Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is a perfect parallel to the era in which it was composed. Heathcliff, its protagonist turned antagonist, was brought into a world where he did not belong, both in a social and economic sense. Joining the lives of two wealthy families who did not appreciate the presence of this unwanted "gypsy", Heathcliff finds himself alone and struggles to be recognized. The only two people in his new life who show any consideration are Mr. Earnshaw, the owner who adopted him, and Mr. Earnshaw's daughter, Catherine, who immediately falls in love with him. When Catherine rejects him to marry the wealthy Edgar Linton, who can provide her with a life that Heathcliff could not, Heathcliff's self-esteem diminishes until he realizes that his only choice is to turn to his other ally, Mr. Earnshaw. and also become an owner. Heathcliff's struggle for a place of value mirrors the social struggle of the time. At the height of the industrial revolution, the working masses fought for a place and, despite their cruel treatment, sought a better tomorrow. In his critique of the context in which he lived, Bronte uses Heathcliff's tortuous rise and subsequent fall as a tool to discuss class inequality and the need to understand the nature of society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Society has always been divided. Throughout history, one fact has remained constant; inequality has always existed. In many cases, people have tried to change reality, but to no avail. Despite progress in this field, inequality has maintained its place in human history. The Industrial Revolution was no different. It began in England in 1750, as an attempt to rebalance the social scale. Although its achievements have been many, in the case of absolute equality, it has only managed to make a few strides in the long run. The revolution began gradually; the bourgeoisie had managed to win in the fight against feudalism. As the years went by, changes were made. As landowners increased their holdings and income, the results caused their lands to be redistributed, and thousands of tenant farmers and farmers were found unemployed. At the same time, British traders were discovering new markets and so new factories were established and a number of inventions were made. Displaced workers now had somewhere to turn, and as a result began what would soon characterize a productive industrial world. (Greer, 496) As the world became economically centered, the outcome was not good for everyone. In 1844, 3 years before the publication of Wuthering Heights, Friedrich Engels published his book The Condition of the Working Class in England, which later aided Karl Marx's research and theory on the subject. Engels exposed the scandalous working conditions, the long hours for men, women and children, and the risks involved in maintaining the machines (Sabine, 713). The shift of production from farms to factories brought together the people who needed this new work. Factory owners treated workers horribly, but they had no choice but to comply or starve. The workers realized that they could have some sort of united power and began to attempt collective action to gain relief. As they fought for their rights, they crowded into the city in horrendous conditions: cramped housing, poverty, and disease. Although the advent of urbanization has brought better education, medical care, theaters,libraries and goods from around the world, the working poor did not receive an equal share. (Greer, 507) Instead, they were left to wallow in their suffering. People attempted to remedy their situation, but the problem lay in the system itself. Salaried workers depended on wages that were not guaranteed. They were a lower class, with fewer rights, and it seemed that no one above them was willing to help. Although Wuthering Heights was first published in 1847, as the Industrial Revolution took hold, the story is set in 1801, and the flashbacks that encapsulate the crux of the novel took place in 1770. Bronte wrote the story from a perspective of the 1840s, at the height of the industrial revolution, but sets the time in 1801, at the height of the revolution. He does this to show the progression of the characters from 1770, at the very beginning of this new world order, to 1800, a time when the future of the working middle class was cloudy. That he wrote it as a contemporary critique of 1847 was perhaps to enlighten his peers to the fact that, although the last 100 years had seen significant changes, positive in many respects, from that success had emerged a class with a dismal view of reality , a reality that begged for renewal. The ending of the novel demonstrates this; through Heathcliff's struggle (and resulting cruelty), the reader is perhaps led to the hope of a happy ending. Bronte disagrees. He writes his ending carefully, to shock the reader and bring him back to tragic reality. A solved problem only created a new one. His remedy lay in the source of his problems: the system. Heathcliff, right from the introduction, seems like an obvious parallel to the thousands of pathetic poor souls who crowd the streets of England in their desperation. Nellie Dean immediately tells the reader that she doesn't know "where he was born, who his parents were, and how he got his money in the first place."(44) What we learn is that he immediately dislikes her. Hindley learned to regard him as 'a usurper of his parents' affection and privileges; and he became embittered by brooding over these wounds".(46) And why not? After all, he was: a dirty, ragged child with black hair... the teacher tried to explain it; but he was really half dead with exhaustion... all I could understand... was the story of him seeing hungry, homeless, and practically stupid people on the streets of Liverpool; where he picked it up and asked for its owner. No one knew who it belonged to, he said; and as his money and time were limited, he thought it better to take him home with him at once, rather than incur unnecessary expense there; because he was determined not to leave him as he found him...Mr. Earnshaw [said] to wash him, give him clean things, and let him sleep with the children. (45)Heathcliff, found homeless on the streets of Liverpool, is brought home to a wealthy family by a kind man, but his introduction to the upper echelons of society is also bitter. It is called "it" and is looked upon with disdain. Peter Miles explains Heathcliff's position better. Until he was given his name, he is simply an 'it' and "has plummeted through levels of depersonalization to a point of denial [...] reaches a human and social definition, is translated from 'it' in 'him,' having been 'baptized.'" (Miles, 56) As Nelly Dean has enumerated, Heathcliff served as both a Christian and a surname. While I disagree with the analysis that focuses on a first or last name as representative of a class, I do agree that Heathcliff's name automatically separates him. He "will never be as fully integrated into the name as, say, 'HeathcliffEarnshaw'... the particular combination 'Heathcliff Earnshaw' remains only the identity of the dead son." (Miles, 57) It can never be fully incorporated and will always be separate and distinct. The name "Heathcliff" itself is a surname for some (Isabella, Catherine jr., Linton) and a name for his dead namesake, but no one will bear him with the intensity and distinctiveness that he will. He will create his position as a Christian and as a surname. This "baptism" exemplifies the his class position throughout his life. Even with a name that considers him a member of the family, given the lack of a surname, he is still deliberately separated from it." (Vine, 343) Even when he is incorporated into the family, he is still excluded from it. Vine adequately describes Heathcliff's position as "favourite and pariah". filthy and unacceptable addition to their lifestyle, "At first Heathcliff bore his degradation well." (52) Not only did Mr. Earnshaw treat him like a son, but Catherine was immediately attracted to him as well. They became best friends and fell in love. As their childhood continued, the two were inseparable. It seemed that their union would be inevitable, despite class differences and opposition from others. However, the opposition was very strong. Catherine is forced to stay at Thrushcross Grange for medical treatment following their failed home escape. Isabella (who ironically will be smitten by Heathcliff years later when a rich man returns) begs her father: Scary thing! Put it in the cellar, dad. He is identical to the son of the fortune teller who stole my tame pheasant. Isn't that true, Edgar? (55)When Mrs Linton discovers the situation, she shouts in shock: Miss Earnshaw! Nonsense! Miss Earnshaw scouts the country with a gypsy! (55) For as long as Catherine is held at Thrushcross Grange, Heathcliff is forbidden from coming to visit her, with the Lintons' wish that she and Heathcliff not remain as friendly as before. After all, he is a member of a wealthy family, whose ownership of Wuthering Heights dates back to at least the year 1500 (21). He is simply a "dirty, unwanted gypsy". Upon Catherine's return to Wuthering Heights five weeks later, some changes appear to have been made: If [Heathcliff] had been careless and careless, before Catherine's absence, he would have been ten times more so. , Da. No one but me did him the kindness of calling him a dirty boy and telling him he was himself, once a week. (57) Catherine, on the other hand, the former tomboy, wore: A grand plaid silk dress, white trousers and flame shoes; and while her eyes shone with joy when the dogs jumped to greet her, she scarcely dared touch them lest they flatter her splendid clothes. (57) Although Heathcliff had been an outsider throughout his childhood, he always found comfort in Catherine. Despite her upbringing, as children she and Heathcliff were the same. Now, however, class differences were demonstrated by her too: I didn't want to laugh at you. I couldn't help myself: Heathcliff, at least shake hands! What are you sulking about? It was just that you seemed strange. If you wash your face and comb your hair everything will be fine: but you are so dirty! (58) It seemed that from then on Catherine's interests were outside the game, and instead in Edgar's wealth and social status Linton. She cared for Heathcliff, but didn't seem to realize that she couldn't have both him and Edgar. Arthur Kettle considers this a betrayal on Catherine's part, "deceiving herself that she can keep them both, and then discovering that by denying Heathcliff she has chosen death. The conflict here isclearly social". He explains that Thrushcross Grange embodies the "nicer, more comfortable side of bourgeois life", and thus seduces Catherine, making her resent Heathcliff's lack of "culture". (Kettle, 135) Therefore, despite the childhood shared between Catherine and Heathcliff, it should not surprise the reader 30 pages later, when, looking for Nellie Dean, he bursts into the kitchen with the following statement: Today Edgar Linton asked me to marry him, and I gave him my answer.(77)For answer Nellie's question:Why do you love him?(77)Catherine replies:Because he is young and cheerful...because he loves me...and he will be rich, and I would like to be the most important woman in the neighborhood, and I will be proud to have such a husband."(78)Even Catherine, she who had shown the love and attention of Heathcliff, who had been her playmate and her tender friend, had been captured by the charms of the richer life and had chosen to sacrifice her destiny with Heathcliff. Terry Eagleton identifies this as "the crucial act of betrayal and bad faith [in which] Catherine rejects Heathcliff as a suitor because he is socially inferior to Linton; and it is from this that the train of destruction follows." (Eagleton, 401 )Heathcliff entered the world of Wuthering Heights as a poor and unwanted child, and although he was treated as an inferior by most, he always found appreciation and a sense of equality with Catherine. They were partners in crime and soul mates, with a "deep and passionate need for each other. He, the outcast, the wretched, turns to the lively, spirited, fearless girl who alone offers him human understanding and camaraderie. " (Kettle, 135) When Catherine rejects him, because he is of a lower social class, this is the catalyst that leads Heathcliff to his own self-destruction. He leaves shortly after and when he returns he is unrecognizable to his former roommates; not in his appearance, but in his obvious change in social status. Nellie notices it first, as she lets him into the house: Who could it be? Mr Earnshaw? Oh no! The voice bears no resemblance to his! You are Heathcliff! But altered! No, it is not possible to understand it. Now fully revealed by the fire and candlelight, I was amazed, more than ever, to see Heathcliff's transformation. He had grown into a tall, athletic, well-formed man; compared to which my master seemed rather slim and youthful. His upright posture suggested that he had been in the army. His face was much older in expression and resolution of features than Mr. Linton's; It appeared intelligent and retained no signs of previous degradation. A half-civilized ferocity still lurked in the lowered eyebrows and eyes filled with black fire, but it was tamed; and his manners were even dignified: entirely devoid of rudeness, though too severe for grace. My master's surprise equaled or exceeded mine: he remained for a minute unable to address the plow boy, as he had called him. Heathcliff lowered his slender hand and stood looking at him coldly until he decided to speak. [emphasis mine] (92) With his return, the situation had changed for Heathcliff. Instead of looking like the inferior being he had once been, he now resembles the upper class who had always despised him. Bronte continues to affirm this transformation throughout the novel. Heathcliff, a representative of the lower class, managed to break class boundaries and become taller than those who had always considered him inferior. However, as Eagleton argues, “in a situation where social determinants are insistent, freedom can only mean relative independence from certain blood ties, from established, evolving and predictable kinship structures.” (Eagleton, 402)Despite his apparent transformation from the lower class to the capitalist bourgeoisie, Heathcliff, with his single name and his lack of kinship and blood ties, imagines he has found his freedom, but has only gone as far as the social structure will allow him. . Perhaps this is why, despite his success in escaping the shackles of his "gypsy" image, Heathcliff's rise to the top is only the backdrop to his ultimate failure. Heathcliff's rise was the result of his jealousy. He had been scorned and mocked his entire life, feeling the sting of inequality daily, finding solace only in Catherine. As Catherine rejected him for the world she had always observed from afar with the knowledge that she did not belong there, she developed strong, sinister feelings as a defense mechanism. Therefore, when he surpassed the equality of those who came before him, he found himself on the top, pushing them further and further below him. The complete reversal of their social structure was in fact a mirror image; he who was once below had risen above, yet as the mirror shows, the image appeared in reverse. His rise was an illusion. Heathcliff joined the world from which he had always been separated, yet his integration was the opposite of what it should have been; it was the other way around. He was not yet accepted into either family unit, and succeeded only in attempting their destruction. The Communist Manifesto, published the year after Wuthering Heights and the year of Bronte's death, proclaimed that "the history of every society hitherto existing is the history of class struggles." (Marx, 57) Marx then described Europe as being in the midst of a struggle between the nascent bourgeoisie and the developing proletariat. "The weapons with which the bourgeoisie overthrew feudalism are now turned against the bourgeoisie itself. But not only has the bourgeoisie forged the weapons to kill itself, but it has also called into existence the men who must wield those weapons. modern working class, the proletarians." (Marx, 68). Although not a worker himself, Heathcliff fit the description of the proletarian. Bronte, if not arriving at the same conclusion as Marx, saw the same world as Marx, and expressed his exegesis through Heathcliff. Heathcliff was the lesser equal struggling to have a voice; who took the weapons of the bourgeoisie and used them against them. Apparently Heathcliff has achieved his goal. Lockwood's first encounter with him is Heathcliff's statement: "Thrushcross Grange is mine, sir." (19) This attitude is the one that Heathcliff will possess from the moment of his return. The reader first witnesses his change in attitude as he tells Catherine: I want you to be aware that I know you've treated me hellishly, hellishly! Have you heard? And if you flatter yourself that he doesn't perceive it, you are a fool; and if you think I can console myself with sweet words, you are an idiot; and if you believe that I will suffer without revenge, I will convince you otherwise, in a very short time! After Catherine's rejection, she realizes that she must follow her gracious host's example and soon become an owner, unaware of how things had changed. Edgar's sister Isabella, who once thought Heathcliff was a "terrible thing", is treated with cruelty and contempt. Catherine's daughter Catherine is forced to marry her son Linton, who has become cruel and sinister, returning the cruel behavior bestowed upon him by his peers with twice as cruel behavior towards their children. As he says of Hareton: He won't venture a single syllable, all the time, remember me at his age, or rather, a few years younger. Have I ever seemed so stupid: so 'gaumless', as Joseph calls it?[...]I'm pleased. It met my expectations. If he had been bornstupid I wouldn't have half as much fun. But he's not stupid; and I can sympathize with all his feelings, having felt them myself. For example, I know exactly what he suffers now: but it is only the beginning of what he will have to suffer. treatment that surpasses even the horrors with which he was treated by Hareton's father, Hindley. Both the reader and Heathcliff are confused throughout the novel by the obvious repetition of names. Perhaps this is an attempt by Emily Bronte for the reader to join Heathcliff's mindset and understand that through all the feelings of inequality he felt growing up in a group that felt superior to him, he sees them equally: equally bad. For him, when one treated him badly, everyone did, and to appease his old need for recognition and equality, he feigns superiority towards all those who treated him badly. Yet those who have treated him badly and those whom he treats badly are confused in his mind. The “dance of names,” as Miles eloquently describes it, as several characters possess the same first and last names, remains exclusive to Heathcliff, alone and separate. Kettle suggests that Heathcliff "uses against his enemies with utter ruthlessness his own weapons, to turn against them (stripped of their romantic veils) his own standards, to beat them at their own game." (Kettle, 139) I disagree. Although Heathcliff used the weapons of his "enemies", I think Heathcliff was unaware of his true goal. His feeling of inequality and his subsequent revenge do not arise from a conscious attempt to defeat them, but rather from an unconscious attempt to join them. His goal was not ruthlessness, but only a burning desire for equality. When that equality was never achieved, he continued with the same tactics that had gotten him to a certain point, unaware of his results. Like the working class between 1750 and 1850, by begging for integration, Bronte seems to express his initial separation which still separated him. Although the world was characterized by what seemed to be immense progress, inequality remained, and until the system was revamped, no individual effort could prove successful. The reader only gets a glimpse of the real reason behind Heathcliff's behavior when Catherine asks why he and Hindley fought. . His response is: He thought I was too poor to marry his sister. (186) Even as he gained his wealth, in what he thought was simply his ascent to a higher quality of life, his ingrained feelings of inequality and low self-worth remained with him and guided him through his life. The problem wasn't him, but the system. Toward the end of his life, "Heathcliff became more and more reluctant to society" (259)" and "more fond of continued solitude." (270) He had never managed to join the classes that had despised him. Although he earned money, the His individual attempt to escape the tragic reality turned out to be sad. It was his subconscious awareness of being different, the same feeling that had driven his desire for change, that held him back from integration lower level Heathcliff's individual struggle is Bronte's denunciation of the remaining inequality and the startling reality that it was not the people who needed to be renewed, but the system itself. Keep in mind: this is just one example customized now by our expert writers Get Custom EssayHeathcliff had managed to overcome his fate and poor quality of life, but in doing so, he failed in his original goal, to become equal and part of things Upon his arrival in Wuthering Heights as a child. it had been 49 (1994): 339-359