On the Tragedy of Heathcliff and His Character in Wuthering Heights

李文雅

Abstract： In Wuthering Heights， Emily Bronte breaks away from the traditional love and makes the love among Heathcliff， Catherine and Linton are fused into the abnormal psychology of Heathcliff who loses his spiritual balance. It shows that Heathcliffs distorted character is molded by the environment and society which are the oppression of the upper class embodied by Hindley and Linton and Catherines betrayal. Besides， Heathcliff s character is the main reason of his tragedy， which proves that ones fate is decided by his character.

Key words： Wuthering Heights； Heathcliff； character； environment； tragedy

1Introduction

Wuthering Heights is widely recognized as one of the greatest novels of English literature. It is not only a love story， but also a swirling tale of a great number of unexplainable people caught up in obsessive love turns to madness. It is cruel， violent and blooding， which makes people extremely unpleasant. And yet it possesses the grandeur of language and design， a sense of tremendous pity and loss， which makes it different from every other novel.

Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights is a man of humanity and brutality. His abnormal character is completely caused by the environment around him. The cruel society， betrayed love and his inner personality lead to his tragedy， which indicates environment. From different aspects， this article explains that how the environment changes Heathcliff and causes his tragedy.

2Emily Bronte and Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights is the representative work of Emily Bronte， which occupies a shining and outstanding position in the English and even the world literature. It is known that every work is a mirror reflecting the authors nature which has a profound influence on her work. Born in a priest family， Emily was intelligent and well-bred， but she lived in an isolated environment with few experiences and pains about life and could only receive the old-fashioned and rigid education； so she was introverted by nature which made it difficult for her to adapt to society.“Rebelled society” means living a free life of transcending realism （“return to nature”）， so Wuthering Heights is an autobiography about Emily. Both Emily and Heathcliff are not self-confident and feel lonely， crave for love and freedom.

Emily leads the readers into a world filled with hatred and love， evil and kindness， weakness and stubbornness， letting them understand the implication of the extraordinary love—complicated relationship among the characters. It becomes one of the best classics because it builds up an avenger with unusual love and hate developed and distorted in the cruel environment.

The authors painstaking care condenses in the description of Heathcliff in which she has raised her complete indignation， sympathy and ideal. This abandoned baby who has eliminated the world warmth raises the intense love and hate in the real life， for the leather whip of Hindley causes him to taste the brutality of life and know that only by swallowing the insult can change the doomed destiny. He chooses to revolt. Catherine once has been his faithful partner and they sprout the sincere love in the resistance. However， Catherine betrays him finally， and marries Edgar Linton whom she does not understand and love. Her vanity and ignorance lead to this tragedy， ruin her own youth， love and life， and also destroy Heathcliff who devotes passionately to her. Moreover， it almost entraps the next generation.

3Causes of Heathcliffs Tragedy

Emily Bronte builds up the hero of Wuthering Heights—Heathcliff who has a character of humanity and brutality. His impulsive passion and cruel revenge leave intense impact and shock for the readers. This article tries to track down the mental journey that Heathcliff changes from a good boy to a crazy avenger， and analyzes the reasons of his changes and tragic destiny.

（1）Youth time： The beastly nature suppressed by human nature.

As an abandoned boy， Heathcliff was brought back to Wuthering Heights from the Liverpool street corner when he was 7 years old by old Earnshaw who let him have the family warmth and true love in the world. The female steward gave him mothers protection. Catherine let him feel the tender feeling of younger sister and friend， which bred the love afterward. Only the young master Hindley， because his father loved the orphan more， always bit him when his father was not here. Heathcliff knew he should give thanks to the old Earnshaw， so he endured the fist which fell on him as the raindrops silently. Heathcliff obtained peoples love in the youth period， particularly the old Earnshaws affection， so Hindleys trick cannot affect the development of a good human nature. At that time， Heathcliffs heart was full of love and grateful， so he lived a happy life though he also came across some difficult and unsatisfied things.

As soon as the old Earnshaws funeral ended， Heathcliffs misery came. Hindley expelled Heathcliff out of the masters living room， let him do the hard job as a servant， and eliminated his educational right. But Catherine didnt abandon him. With her support on spirit and life， although Heathcliff suffered on the body and spirit， received the family members insult and despise， he was enduring silently.

Obviously， young Heathcliff was a pure， good， grateful child. However， because he suffered the unfair treatment for a long time， the hatred seed has taken root in his heart. He began to plan revenge which was regarded as a happy event， his gloomy abnormal psychology was revealed， his character split and human nature distorted. Fortunately， Catherines love enabled his human nature still be the buds of the beastly nature. So he still has a little bit happiness in his heart， and his character does not completely change， though he is very pity and menial， he does not despair， the normal parts of his character make him live ordinarily.

（2）The sharp setback of human nature caused by his lovers betrayal. Detonating his hatred fatally is not his enemy， but his lover—Catherines betrayal of love， which is the direct and intrinsic reason why his good human nature is swallowed by the beastly nature.Because Heathcliff loved Catherine so much that his revenge was so cruel. His ruthless method of retaliation to Catherine was not human body injury and property plundering， but the spiritual devastation. After Heathcliff returned Wuthering Heights less than half a year， he eloped with Isabella and came back soon， she was unable to withstand suffering in the soul destruction， and died for obtaining the extrication. When Catherine was going to die， she asked forgiveness from him， he refused to let her soul peaceful.

There is no forgiveness between them， Heathcliff didnt forgive Catherine till her death， and no deep tangled recalling between them， only the lonely soul of Catherine around him trough 18 years.Heathcliff， driven to madness by a woman who is dead but seems to exist in every part of his world， dragged her corpse from the grave to hear her calling from the moors. Heathcliffs cruel revenge made him live painfully， his spirit suffered constantly afflict， his freakish character led his tragedy.

（3）Adult time： human nature swallowed by the beastly nature. Heathcliffs character decides his tragedy destiny. As mentioned above， Heathcliff lives in the uncultivated land which is secluded from the world； his character is full of wildness， stubborn and cruel. This character decides his way of emotion divulges like wild storm coming， which is overwhelming.

Heathcliff left home when he was 16 years old， after 3 years he became a rich man and he returned Wuthering Heights， from then on， he became a cruel， crazy person， and the remainder of his life was full of revenge. In that period， the human nature was entirely swallowed by the beastly nature. There was nothing in his heart except hates， his whole life was filled with revenge， and the revenge even became his intrinsic need. His first object was Hindley. Hindley lost all his property to Heathcliff who became the master of Wuthering Heights finally. After Hindley died， he turned the revenge to the next generation—Hindleys son. Heathcliff married Isabelle who he didnt love at all. Because the blood of Lintons family was flowing in her body. Then he forced young Catherine to marry his son. She was forced to stay in Wuthering Heights until his son died.

Because his son was in bad health and sentimental， which was more like his mother not himself. Heathcliff tortured him in all kinds of methods and endured him only for using him to plunder Lintons property.

Heathcliffs revenge was abnormal and crazy， for he was addicted to revenge and took revenge as pleasure. The distortion and abnormality in his heart was oblivious. Although Heathcliff makes retaliate to everyone of his hatred， yet his heart does not feel comfortable but he lonelier and painful in his life， maybe death is a kind of extrication.

4Heathcliffs Tragedy and the Theme of Wuthering Heights

The story ends when Heathcliff finishes his plan of revenge and dies. He expressed his sincere love to Catherine through his death. Before his death， he gave up the plan to retaliate the next generation， which indicated that his nature was to be good.

Wuthering Heights can not be taken solely as the distortion and restoration of humanity. Through the alienation of the characterspersonalities， the author forecasts a truth with her unique writing style by means of the two different results in heaven and on earth that mans fate exists in various forms， and the specific forms and results are determined by his personality. It is different from the contemporary works which had the schmaltz themes. Instead of deep sentimentality and melancholy， it is full of intensive love， blustering hate and heartless retaliation. It seems like a fancy lyric which is full of rich imagination and blustering emotion， with the artistic strength to shock the readers hearts.

5Conclusion

The environment changes Heathcliffs character in different periods which decides his destiny at last. Heathcliff is the victim of that abnormal society. Thus it can be concluded that Heathcliffs character is the main reason of his tragedy， which proves that one s fate is decided by his character.