linton gets Cathy to love him by playing on her desire to
protect and mother him, finally the love between Cathy and Hare ton which seems to balance
the traits of the other loves shown in the story. They have the passion of Catherine and Heath
cliff’s love without the destructiveness and the gentleness shared by Edgar and Catherine
without the dullness or inequality in power.
There are two passionate characters in the novel, portrayal of their passionate mood is
the soul of the book. Passion is the keynote of the Wuthering Heights and the two characters
that constitute that warp and woof of the Novel namely Catherine and Heath cliff, are ruled by
passion and we can hardly catch them in sober and lucid moments throughout the novel. Any
feeling when it assumes a very strong form and makes a person act in a way which violates the
norms of behavior imposed on him by society is called passion. Love, sorrow and hatred are
regarded as passion when they transcend normal limits.
Heath cliff’s Passionate Hatred: Heath cliff is such a vicious character and in the pursuit of his
ruthless vengeance born of a passionate hatred. If we analyze the name Heath cliff, it is a
combination of two words Heath+ cliff. Heat is wild desolate place where the wind blows in full
furry, Cliff is high rock. He tries to ruin two families, but ultimately they are saved. The influence
of passion on Heath cliff’s genuine bad nature is the theme of the novel. His motive of revenge,
no about is inspired by the cruel treatment he receives at the hands of Hindley.
This passionate hatred of Heath cliff also extends to Thrush cross Grange. Its owner
Edgar Linton has taken away his Cathy from him. To satisfy his revenge he takes advantage of
infatuation of a foolish girl(Isabella) in her teens, and marries her though he had not again of
love for her. He then tortures her.
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European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 03
March 2019
Available online:https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 1000
He abducts the younger Cathy and forces her against the wish of her father to marry his
sickly son so that the properties of the Linton’s may not go out of his hands. He has no mercy
for the daughter of the woman he once passionately loved and adored. He behaves with her
rudely. There is no redeeming element in this passion of revenge and it shows the power of evil
at its worst. Heath cliff tells Nelly that he will not spare Hindley.
“I am trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back. I don’t care how long I wait, if I can do it at
last. I hope he will not die before I do.”
Heat cliff’s Redeeming Passion: There is another manifestation of passion also which redeems
the character of Heath cliff and proves beyond doubt that he is a human being and not and
embodiment of evil. Heath cliff’s love for Cathy is the central fact about his life. He struggles
and toils for three years and comes back to Wuthering Heights, a handsome, fairly educated,
substantial man with the tremulous hope of winning Cathy, but all his hopes are dashed. She is
already Mrs., Linton. But undying passion of Heath cliff subsists. It is amoral, knows no social
barriers, and in platonic it is the hankering of the soul to meet its counterpart. In
Frenzied passion he holds in his arms the insensible body of Cathy, in her husband’s
parlor and she too abandons herself without the slightest struggle to him. There are no words,
it is the moment of “passion-fraught” rarely found in actual life. These following lines expresses
the anguish of his bleeding heart-
“Two words would comprehend my future death and hell: Existence after losing her would be
hell. Yet I was a fool to fancy for a moment that she valued Edgar Linton’s attachment more
than mine. If he loved with all the powers of his puny being, he could not love as much in eighty
years as I could in a day”
The last scene of their meeting at Grange, only a few hours before Cathy’s death is
unforgettable. They are united, body and soul, for the last time. Cathy realizes her mistake and
