Wuthering Heights by Emily Bront- Characteristics of Victorian literature Essay

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Wuthering Heights
This paper discusses the problem of love in Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights and explains how it fits with the characteristics of Victorian literature.
Love is one of the main themes in Wuthering Heights. According to Anna Priddy (2009, 2), there are different elements of a story that a writer can use to develop themes. These include character, point of view, symbolism, and imagery. Brontë uses these elements and especially characters and their actions to explore the theme of love in the novel. According to Pearson Education Limited (2008), Wuthering Heights explores different aspects of love between different characters which include fraternal and romantic love. Heathcliff and Catherine are engaged in a love affair that transcends a physical bond to a spiritual connection that goes beyond physical death. On numerous occasions in the novel, Heathcliff calls Catherine his “soul” because the pair doesn't see themselves as simply lovers but as soul mates. The couple perceives themselves as the same with each partner referring to himself or herself as the other. Ian Brinton (2011, 86) reinforces this idea of a transcendental love that goes beyond social and human obstacles. The love problem in Wuthering Heights is further complicated by the entry of Edgar into the scene because his appearance causes Catherine to have her love and loyalty divided between Edgar and Heathcliff. Catherine's action of marrying Edgar after Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights (Brontë, 2010) can be said to be an act of betrayal which demonstrates that love affairs have the potential of ending up in great joy or deep pain. The novel demonstrates that the main reason why Catherine decides to marry Edgar is so that she can acquire a high social status. This makes love a problematic issue because some characters are using it to achieve selfish ends. Pearson Education further notes that a brotherly type of love is examined in Wuthering Heights through the way in which characters respond to the different issues that they are confronted with as a family such as illness, addiction, and gambling.
Victorian literature refers to literary works that were written in England during Queen Victoria's reign. Its main characteristics are the challenges that people in the working class are confronted by and the victory of virtue over vice. According to Benjamin W. Griffith (1991, 83), some of the elements of Victorian literature are a social change that was characterized by an uproar against child labor and other industrial problems. It was also characterized by the religious challenge in which the authority of the scriptures was subjected to questions. The scientific challenge that brought new ...