Devinne Walters (2nd Hour) brought up the point that Emily Bronte's novel is metaphysical. The characters of Heathcliff and Cathy seem otherworldly, as if their love is archetypal. Have they been together in past lives? Are they, indeed, forces of nature, only comforable when they are outside on the moors? Please comment.
15 comments:
Signs point to yes.
Heathy-heath and Cathy really have their own charisma within the book; at least, I thought so. They just seem to have such a strong, unbreakable connection to each other that they denied when they were younger. So I'd say that they've had many past lives together, at the very least. Not to mention the ending of the book...
(I won't comment on that in case some people haven't finished it when they read this. :D)
As for the forces of nature comment, I'd say that's true for all of the characters in the book. Everyone seems so much more at peace when they're outside. However, I don't know if it's meant to be a One-with-nature kind of deal, but that'd be cool if it was. :)
In the book I am reading for reading logs, two of the characters have a dream of one of their past lives, in which they were married. Although the woman is married to another man, the two end up together later in the novel. That book, though, deals with all kinds of magic and sorcery and the like, and is nothing like this book.
I don't think this book has anything to do with that. If it seems like it would fit, it's a coincidence. More likely is the idea that Emily just wants the readers to see that they have always loved each other, but it is forbidden love because of social classes, etc.
The do have a strong, unbreakable connection. But I would say that is more of a love story like "true love at first sight" or something rather than past lives.
I don't really agree with Heathcliff and Cathy being together in a 'past life'. I think in a way they feed off of each other, if that makes sense. They have that frustrating attraction to one another. You know they're supposed to be together but there's something that's not allowing it...probably the fact that they're both so stubborn. And about the Moors, I just think that they've grown up around and and it's a place where they can escape. All people like to be out doors when things on the inside get too smothering, you know? So the Moors offers them comfort and peace.
Heathcliff and Catherine are both very passionate people. They feel very deeply. They are attracted to each other because they know that the other is the only one capable of reciprocating that deep level of emotion. Think of two Great Danes playing with each other - it appears highly violent, but neither gets hurt because they are equally powerful. Now think of a Great Dane playing with a Papillon (Edgar Linton). The Papillon will be turned to shreds because he does not have the strength to play with Catherine. For this reason Catherine and Heathcliff are attracted to each other, because neither of them has to be careful of the other, they are free to play as rough as they like.
Since I don't believe in past lives I would be inclined to say that no, they have not been together in past lives. They are wild and want a partner that is wild, but more importantly they have always known they could not be together (see Heathcliff runs away after Catherine says she can't be with him section.). They want to be together because it won't work and because it will cause them pain. They don't do "happy". When they are dead, I suppose they finally can be together without the pain it caused them in life. They like to be outside, most people do, I don't think they are forces of nature, just wild and stifled and confused.
I disagree with Sunflash. I don't see this as a love story at all. They are both driven by pain. If things get to easy for them they feel like they must complicate things more. For instance when Cathy marries Linton, if this were any real love story wouldn't Cathy do everything in her power to be with Heathcliff? And instead of fighting for her Heathcliff goes off to "become a better man" and then proceeds to run away again and marry Isabella. I'm sorry to those who feel that this is a great love story, but I just don't see it.
To awnser the question, I feel that they are some what of a force. They are an equal force acting on each other and therefore go nowhere(sory to bring a little Newton into this). Cathy drives Heathcliff, Heathcliff drives Cathy and so it goes. Neither gain and neither loose. It's always a loose loose situation. My question is when death comes a calling what are they going to do to create drama for each other then?
I don't believe that Emily wrote this book thinking of Cathy and Heathcliff as elements, but it's an amazing idea. Not only that, but I can see how people would come up with this idea. After all, Cathy did die indoors, after being inside for months, and there was that one mention of her getting a bit better when she was brought downstairs with all the sun and fresh air. If she truely was am element then this would make sense. And of course you can always compare Heathcliff and Cathy as two opposite elements. Perhaps Cathy as fire and Heathcliff as water. One sparks with temper and independance while the other wears away at everything around him, slowly...very caculated. I'd like to see what others think of that!
Heathcliff and Catherine are just two magnificent forces that when put together are completely destructive. I think there is no way those two could be together, yet no way they could be apart. Does any of this make sense? It's a relationship that cannot be defined as normal love. They each want something so bad that they know they can't have. This is what drives the tension between those two. As someone once said "Can't live with them, can't live without them."
Cathy and Heathcliff have an unspeakable bond that would suggest being together in past lives, but I do not believe this was intended of the Bronte. These two are one of a kind and share many the same characteristics. They are one as Cathy would say. The way they love is strange I will admit but it's the only way they know how to. They are two head strong and fierce individuals and when you put them together you are presented one powerful force. Maybe when the are confounded into their homes such as when Cathy was sick they feel as if that power is not allowed to grow but when on the moores they can expand that power of love to the fullest extent. They don't have to hide it or be ashamed, they are free to roam and be themselves no matter how destructive their behaviors might be.
I don't think they are "forces." This story would be completely plausible in real life. They are just people and if they feel more freedom being outside, then that's just it.
The outside is an escape for all of us. When I was a kid, I hated being inside. It was boring; I was limited to very few things. It is not special that Heathcliff and Catherine have the same attraction to the outdoors as a child. Heathcliff and Catherine all the way until their deaths remind me of children. Heathcliff seems to grow up a little bit, but neither of them mentally age past 17. They still are children on the inside.
Look at their houses. Compared to the number of people living in them, they are small. I'm sure there is little peace to be found while resting inside. On the other hand, if they go outside and rest, they can actually experience peace.
What I'm saying isn't revolutionary, and it isn't a new idea. I'm saying that there is no idea to be had though. Their peace outside is just experiencing peace outside, nothing more. They aren't forces, and they haven't experienced past lives together.
and to Mrs. DeWinter, have you ever seen the Notebook?
Wuthering Heights:
Heathcliff is a poor nobody. Him and Catherine share a bond. Catherine goes and marries a rich man. Heathcliff comes back a gentleman (as far as the characters can tell). Then Catherine and Heathcliff have one extreme emotional encounter before she dies.
Notebook: (I will not use names cuz I don't remember them)
Boy is a poor nobody. Boy and girl share a summer romance. Girl pushes boy away because he is poor (she regrets it but still). Girl moves away and becomes engaged to a rich man. Boy stays and remodels a huge house just as she wanted. He waits for her, but has love affairs on the side. She returns, they have one extreme sexual encounter.
The only difference is Catherine doesn't break up with Linton for Heathcliff, while the girl in the Notebook does do that to marry the boy.
The Notebook is considered one of the greatest love stories of all time. Just because WH isn't a love story with a happy ending such as the Notebook, it is still a love story.
I guess I'm going to have to stop being a literary snob and check out this Notebook.
I always thought of the Moors as an extension of the two (Heathcliff and Cathy), and as a solace for their similar headstrong natures. For all their wildness and recklessness as adolescents, all of their imp-ish games, you could see how.. im not sure how to put it.. unstable or perhaps unsettled they really were inside. I think they knew deep down their strange friendship wouldn't and couldn't last forever, and so they coveted the one place no one else wanted to go or be around. That way they could share something that would only and always be special between just them. I could just be romanticizing their strained affection towards each other. But then again, maybe not :)
(Cathy's well worded confession to Nelly while tending to little Harenton teases me so *shakes fist*)
Anyway... ahem.
This may be a stretch, but I imagine if I could look into these characters eyes before Cathy's marriage and before Heath left, I could invision a torrent of deeper being buried inside them; almost like looking into a storm on the sea, where if you're standing on shore all you'll see is the surface of the storm and what it decides to show you, not the whirlwind beneathe.
For all their negative aspects, I just have this feeling there has to be more. There has to be more to them both.
Digressing... BUT!!
They could be the two great oceans on this planet: the Atlantic and the Pacific. Both huge bodies but never together.
Hmmm it's weird. I associate Cathy and Heathcliff to natural dissasters more than to actual elements found in nature. Maybe that's all they can be: A natural dissaster eh?
I'm not going to answering the first question bc I have no clue lol. BUT, I believe that the only way everyone in this book is happy is when they are on the moors. I think that the moors is like heaven to the characters and the houses are hell. When the people are on the moors they are free to do whatever they want. They can live how they want and be who they want and be with who they want. While the houses are hell because They are restricted to do things and they are slaved. They fight constantly and they are always being hurt. I believe everyone probably feels the same.
Dig Up Sun:
The Atlantic and Pacific oceans intrigue me. Pacific comes from pacify, or calm. The Atlantic is a much more dangerous ocean. I'm curious, which character would you place as each ocean?
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