Perhaps among the most prominent themes about love and betrayal is the idea of true love being eternal. From the time they are children to the time they are adults, Catherine and Heathcliff possess a deep, yearning love for each other. While Catherine did marry Edgar Linton (for reasons that could constitute a post of their own), she continued loving Heathcliff.
" So [Heathcliff] shall never know how I love him: and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am. 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."Catherine's love for Heathcliff is meaningful and far deeper than what she claims to feel for Linton (again, a complicated matter). Heathcliff and Catherine's souls are cut from the same cloth; they share an unparalleled connection to one another. The reasons Catherine loves Heathcliff are far less superficial than appearance. They are joined to each other for reasons more complex than beauty; they connect to each other because of who they are on the inside. Their souls are the same which draws them close to each other.
"My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."Although they cannot be together, Catherine knows that Heathcliff and her are practically made for each other. They are one in the same; Catherine is Heathcliff and Heathcliff is Catherine. Even after Catherine dies, Heathcliff continues loving her: the connection to one another is continuous and never dies. For years after Catherine dies, Heathcliff visits her graveside, even going so far as removing her body from the ground. Even in her death, Catherine is with Heathcliff. Her ghost visits him until his own death and once Heathcliff eventually dies, their ghosts join together. They might not have been able to be together in life, but they can in death. Bronte's use of their love helps showcases the eternal existence of true love.
Yet I was a fool to fancy for a moment that she valued Edgar Linton's attachment more than mine. If he loved with all the powers of his puny being, he couldn't love as much in eighty years as I could in a day.Heathcliff knows that his love for Catherine and her love for him is greater than any other person's affections for them. They are meant to be together-their souls are made from the same material after all-and the feelings they possess are stronger than anything Edgar Linton could muster. This is why Heathcliff's greatest comfort is seeing Catherine's ghost: even in death they can be united and express their undying bond. The love the pair have for each other does not end when they die.
Love continued, even prospered, after Catherine died due to childbirth. Because they could not be together in life, Catherine and Heathcliff could finally find solace. Their love could not be contained to the confines of life. It was immortal. They were able to have the life they longed for after they were not longer alive.
I love your use of vocabulary in this particular blog post. Even though they are words I do not know the meaning of, I feel like I could understand exactly what you were talking about because of the way your words were used. The use of quotations was spectacular as well. If someone who has never read Wuthering Heights before stumbled upon your blog post, they could probably get an idea of what the novel was about based on the way you integrated quotes. It allowed the reader to understand where you were coming from without even reading the book! Finally, I love the point you made in your last paragraph regarding Catherine and Heathcliff’s immortal love. I agree with this because not only did I write about something similar to this in my essay, but throughout the novel you could tell that Heathcliff and Catherine’s love was everlasting just because of the way they talked about one another. This everlasting love is shown through your selection of quotations which also goes back to the fact that the reader would be able to understand Catherine and Heathcliff’s love without having actually read the novel. You did a really good job and I hope to read more excellent posts in the future!
ReplyDeleteHey, I also enjoyed reading this blog post as well! Your use of syntax and vocabulary made the entire text flow from beginning to end. I also thought that it was clever of you to incorporate the Thug Notes video of Wuthering Heights, since it would help those who never read the book before first understand what it is about. In addition, I loved that you tackled the topic of Heathcliff and Catherine's immortal love since that was something that captured my attention in the novel as well. All the quotes you utilized helped make your point and illustrated your close reading of the novel.
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