Romanticised Abuse: Heathcliff and Cathy in Wuthering Heights
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- Share examples of romanticised abuse you've seen in books or films - doesn't even have to be a whole book or film; simply one scene is enough, if there's an instance of romanticised abuse in it.
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- This is not only about romanticised abusive relationships. It is about romanticised sexual assault, rape, and harassment, as well.
- Please consider the following statement a trigger warning: this blog series explores and draws attention to themes of abuse in fiction. I will discuss sexual assault, abusive relationships, and rape. I will infrequently explore those topics in depth as the fictional example requires it. Please read on with care. These subjects could be triggering.
Today I'm going to be discussing the novel Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. This post will also make a lot more sense if you've already read the book or at least watched one of the film adaptions, as I'm not going to explain much of the plot.
Fun fact: This post was originally an essay I wrote for school. I've kept the original format, but I have edited the content a bit :)
Fun fact: This post was originally an essay I wrote for school. I've kept the original format, but I have edited the content a bit :)
Introduction:
Emily Bronte’s classic Gothic novel, Wuthering Heights, is as popular today
as it ever was. The complexities of the characters, the raw ferocity of
emotions, the depth of the tale itself, make the book a rich example of the
Gothic literature of the time.
Heathcliff and Cathy’s relationship especially has captured audiences and readerships all over the world.
But is Wuthering
Heights truly a story of beautiful romance and love between Heathcliff and
Catherine? Is that how Emily Bronte intended their relationship to be
perceived?
Backstory and Plot Summary
Wuthering
Heights was published in 1847 under Emily
Bronte’s male pseudonym, Ellis Bell. It only became famous after Bronte’s death
in 1848, and its legacy has spawned numerous film adaptions and plays.
The story is relatively simple, although its
connotations are not. The tale revolves around the turbulent relationships of
Heathcliff and Cathy and the numerous other characters affected by their story.
Its landscapes and atmosphere are rich, the characters complicated and deeply
flawed, and the passion between Heathcliff and Cathy almost otherworldly. We
read about the relationships between families; about Heathcliff and Cathy
growing up and about the harsh childhood they both endured; we see Catherine
marry a childhood acquaintance, and Heathcliff’s resulting jealousy; we see
Heathcliff marry, and subsequently father a child; we see the children of these compelling characters grow and mature;
overall, it’s a story about love and it’s a story about hate, and how both are
often intertwined.
At the very forefront, however, Wuthering Heights is about Heathcliff
and Cathy. It’s about the tragic consequences of their relationship.
Catherine/Cathy’s
character
Cathy Earnshaw’s childhood is difficult. Her
father shows her little love, she’s dismissed as a wild little girl who can’t
be tamed, and she’s lonely. She finds comfort in a kindred spirit - in
Heathcliff - but even that friendship is fraught with the harsh influences of
external forces and uncontrollable young hormones.
Cathy is violent. On one occasion she
slaps and pinches her maid, Nelly, but then denies it: ‘and pinched me {Nelly}…very
spitefully on the arm…..{then said} “I
didn’t touch you, you lying creature!”……then slapped me on the cheek a stinging
blow….”. She even hurts her nephew and her husband: ‘she seized his {her nephew, Hareton’s,} shoulders and shook him until the poor child waxed livid, and Edgar {her husband} thoughtlessly laid hold of her hands to
deliver him. In one instant one was wrung free, and the astonished young man
felt it applied over his own ear in a way that could be mistaken for a jest.’
Cathy is passionate and volatile, much like
Heathcliff, and having spent most of her childhood neglected, it’s
easy to see where her rage and strong feelings come from. She’s lonely, and
she’s unloved.
Heathcliff and Cathy fall out as Cathy begins
to return Edgar Linton’s obvious romantic attentions. She’s mad at Heathcliff
and he’s mad at her, but Cathy is so angry and hurt and desperate to make him
suffer, that she decides to marry Linton. As of their relationship:
‘“First and
foremost, do you love Mr. Edgar?” I ask.
“Who can
help it? Of course I do,” she answered......
“Why do you
love him, Miss. Cathy?”
“Nonsense, I
do – that’s sufficient.”
“By no
means; you must say why?”
“Well,
because he is handsome, and pleasant to be with….and because he is young and
cheerful…..and he will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman of
the neighbourhood, and I shall be proud of having such a husband….I love the
ground under his feet, and the air over his head, ad everything he touches, and
every word he says – I love all his looks, and all his actions, and him
entirely, and altogether….My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods.
Time will change it, I’m well aware….”’
Cathy admits she would probably ‘“pity him {Linton}”’ and ‘”hate him”’ if he were ugly. When Nelly
points out the dangers of that, Catherine confirms she is only concerned with
the present, and considering that Linton is handsome and rich now, there is
nothing to worry about.
Perhaps by marrying Linton, Cathy’s trying to
prove to herself as well as to Heathcliff that it’s a good, true match. She’s
ignoring the darkest parts of herself that Heathcliff brings out, and deluding
herself into believing she can be happy with someone who is everything she is
not: calm, restrained, sensible, and attractive. Linton is the safe choice. He
is not Heathcliff, and considering that Cathy will not allow herself to love
Heathcliff, Linton is the right choice.
Cathy is also proud. I think a great part of
her decision to marry Linton comes from the fact she would not be satisfied to
stoop so low as to give herself to Heathcliff. He is, after all, a social
outcast and pariah. He’s an embarrassment. With Linton, she has social standing. She even admits it would ‘”degrade me to marry Heathcliff.”’
But, inevitably, Cathy is not satisfied with
her marriage to Edgar Linton. They have nothing in common, and Cathy admits to
feeling bored. He’s devoted and affectionate, but ultimately, he’s not
Heathcliff. She’s unhappy because Edgar cannot give her the passion Heathcliff
gives, and he cannot match her wits. He’s a bore to her. Her mental and
physical health suffers because of it. Cathy feels everything tremendously, but her desire for Heathcliff is killing her.
When Heathcliff re-enters the picture, he puts
a strain on Cathy and Edgar’s marriage. Cathy is torn apart by indecision, and
Edgar is jealous and hurt: ‘'It is disgraceful that she should own
him for a friend, and force his company on me... Catherine shall linger no
longer to argue with the low ruffian - I have humoured her enough.”’
To Edgar, Heathcliff is still the dirty gypsy
who belongs on the streets. He cannot understand Cathy’s affection for him, and
he doesn’t appreciate how she enjoys Heathcliff’s company.
Cathy eventually dies. Edgar is distraught, as
is Heathcliff. Nelly Dean observes: ‘His {Edgar’s} young and
fair features were almost as deathlike as those of the form beside him, and
almost as fixed: but his was the hush of exhausted anguish,
and hers {Cathy’s} of perfect peace. Her brow smooth, her
lids closed, her lips wearing the expression of a smile; no angel in heaven
could be more beautiful than she appeared. And I partook of the infinite calm
in which she lay: my mind was never in a holier frame than while I gazed on
that untroubled image of Divine rest.’
Heathcliff’s
character
On page 3 of the novel, we get a description
of Heathcliff from the point of view character, Mr. Lockwood: ‘Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast to
his abode and style of living. He is a dark-skinned gypsy in aspect, in dress
and manners a gentleman – that is, as much a gentleman as many a country
squire: rather slovenly, perhaps, yet not looking amiss with his negligence,
because he has an erect and handsome figure – and rather morose – possibly some
people might suspect him of a degree of under-bred pride – I have a sympathetic
chord within that tells me it is nothing of the sort; I know, by instinct, his
reserve springs from an aversion to showy displays of feeling – to
manifestations of mutual kindliness. He’ll love and hate, equally under cover,
and esteem it a species of impertinence to be loved or hated again…’
Heathcliff is brought to the Heights by Cathy
and Hindley’s father and immediately forms a bond with a Cathy starved for
company and affection. They become playmates – one as wild and untamed as the
other, and to say Heathcliff influences her would be an understatement. However,
not even Cathy’s presence can make Heathcliff’s life with her family endurable.
Almost immediately upon arriving, Heathcliff
is bullied and abused by Cathy’s brother, Hindley. As Nelly narrates, ‘Hindley hated him…..and we plagued and went
on with him shamefully….. he {Heathcliff} seemed a sullen, patient child;
hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment: he would stand Hindley’s blows without winking
or shedding a tear, and my {Nelly’s} pinches moved him only to draw in a
breath…’ Heathcliff even blackmails Hindley on one occasion and threatens
to tell his father about the abuse: ‘“I
shall tell your father of the three thrashings you’ve given me this week, and
show him my arm, which is black to the shoulder.”’
Hindley threatens him, beats him, and treats
him like a servant. As Cathy sobs to her
maid, ‘“Hindley calls him {Heathcliff} a
vagabond, and won’t let him sit with us, nor eat with us any more; and he says,
he and I must not play together, and threatens to turn him out of the house if
he breaks his orders.”’ Hindley even cries to Heathcliff, ‘“Off, dog! I
pray that he may break your neck... be damned, you beggarly interloper! I hope
he’ll kick out your brains!”’ When
at their Christmas celebrations Heathcliff tosses hot apple sauce over Edgar
Linton after the latter insults his long hair, Hindley takes the opportunity to
beat Heathcliff: ‘He administered a rough remedy {beating} to cool the fit
of passion, for he reappeared red and breathless…’
His abuse begins a feud between the two men
that lasts until Hindley’s death, and Heathcliff makes no secret of his desire
to get even with Hindley: ‘“I’m trying to
settle how I shall pay Hindley back. I don’t care how long I wait, if I can
only do it, at last. I hope he will not die before I do!”’
A miserable childhood eventually becomes a
turbulent adulthood. Heathcliff finds himself competing with Edgar Linton for
Cathy’s affections, and then is forced to watch as she eventually marries him.
Not to be left out, Heathcliff marries Edgar’s sister, Isabella, more out of
revenge than anything else, and takes out his pain and hurt on her. However, he
appears furious that she’s falling for him because he sees her devotion as a sign of weakness, considering how badly he treats her (‘“She degenerates into a mere slut! She is tired of trying to please me,
uncommonly early – You’d hardly credit it, but the very morrow of our wedding,
she was weeping to go home……{she} picturing in me a hero of romance, and
expecting unlimited indulgences from my chivalrous devotion. I can hardly
regard her in the light of a rational creature…”’), but seeing how Cathy
favours Edgar over him, he decides to use Isabella to get back at her and
Edgar. He inflicts emotional abuse, humiliation, and physical violence on her;
Isabella relates her situation in a letter to Nelly: ‘“Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil?
I shan’t tell my reasons for making this inquiry; but I beseech you to explain,
if you can, what I have married…..I told him {Heathcliff} the cause of my
staying up so late – that he had the key to our room in his pocket. The
adjective our gave mortal offence He swore it was not, nor ever should be mine;
and he’d – but I’ll not repeat his language, nor describe his habitual conduct;
he is ingenious and unresting in seeking to gain my abhorrence! I sometimes
wonder at him with an intensity that deadens my fear; yet, I assure you, a
tiger or venomous serpent could not rouse terror in me equal to that which he
wakens. He told me of Catherine’s illness, and accused my brother of causing
it; promising I should be Edgar’s proxy in suffering, till he could get hold of
him.”’
Heathcliff is relentless in his abuse of
Isabella. In one scene, he even throws a knife at her. But eventually, Isabella finally manages
to escape the house and flees to safety, although now pregnant with Heathcliff’s child. She
says of Heathcliff: ‘“He is not a human
being…..and he had no claim on my charity _ I gave him my heart, and he took
and pinched it to death; and flung it back to me – people feel with their
hearts, Ellen, and since he has destroyed mine, I have not the power to feel
for him…”’
Heathcliff doesn’t only abuse Isabella. On
a number of occasions he takes his anger out on Cathy and Edgar’s daughter,
Catherine (‘Heathcliff lifted his hand,
and {Catherine} sprang to a safer distance, obviously acquainted with its
weight’, ‘He seized her with the
liberated hand, and pulling her on his knee, administered with the other a
shower of terrific slaps on both sides of her head’, ‘“Keep your eft’s fingers off; and move, or I’ll kick you!” cried
Heathcliff, brutally repulsing her’,) he’s verbally abusive towards Nelly,
the maid, and even abuses animals (‘“You’d
better let the dog alone,” growled Mr. Heathcliff…checking fiercer
demonstrations with a punch of his foot.’).
Heathcliff suffered through a painful
upbringing as a victim of physical and emotional abuse. While it might account
for some of his adult inclinations, it should not excuse them. Heathcliff
suffered, yes, but he made others suffer, too.
Cathy
and Heathcliff’s Relationship
When they were children, Cathy took Heathcliff
under her wing. They were inseparable. He
was lonely and being bullied by her brother; she was lonely and feeling neglected by her family. The maid, Nelly, observes their childhood relationship: ‘She
was much too fond of Heathcliff. The greatest punishment we could invent for
her was to keep her separate from him: yet she got chided more than any of us
on his account.’
While still a child, Cathy leaves home to go
stay at the Linton estate. Heathcliff is heartbroken by her absence, and even
more so when she returns and he sees how she's matured. He’s hurt by how she seems to have forgotten
him and the fun they used to have, and he’s especially offended by her growing
friendship with Edgar Linton. Heathcliff and Cathy both refuse to apologise to
each other for who they are and what they want, and perhaps because of her stay
at the wealthy Lintons, Cathy realises the importance of marrying well. She even tells Nelly: ‘”It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff, now; he shall never know how
I love him; and that, not because he’s handsome, but because he’s more myself
than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same…..”’
The above quote is worrying; not only because
Cathy is putting social standing before real feeling, but because it confesses
the unsettling depth and instability of Cathy’s feelings for Heathcliff. “More myself than I am” hints at
obsession and blind devotion, rather than true love. She and him are much
alike, but the above quote doesn’t sit comfortably. It’s disturbing.
When Cathy eventually marries Edgar, her
relationship with Heathcliff worsens. She’s tormented by indecision as her feelings
for him refuse to subside, and she’s clearly unhappy in her marriage. Heathcliff,
for his part, refuses to let her go so easily. He is torn apart by her actions:
‘“You teach me now how cruel you've been - cruel and false. Why did you
despise me? Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy? I have not one word of
comfort. You deserve this. You have killed yourself. Yes, you may kiss me, and
cry; and wring out my kisses and tears: they'll blight you - they'll damn you.
You loved me - what right had you to leave me? What right - answer me - for the
poor fancy you felt for Linton? Because misery, and degradation, and death, and
nothing that God or Satan could inflict would have parted us, you, of your own
will did it. I have no broken your heart - you have broken it; and in breaking
it, you have broken mine. So much the worse for me that I am strong. Do I want
to live?What kind of living will it be when you - Oh, God! would you like to
lie with your soul in the grave?”
The violence between Heathcliff and Cathy
escalates under the turbulence of their situations. Both their mental states
deteriorate. They scream, they shout, they provoke each other, and yet they are
unable to be apart. Cathy continually declares how she cannot be without
Heathcliff: ‘“Nelly, I am Heathcliff - he's always, always in my mind -
not as a pleasure, any more then I am always a pleasure to myself - but, as my
own being.”’ -‘ “If all else perished, and he remained, I
should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated,
the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.”’
Whatever they
feel for each other, it does not look like love. Their feelings range from
passionate adoration to furious hatred, and they are frequently violent with
each other. It’s a toxic, abusive relationship, with both
of them to blame. Quotes such as ‘”If you
ever looked at me once with what I know is in you, I would be your slave”’
and ‘”I have not broken your heart – you
have, and in breaking it you have broken mine”’ show an unhealthy
relationship. They do not know of any other way to cope with the hurt dealt on one another by one another, so their feelings run wild.
After Cathy dies, Heathcliff becomes even more
unhinged. He is so broken by her death that he even goes as far as to dig up
her corpse: ‘Her presence was with me, it
remained while I re-filled the grave, and led me home. You may laugh if you
will, but I was sure I should see her there. I was sure she was with me, and I
could not help talking to her.’
Life without Cathy, from Heathcliff’s
perspective, is not life at all: ‘Two words would comprehend my future—death and hell:
existence, after losing her, would be hell. Yet I was a fool to fancy for a
moment that she valued Edgar Linton's attachment more than mine. If he loved
with all the powers of his puny being, he couldn't love as much in eighty years
as I could in a day.’
Narration
and Writing
Bronte writes in first person past tense. Her
narrators alternate between Nelly Dean (the maid) and Mr. Lockwood, a visitor
to the Heights, and in both cases the perspectives are deep and personal. We
only know what the narrators tell us and we can only observe what the characters
say or do – there is no head hopping into any of the other characters’ heads.
We are allowed no one else’s perspective, not even the author’s. In other
words, the story’s themes are implicit and we must make judgments for
ourselves based on evidence.
I think Bronte’s choice to write from the
point of views of two characters so intensely and intimately involved in the
story was a clever decision. By doing
so, she removes herself almost completely. Her skill as a writer is obviously
there, but the story and characters unfold without her intervention or
judgement. She offers no opinion in regards to anything that happens. Even as
narrators, Nelly Dean and Mr. Lockwood offer very little judgement of their own
as they tell the story. They recount, they observe, and remark infrequently,
but they cast little to no opinion. The characters speak for themselves. The
story plays out. The author is independent of it.
Cathy and Heathcliff often call their
affection for each other “love”, but the author makes no such judgement
herself. The words come from two fallible human characters, and we as the
readers are left to interpret their feelings for ourselves. The characters are
unreliable because they’re people with flaws and misconceptions. We cannot
claim that Bronte is romanticising an abusive relationship because nowhere does
she claim to support the relationship. She lets the actions of her characters
speak for themselves. We are left to
deduce what we can.
Legacy
Emily Bronte did not romanticise Heathcliff
and Cathy’s behaviour. So why am I writing this post? Why do
I need to prove that their relationship isn’t one of romantic love if the
author herself never claimed it is?
I’m writing this argument because nowadays
Heathcliff and Cathy’s relationship is
called a romance. I’m writing it because Heathcliff’s character is swooned
over, adored, and his behaviour is romanticised in pop culture. I don’t need to
tell you that Wuthering Heights has
been called an epic romance, or that Heathcliff and Cathy’s “love story” is up there with Elizabeth and Mr.
Darcy, Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester, and even Titanic’s
Jack and Rose. Amazon and Goodreads
consider the Gothic novel a love story, and readers are drawn to the dark
passion between the central characters so much so that they’re quick to call it
love. Passion becomes synonymous with
love. Violence becomes acceptable as long as both characters are doing it. It’s
disturbing, because what we see between Heathcliff and Cathy is more about
obsession than pure, true love.
What is love? “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy,
it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not
self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."
(1 Corinthians 13:4-5). What we
see between Heathcliff and Cathy is a tidal wave of uncontrollable emotion, raw
desire, and manic pain, selfishness, and cruelty. To call it love is dangerously misguided indeed.
Conclusion:
If Cathy had had the influence of a
loving, doting mother, or another female role model, perhaps she wouldn’t have
been driven to do the things she did. Perhaps if Heathcliff had felt more love
and acceptance, he wouldn’t have constantly felt the need to prove himself.
Both characters are victims of their
circumstances, but they are not bound by them.
When we cite Heathcliff and Cathy’s
relationship as one of true love, or when we idealise Heathcliff as a romantic
hero, we are romanticising toxic behaviours, unhealthy relationships, and
abusive characters. There is no doubt of
Wuthering Heights’ genius, but I do
not believe Emily Bronte wrote Heathcliff and Cathy’s relationship as a
romance. She, through her narrators, was a mere observer of these characters
and their tragic, passionate story. It’s
up to us to make a decision based on what we’ve read. And when we call their relationship one of
love, we are romanticising abuse.