As the first half successfully sets up the plot and develops characters, the second half of the novel is equally as successful in creating a sticky, unpleasant tension and climax that is destined to result in disaster. Also, in the first half of the book, I believe Bronte does a fantastic job in setting up Heathcliff to be the ultimate underdog in the novel: not only do I find myself cheering and rooting for his success and revenge, but I also empathize and feel sorry for the poor boy. Although a small fraction of this initial emotion remains throughout the book, the second half really shows how truly insane and unstable Heathcliff is.
Heathcliff’s sanity and physical health take a major downward plunge in chapter 33. He opens up to Nelly and exclaims, “I cannot look down to this floor, but her features are shaped on the flags! In every cloud, in every tree—filling the air at night, and caught by glimpses in every object by day, I am surrounded with her image! The most ordinary faces of men and women—my own features—mock me with a resemblance. The entire world is a dreadful collection of memoranda that she did exist, and that I have lost her!” (p.277). Not only does he admit to digging up Catherine’s body from her grave, but is obviously losing his mind and possibly having delusions of Catherine. He either a) cannot bear to live without his beloved or b) is truly being haunted by her ghost.
One of the mysteries of this novel is that you never know if Heathcliff is really being haunted by spirits, or if perhaps he was mentally unstable from the start. The gothic element of the supernatural and unexplained plays out loud and clear in the novel and still successfully gives a modern readers goose bumps. Although I personally like to still like to believe that Heathcliff has been a victim throughout the novel and was set up for disaster form the start, it is ultimately up to the reader to decipher his or her personal feelings.
Hi Chelsea! Wow, you wrote everything I had to say. Now I must go back and rethink, trying to find something a bit different. I, too, wondered if Heathcliff was insane, or truly haunted. And if he was haunted to death, then was it because Catherine loved him so, or was she in part the deliverer for Cathy and Hareton?
ReplyDeleteI think we can agree that Heathcliff is the most interesting character in this novel, and for good reason. We've read revenge plots before, but there is just something about his cleverness and madness that is undeniable. I personally believe that Heathcliff strung himself out so much while plotting and executing his revenge that he has nothing left inside of him. I don't think he was ever going to be normal, and being treated how he is only gives him a purpose in life. After his plan is completed, it is obvious that his tank is empty and all he is left with are his twisted thoughts of ghosts and people long since gone. Maybe staying in his "revenge-mode" kept him living in a world that Catherine was still a part of, and now that it has concluded, so has she. Once he decides that he will be buried beside her, that is all he can focus on.
ReplyDeleteI agree that she successfully set up the characters. It was possible for me to imagine their voices in my head. She went...out of her way...to develop the plot, but I'm conflicted whether that's good or bad.
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