Symbolism in Houses, Nature, and Culture
The setting and descriptions of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange that Emily Bronte uses throughout her novel, Wuthering Heights, helps set the mood for describing Heathcliff and Cathy. The cold, muddy, and infertile moors separate the two households. Each house stands alone, in the midst of the dreary land, but the atmospheres of the two estates are quite different. This difference helps explain the personalities and bond of Cathy and Heathcliff. The Conflict between Nature and Culture are constantly playing against each other. Nature is represented by the Earnshaw family, and by Catherine and Heathcliff in particular. These characters are governed by their passions, and "wildness." Wuthering Heights comes to symbolize a similar wildness. On the other hand, Thrushcross Grange and the Linton family represent culture, refinement, gathering, and cultivation. Emily Bronte's fine usage of symbolism help one to understand the differences in nature, culture, and personality shown by comparing the Heights and the Grange, kept together by the moors. Wuthering Heights, which represents basically Hell, is always in a state of storminess. The Heights and its surroundings portray the coldness, darkness, and evil associated with H
The very definition of "wuthering" is "to dry up, shrivel, or wilt as from decay" The inhabitants, especially Heathcliff and Cathy, cause the decay and bring "storminess" to the house. The contrast between them is more than physical, rather these two houses represent opposing forces that represent the inhabitants. The moors were wide, wild expanses, high but somewhat soggy, and thus infertile. Moorland cannot be cultivated, and its consistency makes navigation difficult. Despite the fact that she occupies a position midway between the two worlds, she belongs to the moors. Light and warmth fills the Grange; it is the symbol of calmness. "He is a dark-skinned gypsy in aspect. Catherine does not "like" Heathcliff, yet loves him with all of the strength of her being. Catherine, upon hearing that Heathcliff heard her comments, goes out to the road in search of him "where. "Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire. The culture of the Linton's verses the nature of the Earnshaw's. When, in Chapter VI, Catherine is bitten by the Linton's' dog and brought into Thrushcross Grange, Catherine's views as a wild girl of the storm changes, thus creating the novel's conflict.
Common topics in this essay:
Heathcliff Cathy,
Wuthering Heights,
Catherine Heathcliff's,
Heights Catherine,
Cathy Heathcliff,
Grange Linton,
Thrushcross Grange,
Brave Cathy,
Catherine Heathcliff,
Grange Catherine,
wuthering heights,
thrushcross grange,
nature culture,
cathy heathcliff,
heathcliff cathy,
bond cathy heathcliff,
verses nature,
grange linton,
bond cathy,
catherine heathcliff,
heathcliff symbolizes,
|
Acceptance Essays
