Catherine and Heathcliff vs Cathy and Hareton

I've just come from the discussion on Tolstoy where a number of readers expressed admiration for the rakish character Dolokhov in War and Peace. I've never been a fan of the character, but I've always had a weakness for Bronte's Heathcliff. Wuthering Heights movies always portray Heathcliff as the classic gloomy and passionate lover, but in the book, he is really a ruthless evil person. Nevertheless, every time I read the novel, I find myself taking Heathcliff's side in the early part of the story, especially at the death of the first Catherine. This shows how a skilled novelist can mess with your mind. Bronte is telling us something else: that it is human nature to be drawn to the physically strong and powerful rather than the weak. Edgar Linton was a much finer man than Heathcliff, but he was soft and ineffectual. Catherine expresses her dilemma when she confronts her two lovers and says, "I have to put up with one's bad nature and the other's weak one." With her younger generation, Bronte has rearranged these personality traits to set forth her ideal humans. Hareton Earnshaw and the young Cathy Linton are physically strong, alert, energetic, able to survive in the rough country they had been born in, but at the core are compassionate and goodhearted. The sunny love between them is contrasted with the love between the older Catherine and Heathcliff, which was fierce, like a blind force of nature, and hurtful to the lovers themselves. In the young Linton Heathcliff, Bronte shows us what Heathcliff would have been like if he had lacked physicial strength - the worst possible combination - weakness AND selfishness. The younger Cathy is a large enough person to love Linton, demonstrating the greatest love of all - the love of the unlovable.

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Originally Posted by Bleakhills

I've just come from the discussion on Tolstoy where a number of readers expressed admiration for the rakish character Dolokhov in War and Peace. I've never been a fan of the character, but I've always had a weakness for Bronte's Heathcliff. Wuthering Heights movies always portray Heathcliff as the classic gloomy and passionate lover, but in the book, he is really a ruthless evil person. Nevertheless, every time I read the novel, I find myself taking Heathcliff's side in the early part of the story, especially at the death of the first Catherine. This shows how a skilled novelist can mess with your mind. Bronte is telling us something else: that it is human nature to be drawn to the physically strong and powerful rather than the weak. Edgar Linton was a much finer man than Heathcliff, but he was soft and ineffectual. Catherine expresses her dilemma when she confronts her two lovers and says, "I have to put up with one's bad nature and the other's weak one." With her younger generation, Bronte has rearranged these personality traits to set forth her ideal humans. Hareton Earnshaw and the young Cathy Linton are physically strong, alert, energetic, able to survive in the rough country they had been born in, but at the core are compassionate and goodhearted. The sunny love between them is contrasted with the love between the older Catherine and Heathcliff, which was fierce, like a blind force of nature, and hurtful to the lovers themselves. In the young Linton Heathcliff, Bronte shows us what Heathcliff would have been like if he had lacked physicial strength - the worst possible combination - weakness AND selfishness. The younger Cathy is a large enough person to love Linton, demonstrating the greatest love of all - the love of the unlovable.

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Hi, I have just read your opinion about Wuthering Heights, and I liked it a lot. I'd never thought it that way, but you are right, physical strength is a powerful ingredient of the novel. As to Heathcliff, I think every reader takes his side in the first part of the novel, until Cathy's death. But, in my opinion, in the other half of the novel there are some hints which show, that although he has has made a devil of himself, as he tells Catherine, he has not entirely lost the capacity to love, and in his own way he loves Hareton. As he said, he had the chance to revenge himself on both Hareton and Catherine, but he discards the idea, because he believes it to be useless. But if you read between lines you also notice that he is not unaware of Hareton's love for Catherine and in some way that fact brings him back to his old days with Cathy. He tells Hareton: "You have another company now. I don't know how you can bear to leave her". So, however evil he might have become and regardless of the injuries he inflicted upon others, I believe that Emily Brontë wants to show us that, in the end he was not more and not less than an embittered and injured human being, who took the wrong way but, that on the very last days of his life, he somehow redeems himself for his evil actions, as he foresees an etermal life with his soulmate in the afterworld.

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Originally Posted by Bleakhills

I've just come from the discussion on Tolstoy where a number of readers expressed admiration for the rakish character Dolokhov in War and Peace. I've never been a fan of the character, but I've always had a weakness for Bronte's Heathcliff. Wuthering Heights movies always portray Heathcliff as the classic gloomy and passionate lover, but in the book, he is really a ruthless evil person. Nevertheless, every time I read the novel, I find myself taking Heathcliff's side in the early part of the story, especially at the death of the first Catherine. This shows how a skilled novelist can mess with your mind. Bronte is telling us something else: that it is human nature to be drawn to the physically strong and powerful rather than the weak. Edgar Linton was a much finer man than Heathcliff, but he was soft and ineffectual. Catherine expresses her dilemma when she confronts her two lovers and says, "I have to put up with one's bad nature and the other's weak one." With her younger generation, Bronte has rearranged these personality traits to set forth her ideal humans. Hareton Earnshaw and the young Cathy Linton are physically strong, alert, energetic, able to survive in the rough country they had been born in, but at the core are compassionate and goodhearted. The sunny love between them is contrasted with the love between the older Catherine and Heathcliff, which was fierce, like a blind force of nature, and hurtful to the lovers themselves. In the young Linton Heathcliff, Bronte shows us what Heathcliff would have been like if he had lacked physicial strength - the worst possible combination - weakness AND selfishness. The younger Cathy is a large enough person to love Linton, demonstrating the greatest love of all - the love of the unlovable.

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hi, i am reading the volume 2 of Wuthering Heights. I really like your opinion about Heathcliff and other characters. I agree that when reading W.H , i dont like Heathcliff much because to me he is rude , and somehow evil. I dont like the way he said to CAtherine. And about Linton , yeah, he is more gentle. And more than that he loves Catherine so much. He does everything for her even blind things. But i like the way Linton loves Catherine while Heathcliff love Catherine like a severe wind, too harsh. I have not read the part of love between young Linton and Heathcliff's son (am i right? :yawnb: ) . I will talk about it later.

gee.. I've never thought about it Bleakhills but your arguments make sense.
I just always liked heathcliff better... guess he would have been a real good husband .. you know his love was thruoutly .. intense and yes a little painful (but I like that too!) perhaps it's his strength, perhaps the description that paints the picture of jonny depp deressed like sweeney todd (just without that white in his hair) but I guess if there had not been the money problem cathrin would have taken heathcliff (just my personal believe)