On Resemblance Between the Protagonists inWuthering Heights and the Author—— Emily Brontë

郭 丹

On Resemblance Between the Protagonists in
Wuthering Heights and the Author—— Emily Brontë

郭 丹

【Abstract】 Wuthering Heights has been puzzling readers in many respects. People have been wondering how an unmarried lady like Emily Brontë could create the most intense, the most beautiful and at the same time the most horrible love story and where her experience came from. This article makes attempt to compare the resemblance between the protagonists and the author to discuss the source of the story’s creation and answer the above questions.

【Key Words】Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë resemblance environment

一、Introduction

Emily Brontë (30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. However, many people are not sure that Emily Brontë is the author of Wuthering Heights of all time and they think it is incredible that such a simple and young lady can create such a great work. This article makes attempt to compare the resemblance between the protagonists and the author to remove such doubts. It is analyzed from two aspects: the natural environment; the social environment.

二、The resemblance in natural environment

（一）Emily Brontë in the natural environment

Emily Brontë lived in the Haworth Parsonage (Haworth was famous for industry), which was between the city and moors, and Emily usually walked in the western moors. The Brontë children found great pleasure playing outside in the vast, rough, untouched moorland wilderness and this was especially so with Emily.

Just because Emily lived in the windswept Haworth Parsonage on the Yorkshire moors for long, she knew her hometown and the people there intimately, including some strange things and legends on the wild moors, the country gentlemen and the peasants on the moors’ life and feelings.

Above all, Emily had real adventures of her own on the moors that stretched to a radius of 20 miles around the hill village of Haworth which were undoubtedly also a stimulus to invention. Therefore，on one hand, Emily could see the developing capitalist society; on the other hand, she was influenced by the moors’ atmosphere deeply.

（二）Wuthering Heights in the natural environment

Influenced by Emily’s own natural background mentioned above, the theme of Wuthering Heights is completely mixed in natural colors of wild moors. The background of the story is a stretch of windswept moor.

In the beginning, the author assumed a certain natural environment, where the story happens and catches the readers’ attention:…This is certainly a beautiful country! In all England, I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of society. A perfect misanthropist’s heaven:…

When “I” –Mr. Lockwood is on his way to Thrushcross Grange after his first visiting to his landlord in Wuthering Heights the author depicts:…It was well he did, for the whole hill back was on billowy, white ocean; the swells and falls not indicating corresponding rises and depressions in the ground…

These natural pictures make harmonious with the protagonists’ character, and play up the atmosphere of the story. At the same time, the resemblance between Emily’s real and natural environment and the story’s stimulate the readers’ interests.

三、The resemblance in social environment

（一）Emily Brontë’s family background and her betrayal

Emily Brontë lived in the Victorian period which has been generally regarded as one of the most glorious in the English history, and the story has been the most widely read and the most vital and challenging expression of progressive thought. Among the famous novelist of the time were the critical realists. They carried out their duty forward to the criticism of the society and the defense of the mass. Emily Brontë was a representative of English critical realism.

The period when Emily lived was a time of rapid economic development as well as serious social problems. Beneath the great prosperity and richness, there existed widespread poverty and wretchedness among the working class.

Though Emily didn’t understand politics, she cared it very much influenced by her father, and usually read the periodicals and discussed politics. Emily appeared silent, but enthusiastic in her inner world. All kinds of evil conducts and social evils made Emily feel the sufferings of the life. Affected, Emily of rebellion and freedom consciousness exposed the evil and fought with it, meanwhile, the justice, enthusiasm, indignation of her own were all dissolved in Wuthering Heights.

（二）The protagonists’ betrayal

Emily expended all her energies to the portrayal of Heathcliff, and placed all her righteous indignation, sympathy, and ideals on him. Heathcliff deprives the kindness of the world, fosters the intense love and hatred in reality. Hindley’s whip makes him feel the life’s cruelty and understand that surrendering cannot change one’s insulted fate, so he chooses fighting.

Heathcliff is a rebel against the bourgeois matrimonial system -- for a while so is Catherine during her childhood, when they start their faithful love. However, their pure love has been crushed by the class prejudice of the bourgeoisie and they are the revenge of love against the nineteenth century.

From the heroine we can see the sympathy and indignation; regret and flogging and realize the author’s mixed feeling. Catherine’s betrayal and anguished fate is the most important turning of the story, which changes the hero’s strong love into deep hatred. When Catherine dies, all hatred breaks out, and become the crazy power for revenge. This kind of crazy hatred looks like abnormal, but expresses his unusual betrayal spirit vividly.

四、Conclusion

A lady of passion and imagination experienced the life of Mid-Victorian England and all her feelings for the society, the mankind and the world can be found from her story Wuthering Heights. In fact, the relationship between human and nature, has always been one important proposition in the history of civilization, Emily Brontë is but a step past dynasties philosopher, hermit, scientists, artists, through the life and creation, practice to explore the relationship between human and nature.

References：

[1]EmilyBrontë.WUTHERING HEIGHTS[M].Beijing:Foreig n Language Teaching& Research Press,2007.

[2]罗经国.新编英国文学选读(下)[M].北京:北京大学出版社,1996.

[3]刘炳善.英美文学简史[M].郑州:河南人民出版社,1992.

(作者单位：Yiyang Vocational and Technical College)

作者简介：郭丹（1977- ），女，湖南益阳人，硕士，讲师，研究方向：英语教学、高等教育学。