《呼啸山庄》希斯克利夫的性格及其成因分析

本科毕业论文希斯克利夫的性格及其成因分析

学院外国语学院

专业英语辅修、双学位

年级2009级

学号222008314011139

姓名聂欢欢

指导教师王勤玲

成绩

二○一一年五月

The Analysis of Heath cliff’s Character and Its reasons in Wuthering Heights

Nie Huanhuan

Supervisor

Wang Qinling

A Thesis Submitted in

Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

B. A. in English

SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

SOUTHWEST UNIVERSITY

May, 2011

Acknowledgements

Many people have made invaluable contributions, both directly and indirectly to my research. I would like to express my gratitude to all those who helped me during the writing of the thesis.

Firstly, I would like to express my warmest gratitude to Professor Wang Qinling, my supervisor, for her instructive suggestions and valuable comments on the writing of this thesis.

Secondly, I was indebted to all the teachers in the School of Foreign Languages who taught and helped me in the past two years.

Besides, my thanks would go to my beloved family for their loving considerations and great confidence in me all through these days. And I wish to thank all my fellow classmates who gave me help and time in listening to me and helping me work out my problems during the difficult course of the thesis.

At last, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the author whose words I have cited or quoted, and to the scholars upon whose ideas I have freely drawn.

Contents

Acknowledgements (1)

Abstract (3)

摘要 (4)

1. Introduction (5)

2. The Analysis of the Character of Heathcliff (6)

2.1 A Coudy, Cruel, Mad and Evil Man (6)

2.2 The Process of Evolution of Heathcliff's Character (7)

2.3 Heathcliff's Resistance (7)

3. Reasons For the Lose of Humanity (8)

3.1 The Oppression of Social Class (8)

3.2 The Concept of Money and Pedigree (9)

4. The Recurrence of Humanity (11)

5. Conclusion (12)

Works Cited (17)

The Analysis of Heath cliff’s Character and Its

Reasons in Wuthering Heights

Abstract

The image of Heathcliff, the hero of Wuthering Heights, has been analyzed and evaluated by others scholar. It is extremely cruel that he took vengeance on Catherine, Linton’s and the next generation in that way, which make people consider him as a brutal, cold-blooded and evil person. However, this perspective is not convinced. This thesis mainly analyses the character of Heathcliff and the change happened in him from boyhood to manhood. During the time, Heathcliff become very awry. There are two direct reasons resulting in this, the one is the insult from Hindley, the other is that Catherine betrays his love. Nevertheless this is not enough to make him become such a person. The essential reasons can be divided into two aspects, which include oppressing of social class and concept of money and pedigree. In this time, Heathcliff rises up in resistance, dynamical and untamed. In return, it hurt himself deeply, even he pays the cost of his own life. As a passive victim and the figure of tragedy, he deserves our pity. At finally, the inveterate love for Catherine leads him to head for good. In order to extricate himself from existent straits, keep human dignity and obtain the freedom of soul, he becomes a bundle of extreme contradictions. Just such a Heathcliff having writhen features occupies an important place in the history of Literature.

Key Words：Heathcliff, Character, Wuthering Heights

《呼啸山庄》中希斯克利夫的性格及其成因分析

摘要

《呼啸山庄》是一部伟大瑰丽的作品，对于书中主人公希斯克利夫的形象，有无数的学者进行了分析和评价。他对凯瑟琳和林顿家以及下一代人的报复方式是极其残忍的，这使人们觉得他是一个十恶不赦的，阴冷的，疯狂的恶魔。但这样的看法是不完全正确的。

本论文从全书来看，客观的分析希斯克利夫的形象，从年少时的善良变成了一个暴戾残忍的恶魔，希斯克利夫的人性发生了扭曲。而直接致使希斯克利夫的人性扭曲的原因有两个，一是来自亨德莱德侮辱，二是凯瑟琳对爱情的背叛，但这两个外因，还不足以使希斯克利夫成为魔鬼的代言人。根本原因是希斯克利夫刚勇无畏的天性与当时的社会背景产生了严重的抵触，一是阶级压迫，二是金钱、门第观念。在这样一个时代里，希斯克利夫采取的是暴风霹雳般的反抗，很有力度和野性，但也因此使自己深受伤害。作为一个被动的承受着，一个悲剧人物，他是很值得人们同情的。由于他对凯瑟琳刻骨铭心的爱，最终指引他走向“善”。为了摆脱生存困境、保持人性的尊严、获得心灵的自由，人类面临的严峻考验和艰难抉择，作为这样一个极端矛盾的结合体，具有扭曲性格的希斯克利夫这一文学角色将永远在文学史上占有一席之地。

关键词：呼啸山庄；希斯克利夫；性格成因

1. Introduction

In the history of English literature, Wuthering Heights written by Emily Bronte is always esteemed the most peculiar novel and an inscrutable book, since at first it was censured as “gloomy, indecorous and morbid-minded (Zheng Kelu 248)”, “a direful and brackish novel (Yang Jingyuan 129-130)”. In this book mainly represents the transitional process of Heathcilff’s character from transformed humanity to the recurrence of humanity. Heathcilff was an orphan from Liverpool adopted by Mr. Eamshaw, the old master of Wuthering Heights. However, he was not popular except Mr. Eamshaw. When Mr. Eamshaw introduced him to his families, everybody didn’t like him, especially his son Hindley. Hindley often beated and insulted him, but he bore his treatment fairly well because of the love of Mr. Eamshaw. Unfortunately, Mr. Eamshaw gone off, his treatments became worse, his right of being educated is deprived and he must labour out of doors as hard as any other lad on the farm. However, he put up with everything because he could forget everything in the minute he and Catherine are together again. One Sunday, Heathcliff and Catherine met Edgar and his sister Isabella, something happened to change. Catherine and Edgar began their love, which made Heathcliff intolerable. Because of the amour-propre, Catherine married to Edgar. On heading of Catherine’s decision, Heathcliff left Wuthering Heights for three years. When he came back, he became very cut-throat and heartless, which represented thoroughly by the way where he got back at everybody of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. And he restored the humanity finally.

During the repaying to others, Heathcliff became a cloudy, cruel, mad and evil man. In fact, Heathcliff was a tragedy figure and he also suffered a lot. His befalling is worthy to be pitiful. The change of Heathcliff’s character from sitting down under to impersonal, has aroused the literates’ highly attention. The reasons of the change are multiple. Many literates are searching for this (E.L.Gilbert 123). From the analysis to the reasons, we can get farther understanding to love and hatred (Zhang Tongle 135). And to the time that the novel describes, we also have more knowledge about it. This paper, therefore, attempts to make a general survey into the change of Heathcliff’s

character, analyzing the reasons resulting in the change, with focus made on the humanity of Heathcliff not his beastliness.

2. The Analysis of the Character of Heathcliff

2.1 A Cloudy, Cruel, Mad and Evil Man

Writers shaped a cloudy, cruel, mad and evil figure, Heathcliff, the hero of Wuthering Heights. In the night when Catherine decided to marry to Linton, Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights. Three years later, he came back filled with hatred and vengeance plan for crazy revenge. Firstly, to despot Hindley who used to ill-treat and insult him, because of being familiar with his weaknesses of intemperance and gambling, he deluded gradually him to the snare contrived beforehand, which made Hindley lose out his all property. At finally, he became the master of Wuthering Heights. Hindley trying on put-out him, but he actually hurt himself with his knife, and fallen senseless with pain. However he mahogany kicked him and threw him on the floor. “He used divine restraint to subdue himself, so Hindley didn’t lose his life (Emily Bronte 168)”. So was His barbarism and cruelty.

When facing with harmless Hareton, the little son of Hindley, Heathcliff pay him back with his own coin. He made Hareton suffer what he did ever. He treated him as a servant, deprived his access to be educated, and taught him “everything except bestial things is useless and looked down on”. (Emily Bronte 207) On purpose, he fostered Hareton as a fatuous and rude man with a foul mouth. As for his rival Edgar Linton, he mainly afflicted him from his heart. He made use of his sister Isabella’s simplicity and infantilism to bam her, and made her marry to him. After getting married, he abused her so that his wife had to get away from him and apart from her relatives. Even his son little Linton that Isabella gave birth to him was also regarded as the bait, for tempting that Cathy falls in love with him. When Edgar would go off because of the serious disease, he captivated Cathy and Nelly, which was blanked, and bruited the rumor that they were got into the bog and saved by Heathcliff. To force Cathy to marry Linton, he captivated Cathy for four days and five nights until he gained his ends. By this token, his depravity and craftiness were not outdoing by others. Even

though to his son, he still had not a bit of kindliness, just because his name was the same with his uncle, and he was cowardly naturally and his appearance was more similar with his mother. After his son left testament that all the fortune was bequeathed to him, and the bequest help him figure for Thrushcross Grange, Linton’s merit disappear. He didn’t care about his son’s fate any more, would not spend any money on sending his son for doctor and even forbidden servants to look after him. Linton lived in the surrounding until died away after two months. So he treat his son, therefore, Heathcliff was bestial against humanity.

2.2 The Process of Evolution of Heathcliff’s Character

At Heathcliff’s childhood and boyhood, the old Earnshaw doted on him, Nelly commiserated him and Catherine liked him. However, Hindley abominated him because his father’s love was captured by him. Although Hindley often hit him, he hardly notified old father these since Earnshaw believed him absolutely. He never told lies, just was hard-nosed and not sonny enough. After Enarshaw going off, Hindley demeaned him to become a servant and deprived him from being educated, but he still put up with all, listened to Nelly’s advises and was aspirant, because the love of Catherine was in favor him. However, on hearing of Catherine’s thinking that she decided to marry Edgar, he broke down. He left Wuthering Heights with endless umbrage. Three years later, he came back with crazy vengeance plan. He did not only aimed at Hindley and Edgar, but also gone down to the next generation. He regarded his son as a tool of vengeance, trampled Hareton’s personality and destroyed Catherine’s daughter happiness. Even his lover Catherine still got his retaliating. Everybody related to Catherine and Catherine were the victims under his vengeance plan. The way to vengeance was wondrously brutal, and the extent of the vengeance was crazy. Therefore, Heathcliff was out of his senses and metamorphic, and wasn’t tolerant by social morality.

2.3 Heathcliff’s Resistance

In the facing of such a society and crackdown, Heathcliff retaliated against his suffering, and the resistance was as strong as rain storm (Lv Qiuwei 93). Among the

people retaliated, no one could overcome him, no matter physically or mentally. Hindley indulged in drinking and gambling, which resulted in losing all his fortune. Although he grinded his teeth with hatred, and readied to kill Heathcliff with swords and guns, Heathcliff beat him finally. Edgar. Linton was elegant, cowardly by nature and more ineffective. To their next generation, Hareton was thankful to him, took the foe for his father. Little Linton was invalid and fearful on seeing his father. Since little Cathy stood up to him, even if it meant fists, she also had to submit to his savage. Therefore, Heathcliff’s victories were countless. For instance, he got the wealth of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, defeated Hindley and Edgar. Linton thoroughly, frustrated Isabella and little Cathy’s dash etc. However, ironically, the measure he took for revenge still was the same with high social measure of value. 3. Reasons For the Lose of Heathcliff’s Humanity

3.1 The Oppressing of Social Class

Heathcliff was a homeless boy who didn’t get any kindness from others until old Earnshaw adopted him. Nevertheless, he wasn’t out of difficulty, but got stuck in enmity toward others. He silently spent his childhood in curse, fist that others put on him. Therefore, under the surface of calm endurance, their evil behave planted a seed of hatred in his heart. Hindley, the little master of Wuthering Heights, abominated Heathcliff the first time he saw him. Given his father’s blame, he dared not publicly retaliate against him. When he became the master of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff was under the control of him absolutely. His insult and the ravages of inhumanity to poor Heathcliff that made Heathcliff’s personality distorted in the darkness and ignorance. So we can see, years later, what he said about revenge on little Hareton, which reflected Heathcliff’abominable and the accusation against Hindley and the society.

Heathcliff was deprived of his rights to freedom and education, and he was a drudge, the object of Hindley and even Joseph. But to keep valuable human nature, he struggled to keep up with the pace of Catherine’s reading, and attempted to get himself shipshape and polite.

However, his strength got well below the social storm pushing him to the agrestic and simplicity abyss. Hindley restrained him from everything civilized by any way. Linton’s joked about him and took precautious against him as if he was a contagion. All insults to his spirit were rather fatal to prideful and vengeful Heathcliff, which made him have to desert the struggle.

From the quantitative to qualitative changes, Heathcliff was distorted. Outwardly, the reason that caused Heathcliff to change himself, was the oppression of Hindley. “The way he treated Heathcliff in made a saint become a demon.”（Shang meng 59）. The oppression of Hindley not only had his personal emotion, but also represented the propertied class’s oppression and exploitation that the poor suffered from. As long as there was even a little money for living, he can leave tyrant. Instead, he was on his uppers, having to depend on another, suffering from Hindley’s cruelties and working hard like a slave. Consequently, the oppression of capitalist class represented by Hindley was the first reason resulting in Heathcliff’s tragedy. In the 1830s, capitalist was developing, and gradually exploded its inherent vice; contradictions between working class and bourgeoisie became increasingly acute. The unemployed could not fill their stomach. A great quantity of child worker died under cruel tortures, which was a turbulent times. Heathcliff was the one of victims. And because of the common phenomenon of racial discrimination in the society, Heathcliff’s black hair and eyes were always the objects treated with disdain.

3.2 The Concept of Money and Pedigree

Before Heathcliff leaving Wuthering Heights, although he lived a miserable life disgracing humanity, he could swallowed everything without saying a thing because of Catherine keeping him company. “They forgot everything the minute they were together again.”(Emily Bronte 72) They went after freedom, disliking being committed to anything. The shared trait made them share a soul. It was even as Catherine said, “He is more myself than I am”, “if all else remained, and he were gone, the universe would seem a stranger”, “I am Heathcliff ”. Heathcliff exclaimed from within, “I’d not exchange my condition here for Edgar Linton’s at Trushcross Grange,

not for a thousand lives”, “I was not alive without my soul”. (Emily 35)In his life, Catherine was his soul-mate. The shocking words expressed what passionate love it was, which people can’t help being touched by. In front of love, Heathclif was admirableness. (Robert Kiely 157) However, in front of living, he was untitled.

Although Wuthering Heights was a remote place, it was not standing alone. The secular utility values, the concept of money and pedigree of capitalist society inevitable had an effect on Catherine, so Edgar’s wealthy family and the natural grace attracted Catherine. At the same time, Mrs. Hindley transformed her with splendid clothes and slimy words, and Hindley stop Catherine from continually keeping in touch with Heathcliff to widen the gap between them, drawing a clear line of demarcation, which made Catherine know that her status was different widely from Hea thcliff’s, and shown the difference between Heathcliff and Hindley. Under the temptation of money and pedigree, Catherine made wrong decision that she would marry Hindley, since she loved Heathcliff deeply and Heathcliff did the same. When hearing that Catherine said that it would degree her to marry him, Heathcliff became sadder and more silent. At this instant, Heathcliff lost the source of the life he lived by. In this world, the Catherine’s love was the one for him. If all else perished, and her love for him, he should still continue to be; and without Catherine’s love, loses friend, and love, and all. He had suffered too much insult in his live before, but Catherine’s love for him gave him inexhaustible power. If Hindley’s cruelties he subjected to planted the seeds of hatred in his heart, losing Catherine’s love was a fuse to detonate Heathcliff’s hatred and the proximate cause resulting in Heathcliff’s distortion. If Hindley killed his hopes, then such Catherine’s betrayal him to impasse, making him become a crazy avenger. Heathcliff’s keen affection turned to lavished hate, only to sink ever deeper into the dark mire.

Heathcliff was obsessed with becoming the devil, and the tragedy happened inevitably. Had he accepted good education and got world warmth, he would have been more tolerant and broad. Toward revenge he could take more civilization measures but not the way to requite like for like. He took the measures of the upper circles, wealth and birth as well as social position. Like Linton, after being in agony

for losing his wife, he became a hermit. Charlotte Bronte mentioned in To Williams. W. S. If given careful training and merciful treatment, the dusky gipsy boy would be a man, but harshness and stupidity made him become a devil. (Yang Jingyuan 96) Although her words were full of discrimination and disdain, on the other hand, leading to Heathcliff’s degeneration was the surrounding lacking of love. Environment can make a man as well as destroy him. Because environment preexisted personal quality, and environment shapes personality, so a particular environment must shape a particular characteristic.

Heathcliff has no inherited place in either the closed system of the house at Wuthering Heights, or of the larger social whole, think the thematic indeterminacy of Wuthering Heights occurs as a result of the fact that Catherine and Heathcliff cannot be circumscribed by the two . Therefore，manipulating his everything from behind his craziness was social environment. He was only nobody crushed so much as to be abnormal, and the victim of grim hierarchical society and money society.

4. The Recurrence of Humanity

As a rejected child adopted by old Earnshaw, Heathcliff was plain and genuine. He got more Earnshaw’s favor than his son Hindley. Hence he did have his own peculiarity. By the describing of Heathcliff’s childhood, writer didn’t definitely tell us Heathcliff’s virtue, but with others’ protection, the writer gave us a hint that primitive Heathcliff was kind and remarkably hardy (Marianne Thormahlen 86).

Heathcliff manifested his kindness in the following ways. To Catherine, his love for her lasted as long as his live. To his rival Edgar, at first he was possible of forbearance. In fact, he loved Hareton, and he respected servant Nelly, which were hidden. Therefore, the distorted and transformed humanity was temporary and reversed. When his revenge reached the high tide, Heathcliff (who is of course also affected by Hareton's marked physical resemblance to the elder Catherine) powerless to corrupt the boy: the love that, of even the curate's tuition as a measure of revenge on the lad's father; his project is killed by a love he could not eradicate, a love that, respect Hareton's affection for and allegiance to Heathcliff can love grow between the

two young people. He thought Hareton was the phantom of himself, and gradually come to realize the cause of his lonesome was the losing of Catherine. Then he heard Catherine’s call, and wanted to be together with Catherine, the other half of his soul. To materialize his willing, he chose abstaining from food to relief himself, and to end his suffering soul (Zhang Yiping 117). Eventually, in the grace of love, his humanity returned. When Nelly Heathcliff died on the bed like a bier, with his window open, and his eyes showed the terrible joy like living person’s stare.

In the end, as the same as that primitive man in half reunite, Heathcliff and Catherine, the two halves of a soul, were in one combined after death, realizing their lifetime pursuit that could not come true in temporal world and completed the surpassing of the whirligig of love (Alexander Walker 79)

5. Conclusion

From a youth having many virtues to an avenger distorted humanity, and until the fast to death, Heathcliff came through the process that ideal humanity changed to distorted humanity and then came back. “The evolution of Heathcliff’s character marked the hurt of then social sense of hierarchy to humanity.’’ Heathcliff had violent emotions but easily gone to extremes, his sufferings made his mind flooded with discontent, resistance and revenge. All he had done were not understood by ordinary people, even downright cruel, but people can not help sympathizing with him. He spent the greater part of his all life in grief, betrayal and the great will to revenge, which were the only motive to live. When his humanity came back, he lost the reason to live. When all love and hatred fell away, he was going. But during course of his long life, he showed us the spirit of revolt that could not be saw on others (Sun Zuoding 33). And the resistance viewed as a complaint about real life was the motive promoting the changing and developing of the society. In Victorian England, society was rife with the worldly sense of hierarchy, money-mad and social status firstly. In such environment, the spirit of man was strongly subjugated, and the humanity was cruelly distorted. Emily who had free ideas and rebellious spirits exposed the ugly shape of the society, and the worldly sense of hierarchy caused severe harm to the

spirit of man, through the tragedy of Heathcliff, the hero of Wuthering Heights. Simultaneously, Heathcliff’s pursuit of love would never change until death and the struggle against fate was indomitable, which showed man was confronted with severe tests and hard choices, in order to get out of a morass, bore oneself with dignity and win the freedom of soul.

As a bundle of extreme contradictions and a literary role, Heathcliff having writhen features occupies an important place in the history of Literature.

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