A brief analysis of Heath-cliff’s characters in Wuthering Heights
外国语学院英语五班 刘雪琴 20124031025 It’s a storing about love and hate, it's a revenge by a devil, it’s full of passion through in death, it’s about life but without forgiveness----wuthering heights.
As a classic of english literature, it was beyond people’s conception in those times. Even today, the comments still though that it full of mysteries. Wuthering Heights is totally different from the other classics in the 19th century.In Wuthering Heights, you can’t see any romantic taste and noble life, you can’t touch the sun, the grass, brolly and Coffee, you can’t feel the worthy of emulation of proper behavior, and you can’t understand the elegance from baronage. In contrast, you can see the gales swollen the desolate grassland, you can feel an inveterate hatred come from abuse and oppression, you can taste the love beyond death and the passion beyond world, and you can understand the human tear, corruption and frozen.
The novel has been repeatedly argued, lies in the role of hero, Heath-cliff , who has a dark and wild inner world and plan to revenge on the world. There was an original sentence, i think it’s the most appropriate to describe Heath-cliff :” Is Heath-cliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil?” Most readers think that he is a devilish
person. However, some people believe that the formation of his distorted personality is a reasonable reflection of his unfair treatment.
Heath-cliff’s personality experiences three times’ change.
From a naive boy to a demon.
Once upon a time, Heath cliff was the apple in old Earn shaw’s eyes, he has the right to take education with Hendley and Catherine. And he took a happy life with Catherine. But after Mr.Earn shaw’s troubles on earth ended, Heath cliff’s life totally turn over. He can’t learn knowledge with Catherine, he have to stand be scold, published and live a dog’s life. Catherine was the only thing in his heart, and she was the only person who take much care about him, she was the only person who comfort him every time. She was his friend, at the same time, she was his lover, she was his idol. But when Catherine grew up, it’s turn to her to choose her husband, Catherine marries Linton for social position and fame. All in all,he is rich and if she married him, she will be the wealthiest woman in the neighborhood, and she will be proud of having a husband. In that night, Heath-cliff heard what Catherine has said：She loves Linton but it’s not true love,just because of his money. She put her whole love to Heath-cliff, but she would not marry him，because she could not endure poverty. Heath-cliff has not heard much before he leave the Wuthering Heights. He left here with a broken heart. He did not know the true words
in Catherine’s heart. But ,if he hear that, would there something change? He had nothing in addition to a broken heart.
It is love that keeps him a good boy before Catherine’s marriage. The formation of Heath-cliff’s distorted personality results from Catherine’s betrayal to his love, special circumstance and heath-cliff’s own character during his revenge. The unhappiness and emptiness, and the nondestructive of love and humanity in Heath-cliff’s mind promote hin recovery.
Being a demon during his revenge
His personality is gradually distorted since then. He is distorted to be a vampire, a devil, just as he says:”I have a pity! I have no pity! The more the worms writhe, the more i yearn to crush out their entrails.” The disgusted words show that his personality is totally twisted. He has lost human being’s merits and the common sympathies of human nature. He has become an oppressor. He has endured too much humiliation in the past. First, he is destroyer as Hindly. Little Catherine is a kindhearted, gentle and hospitable girl in the first place, but under Heath-cliff’s torture, she not only loses her spiritual property and becomes to be an arrogant and indifference woman. Besides,”he controls wuthering heights and takes an eye for an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” he trains hare ton as an idiot and let him live in the shadow of him. He was never taught to read or write; never rebuked for any bad habit which did not annoy his
keeper; never led a single step towards virtue, or guarded by a single precept against vice.” so,he is a destroyer both on mental and on physical. Second, he is emotionless, cold-blooded and brutal. To some extent, heath-cliff expedite Hendley’s death. However, when Hendley’s coffin is passing from the house, something like exultation appears in heath-cliff’s countenance. What is worse, his son is only a tool for his revenge. He shows little emotion towards him. In heath-cliff’s eyes, his son is less important than money. All of these show that heath-cliff’s personality has been distorted seriously. Heath-cliff, who is engulfed by hatred, transmutes into a devil and is swallowing his so-called enemies’ heart and soul.
Catherine’s betrayal and the wretched fate after married are the most important turning point in this novel. It makes heath cliff’s full of love become matchless hate. Catherine’s death makes heath cliff’s hate burst out, and becomes the crazy revenge power. Heath-cliff’s purpose has been achieved. He not only makes Hendley and Edgar die miserably, dominate exclusively two manors, but also let their next innocent generation suffer the consequences. This crazy revenge is seemed to be against the convention, but incisively and vividly expresses his extraordinary spirit of rebelliousness. This kind of special revolt is determined by the special environment and special character.
Heath-cliff’s tragedy of love is the tragedy of social, and also is the tragedy of the time.
From a demon to a man who recovers his humanity
In the end of the novel was that Heath-cliff committed suicide. His death is a die for their love, and expresses his undying love for Catherine. Before he died, he gave up the revenge of the next generation. This reflects that he actually has a good nature, but the cruel reality makes him lose his nature. The recovery of humanity is a spiritual sublimation and reflects the humanitarian ideals.
The tragedy of Heath-cliff warns us that: the environment and the human being were interdependent. When they turned against each other, the personality would be changed, and therefore the fate would be changed too. This was the true reason that led to Heath-cliff’s tragedy, and also it was the great significance that the book showed to us.
第二篇：呼啸山庄读后感1
Reading Report Wuthering Heights
学 院：班 级： 姓 名：学 号：
Reading Report on Wuthering Heights
Abstract ：
Wuthering Heights was written by Emily Jane Bront?, who was an English novelist and poet. It was published in 1847, which told a story about love and revenge. It was structured around two parallel love stories, the first half of the novel centering on the love between Catherine and Heathcliff, while the less dramatic second half features was the developing love between young Catherine and Hareton. Though it is not a pretty love story, it has a good ending. The wonderful plots make it be worth reading again.
Keywords ：love , hate , revenge , regain
consciousness
The book I have just read is Wuthering Heights, which was written by Emily Bronte. Wuthering Heights tells the story between the Earnshaw family of the Wuthering Heights and the Linton family of the Thrushcross Grange . Heathcliff was adopted by Mr. Earnshaw and he lived with Mr. Earnshaw’s son Hindly and his daughter Cathy. Hindley hated Heathcilff but his sister liked Heathcliff. After Earnshaw died, Hindley became the host of the family; he treated Heathcliff very bad and insulted him. Meanwhile, Cathy and Heathcliff loved each other.
However, Cathy finally got married with Linton, the son of Thrushcross Grange. And Heathcliff was so angry that he did almost all evil things for revenge after going out and coming back with a lot of money. Not only he married Linton's sister Isabella to take advantage of her love, even he forced little Catherine to be married with his son. In the end, Cathy and Linton died and his dream to revenge had come true. Without striking a blowing, he won almost all the property originally belonging to Hindley. However .he was unhappy everyday and at last, he died in dumps and delirium. Wuthering Heights shows the extreme love and the extreme hate. From love to hate and then to revenge and finally to realize his fault, the story developed as Heathcliff changing his attitude in the whole process. And the plot not only tells a story that happened between those two granges, but also it shows a tragic love story as well as the nature of selfish of people.
In the novel, the author put all her effort on the characterizations of Heathcliff. In it she placed all her indignation, sympathy and ideal. This outcast who is deprived of warmth from the human in the actual life has been trained to have a strong love and hate. Hindley’s whip makes him get a taste of the cruel life. And also teaches him how to weak-spiritedly yield the fate of unchangeable shame, he choose to resist. Cathy was his faithful partner. They developed true love in the common resistance.
However, she finally betrayed him and married Linton, which caused the man becoming mad and crazy on revenge. He killed Cathy as well as himself with his extreme love.
As the saying goes: there are one thousand readers will have one thousand Hamlet. Everyone's different perspective can produce many different views and the unique thought. Some people enjoy Heathcliff, appreciate his love of the pure, simple, haggard, till death; however, Some people disagree, because of his cruel , lack of sympathy and indifferent. After Reading this book, it seems to me that heathcliff is a person that dare to love and hate, his passion for love even made him to give up his own life. Because of love, he lost the humanity and the conflicts of the love and hate made him crazy. What left in his life are only the revenge and the deep regret before death.
As a matter of fact, love is one thing that we should hold a common sense. When we have it, just cherish it and enjoy it as much as possible. On the contrary, when we lost your lover, just give him your best wishes and hold an optimist attitude to live on. If we attach too importance on love, it is easy for love to turn to hate, and finally hurt you both two even maybe the next generation. In conclusion , the extreme love and extreme hate conflict in Wuthering Heights teach us to treat love in a proper way, never let it turn into hate!