Emily Brontë's story of Wuthering Heights was one of the most influential and powerful works of literature ever written. After being published, it attracted a lot of interest due to the topic being deemed misleading and critically unsuitable for society. The main theme of the book revolves around the evolution of love, passion and cruelty. During the first half of the book, Catherine showed different types of love for two different people. Her love for Heathcliff was everything to her, it was her identity to love and live for Heathcliff, but as soon as she discovered how society views Heathcliff, she sacrificed their love and married Edgar Linton in the hope of saving Heathcliff from Hindley and protecting him from the eyes of the company. In her conversation with Nelly, Cathy who professed her love for Heathcliff quoted: "My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff's miseries, and I have observed and felt each from the beginning: my great thought in life is himself." Catherine proved to Nelly Dean that the only person who can make her feel pain and sadness is Heathcliff. The extent of her love was discovered when she sang her praises of "I am Heathcliff" because this was the turning point in the book that allowed readers to truly understand and see the depth of Cathy's love for Heathcliff. On the other hand, Catherine's love for Edgar was not natural because it was a love that she herself had learned to feel. It may have come unknowingly to Cathy, but she loved Edgar as she said: "My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I am well aware of it, as winter changes the trees." Cathy knew it wasn't impossible to love Edgar because he was a sweet, gentle gentleman who showed her the world but unlike... middle of paper... characters and made them act on their passion. . However, it was also love that destroyed and created cruelty. Happiness is a choice and so is love. The purest kind of love can inflict the greatest pain in the world, just as the love between Heathcliff and Catherine was, so close and yet so far. Reference: Bloomfield, Dennis. “An Analysis of the Causes and Effects of Illness and Death at Wuthering Heights.” Bronte Studies 36.3 (2011): 289-298. Academic research completed. Network. February 13, 2014.Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. 1847. New York: Penguin Books, 2003.Phillips, James. "The two faces of love in Wuthering Heights." Bronte Studies 32.2 (2007): 96-105. Academic research completed. Network. 13 February 2014.Seichepine, Marielle. "Childhood and Innocence in Wuthering Heights." Bronte Studies 29.3 (2004): 209-215. Academic research completed. Network. February 13. 2014.