How do the two selves
of Heathcliff as a lover and revenger negotiate? Give a reasoned answer. /Examine
the double role of Heathcliff as lover and revenger.
Wuthering Heights is a story of
love and revenge. The plot of the story revolves round Catherine Earnshaw and
the negative hero Heathcliff. The love shown in this novel is extraordinary in
some aspects, and in its intensity. The lovers regard themselves as inseparable
parts of each other, each an alter ego of the other. Thus each lives in the
other and is an extension of the other’s personality and life. Cathy herself
confesses to Nelly Dean: “My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods;
time will change. But her love for Heathcliff is like the eternal rock beneath.”
She identifies herself with Heathcliff when she says. “Nelly I am Heathcliff.”
she wants to be one with Heathcliff. Along with this unification her
identification also will be complete. After
Cathy’s marriage with Linton, Heathcliff leaves their house. And Heathcliff
continues to love Catherine with the same force and fervour even after her
death.
The theme of revenge is closely
associated with their intense love. Heathcliff’s revenge is not confined to his
enemies. It goes beyond and takes their children in its sweep. He is not
satisfied with wrecking and ruining the life of Hindley, Cathy’s brother who
treated earlier Heathcliff severely he seeks to doom his son’s life too. As
Edgar Linton married his beloved Catherine, Heathcliff regards him as his enemy
and tries to gratify his sense of revenge on him by doing everything possible
to harm his daughter Jr. Cathy. Heathcliff’s surprising madness for revenge
gets in its grip his enemy’s children.
