With the last 30 or so pages of Wuthering Heights, I…
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With the last 30 or so pages of Wuthering Heights, I cannot help but feel for Heathcliff.
Very odd experience reading this book only after seeing the trailer for the new movie adaptation. For most of it I simply thought "This is a book about morally bankrupt people that all deserve each other(derogatory)." I was wondering where the true romance was, if there was any. Throughout the book, Heathcliff establishes himself as The Adversary, in basically every sense. He wants to take everything away from everyone he deems has wronged him, he wants to inflict suffering for its own sake, he wants everyone that SHOULD love each other to hate each other. He is a noxious presence that pollutes everything he touches.
And then I got to the end of the book. He confides in Nelly how he has been haunted by the ghost of Cathy (literal AND figurative, is what it seemed to me) since she died. He has had a piece of him die and wither away. This is an incredibly uncharacteristically candid monologue from someone that usually only speaks in order to berate, belittle, and control. Here, he seems to relinquish himself.
And around the same time, he catches Cathy Jr. and Hareton together, enjoying each other's company. He can see, in real time, the futility of his efforts to destroy and corrupt. He tells Nelly that he has "lost the faculty" to enjoy the suffering he imparts on others. It's here that I feel he is coming to terms with the fact that he has lived a bitter and unfulfilling life, much of his own creation. He has spent nearly every moment he had on Earth being hated.
For much of the book, he seems unmoved by the hate others hold for him; he almost seems to relish it. But after his monologue to Nelly, she notes that she can see in his face that he must have always been brooding on these things. It really puts into perspective the inner turmoil, perhaps inner hatred of himself he kept down while being berated by other characters.
I think to a scene, I believe it is around the time he has locked Nelly and Cathy up to have Cathy marry Linton. Cathy rips into Heathcliff, telling him that nobody loves him, nobody has EVER loved him, and there will not be a single soul that will be sorry to see him die. I wonder what he thinks of himself in this moment. Is he in denial? At this time, does he really care what anyone thinks of him? Has he really been aware of his own nature and in constant conflict with himself, the whole book? I am inclined to think it is the latter, but he chooses to lash out and inflict suffering out of vanity and anger.
I am aware of how uniquely awful a man like Heathcliff is. I hated him for nearly the entire book. But as I read this last stretch and we finally got to hear what goes on in his head, from his mouth, it felt like a gut punch. How odd, to suddenly be reminded that even the most depraved of people are still human with human hearts. I cannot help but feel bad for him. Perhaps I mourn for who he could have been, given the proper circumstances. I believe Hareton is supposed to represent the "Better Heathcliff." Despite years of efforts to make him dumb and brutish, his nature is to be kind, curious. I wonder what Heathcliff's nature is when he is allowed to flourish.
I rarely cry or get emotional from a book, but the ending of Wuthering Heights brought me very close to tears. What a display of skill from the author to emit that feeling in the reader, after nearly 300 pages of abuse and vitriol. Great book. Makes my heart ache.
#entertainment
source
Very odd experience reading this book only after seeing the trailer for the new movie adaptation. For most of it I simply thought "This is a book about morally bankrupt people that all deserve each other(derogatory)." I was wondering where the true romance was, if there was any. Throughout the book, Heathcliff establishes himself as The Adversary, in basically every sense. He wants to take everything away from everyone he deems has wronged him, he wants to inflict suffering for its own sake, he wants everyone that SHOULD love each other to hate each other. He is a noxious presence that pollutes everything he touches.
And then I got to the end of the book. He confides in Nelly how he has been haunted by the ghost of Cathy (literal AND figurative, is what it seemed to me) since she died. He has had a piece of him die and wither away. This is an incredibly uncharacteristically candid monologue from someone that usually only speaks in order to berate, belittle, and control. Here, he seems to relinquish himself.
And around the same time, he catches Cathy Jr. and Hareton together, enjoying each other's company. He can see, in real time, the futility of his efforts to destroy and corrupt. He tells Nelly that he has "lost the faculty" to enjoy the suffering he imparts on others. It's here that I feel he is coming to terms with the fact that he has lived a bitter and unfulfilling life, much of his own creation. He has spent nearly every moment he had on Earth being hated.
For much of the book, he seems unmoved by the hate others hold for him; he almost seems to relish it. But after his monologue to Nelly, she notes that she can see in his face that he must have always been brooding on these things. It really puts into perspective the inner turmoil, perhaps inner hatred of himself he kept down while being berated by other characters.
I think to a scene, I believe it is around the time he has locked Nelly and Cathy up to have Cathy marry Linton. Cathy rips into Heathcliff, telling him that nobody loves him, nobody has EVER loved him, and there will not be a single soul that will be sorry to see him die. I wonder what he thinks of himself in this moment. Is he in denial? At this time, does he really care what anyone thinks of him? Has he really been aware of his own nature and in constant conflict with himself, the whole book? I am inclined to think it is the latter, but he chooses to lash out and inflict suffering out of vanity and anger.
I am aware of how uniquely awful a man like Heathcliff is. I hated him for nearly the entire book. But as I read this last stretch and we finally got to hear what goes on in his head, from his mouth, it felt like a gut punch. How odd, to suddenly be reminded that even the most depraved of people are still human with human hearts. I cannot help but feel bad for him. Perhaps I mourn for who he could have been, given the proper circumstances. I believe Hareton is supposed to represent the "Better Heathcliff." Despite years of efforts to make him dumb and brutish, his nature is to be kind, curious. I wonder what Heathcliff's nature is when he is allowed to flourish.
I rarely cry or get emotional from a book, but the ending of Wuthering Heights brought me very close to tears. What a display of skill from the author to emit that feeling in the reader, after nearly 300 pages of abuse and vitriol. Great book. Makes my heart ache.
#entertainment
source
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