Love in Wuthering Heights and Great Expectations, both of which are Victorian novels, is under the influence of social status. For example, in Wuthering Heights, the desire for social advancement prompts the first Catherine to marry Edgar regardless of her overpowering love for Heathcliff. Catherine thinks that her marriage to Heathcliff, a lowborn servant, would degrade herself even though she admits that she love Heathcliff so deeply that she and Heathcliff are the same. In Great Expectations, Pipfs love for Estella stings him to the improvement of his social status. In his opinion, only by being a member of Estellafs social class, a gentleman, would he be qualified to marry Estella. Whatfs worse, Pipfs appreciation of Joe, Biddy, and Magwitchfs love is severely hindered by his zeal for social class. Pip is ashamed of Joe, Biddy, and Magwitch because they are of mean birth and remind him of his low social status.
Furthermore, the authors of the two novels, Emily and Dickens, both agree that through forgiveness and repentance love could conquer hatred and save people from miseries. In Wuthering Heights, young Catherinefs regretting her mockeries of Hareton and Haretonfs forgiving her allow them to redeem their past sins and lead them to a happy life. In Great Expectations, Joe and Biddyfs forbearance for Pipfs snobbish behavior and Pipfs sincere repentance for his wrongdoing rescue Pip from his wretched life.
However, as a Victorian novel, Wuthering Heights is quite different from its other contemporary novels. Love in Great Expectations is of Victorian style„Ÿ gentle, soft, and permanent while love in Wuthering Heights is ferocious with engrossing passion, usually accompanied by frustration and destruction. Unlike Pipfs love for Estella which is repressed when Pip hears Estellafs marriage to Drummle, love between Catherine and Heathcliff is so overwhelming that it denies changes. Although Catheri...