The Theme of Humiliation in Wuthering Heights
Cruelty and Forgiveness in Emily Bronte's Classic Novel
Jul 26, 2009
The epic, tragic love story of Catherine and Heathcliff is at the center of Wuthering Heights. For Heathcliff, their love transcends marriages to other people and even death. Despite the depth of their connection to one another, Cathy and Heathcliff never find happiness as a couple. The reason they don't end up together is largely due to their different places in society, leading to emotional turmoil for Cathy and a bruised ego for Heathcliff.
Cathy and Heathcliff: An Inappropriate Match
Cathy struggles with her decision to marry the socially-acceptable Edgar Linton because she is not in love with him; instead, she loves Heathcliff, but he is not fit to be her husband due to questionable lineage and place in society. Cathy laments her situation to Nelly Dean, her housekeeper, explaining:
"It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he is 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" (Bronte 82).
Heathcliff unfortunately overhears only the first part of this statement, so he only knows that Cathy would find it degrading to marry him. This is humiliating and heartbreaking for Heathcliff. From this point on, Heathcliff is driven by anger and resentment, and he and Cathy go on to marry other people.
The Next Generation: Young Catherine and Hareton Earnshaw
Catherine Earnshaw marries Edgar Linton, but their time together is short because Cathy dies soon after giving birth to their daughter, Catherine. Young Catherine is destined to carry on her mother's unfortunate tradition of hurting others through humiliation. Hareton Earnshaw, a young man who aims to impress young Catherine, is the object of her cruel behavior.
Unlike her mother, young Catherine intentionally ridicules the man who loves her. She is especially hurtful to Hareton when he attempts to read and fails. Young Catherine asks him to read something, and he is unable to do so. Catherine calls him a "dunce" and laughs at him (Bronte 239). She repeats this type of cruelty, humiliating Hareton more than once in the novel.
Forgiveness Despite Cruelty
Although both Catherines caused harm to men who love them, they are both eventually forgiven for their actions, at least to some extent. Heathcliff never stops loving Cathy, and Hareton Earnshaw and young Catherine eventually marry. The two live happily together, which is something that Cathy and Heathcliff were never really able to do.
Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New York: Signet, 1959.
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