Wuthering heights

[miss tenderness]

I've read Wuthering Heights long time ago and it won my admiration and still does. I just find it an amazing literary book. Emily composed a real masterpiece in that novel and in building up its hard-to-be-forgotten characters. I've always disputed with my colleagues about the heroes of W.H, and mostly about Heathcliff. The devil -like character. In the very beginning the way he was treated broke my heart and all through the novel I grew biased to his side!! I do hate his conduct most of the time but sympathy for him held me to his side. He is a victim of the ill treatment and the under esteem that he received most of his life.

What did you feel when reading the novel, and what sentiment occupied you towards the devilish Heathcliff and the other character?

[Virgil]

I too love this novel. In fact I consider it the finest English novel of the 19th century, and that's saying a lot.

My feelings toward Heathcliff are mixed. I feel compassion for Heathcliff the child, admiration for Heathcliff the successful adult who had to overcome much, and awe for Heathcliff the unwavering lover of Catherine. However, I hate Heathcliff the adult who is satanically whicked toward everyone, especially the children under his care. There are some who take child abuse and become more compassionate than the average person; there are some who take child abuse and turn around and are just as evil as those who abused them. Heathcliff is the latter. The way he raises the children under his care is unforgivable.

[jon1jt]

I'm actually finishing up reading this novel now! I must say that I was disappointed with it up until the scene where Heathcliff locks up little Catherine and the maid in the house.

I completely agree with you Miss T about the beginning and am glad I wasn't the only one who thinks this way!!! He was unimaginably mistreated as a child that you can't but help feel sorry for him and his unabiding love for Catherine makes him even more sympathetic. I think Bronte fails pathetically to make Heathcliff the despicable character he NEEDS to be for this book to work. He's manipulative, cunning, heartless, cruel to his son, but it comes too late to have the impact and tempered by his rather reservedness. He seems to always be in control of the situation and I just didn't buy his villainous role. Well, I haven't finished it, so we'll see.

Great comments from you two! Thanks.

[white camellia]

I read this novel a couple of years ago and it remains one of my favorites. It is amazing that Heathcliff loved one deeply and hated others so vehemently. His love for Catherine is only a bitter memory since the time his lover chose the other 'noble' man, which should serve as another reason for his revengeful and gruesome acts in his later life besides the reason that he was mistreated in childhood. I think to some people, the evil side of his nature is hidden among some stable positive factors (like love and care) that dominate one's behaviors untill it is stimulated and then explodes. Maybe the result would be much different if Catherine did the opposite. I am always moved by the bleak and recurring opening scene of the story -- his dead lover beseeched him at the windows...What a tragic!

[Nightshade]

I read it fairly recently and I loved the first volume, but got really annoyed with the second.
Got to say though the only charcter I really like was Hareton and I was really annoyed with him for falling in love with Cathy.

[miss tenderness]

. It is amazing that Heathcliff loved one deeply and hated others so vehemently. !

Exactly, that point drew my attention and I had it in my mind when I read the novel. How can a person who is hostile to everybody holds great love and dedication for one person. If a person ,of heathcliff sort , is villain all the time and with everybody , then assumingly he is incapable of love.

Jonny , have you finished it? What do you think? Heathicliff is an ill person if we see him on the modern way. He needs a shrink, after getting the medication ,he'll be a good person , I just can't hate him.

I have lost this thread for so long coz it was removed to Brontie's section without a notice

[TheFemme]

I love this novel. It's just beautifully written and I enjoyed the stark contrasts throughout. From the Earnshaws and the Lintons to Heathcliff's intense love of Catherine and his violent hatred of others,there were just so many layers to appreciate.

[kathycf]

I too love this novel. In fact I consider it the finest English novel of the 19th century, and that's saying a lot.

My feelings toward Heathcliff are mixed. I feel compassion for Heathcliff the child, admiration for Heathcliff the successful adult who had to overcome much, and awe for Heathcliff the unwavering lover of Catherine. However, I hate Heathcliff the adult who is satanically whicked toward everyone, especially the children under his care. There are some who take child abuse and become more compassionate than the average person; there are some who take child abuse and turn around and are just as evil as those who abused them. Heathcliff is the latter. The way he raises the children under his care is unforgivable.

You really echo my feelings regarding this novel and its characters, Virgil. I think Bronte did a good job with her depiction of them. Like people in real life, Heathcliff is a mixed bag. He is not what I would consider to be an evil man, but he is a bitter and unforgiving man. Yet, I do feel sorry for him because of the way he was raised.Compassion, outrage, and aggravation pretty well sum up my feelings regarding Heathcliff.

[jon1jt]

[QUOTE=miss tenderness]Jonny , have you finished it? What do you think? Heathicliff is an ill person if we see him on the modern way. He needs a shrink, after getting the medication ,he'll be a good person , I just can't hate him.[QUOTE]

Hey there Ms. Tender girl! I have to admit I haven't finished the book. I'm about 60 pages from the end, around the point where Catherine tells that she has married Linton and then heads back with Heathcliff. Heathcliff could use a shrink and medication, and there's definitely signs of mental illness there. He's definitely not a likable character and I don't hate him either. There are points I truly sympathized with him and even found his spiteful way to be childish. I'm curious to see how the book will end.

[miss tenderness]

Jon!

messed up between writing and reading!