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Hannah Güsten
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The Destructive Nature of Forbidden Love

in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights

Hannah Güsten
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English A
Word Count: 3,999
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Abstract

This essay is based on the question “How does Brontë portray the destructive nature of forbidden
love in Wuthering Heights?”. It will examine the passionate love story between Catherine
Earnshaw and Heathcliff, which is the central conflict throughout Brontë’s gothic novel. To do
this, the essay focuses upon the relationship of the protagonists and how it affects them (as well
as those around them), using analysis of their language and behaviour over the course of the plot.
This analysis includes consideration of stylistic features such as diction, metaphors and the use
of foreshadowing to reveal how Brontë has highlighted the destruction of the protagonists.
Additionally, this paper examines Brontë’s own context and the links between her personal life
and the novel, particularly the setting and the characterization of Catherine Earnshaw. The
analysis identifies that the theme of destruction and loss is present throughout the entire
relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff. Over time, whilst their love and passion grows
stronger it still has a very negative impact as both characters deteriorate, culminating
respectively in her death and his mental illness. This suffering is caused by various conflicts in
their lives, beginning with the underlying tension between Heathcliff and Catherine’s brother
Hindley, which is coupled with Catherine’s own internal conflict. Under the pressure of social
class and status, Catherine is ultimately led to marry Edgar, in turn heightening the suffering for
both herself and Heathcliff, leading to their ultimate demise.

Word Count: 238

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Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………..4

Main Body………………………………………………………………………5-11

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………12

References………………………………………………………………………13
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Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë, originally published under the pseudonym
of Ellis Bell in 1847. The novel narrates a story of forbidden love between the protagonist,
Catherine Earnshaw, and her beloved Heathcliff, highlighting the destructive nature of love and
the effect it has on their lives. Brontë grew up on the Yorkshire Moors with her two sisters, a
brother, and her father, a local minister. Though the children lived a very strict and sheltered life,
they had a lot of freedom to play in the moors, time which Brontë and her sisters used to make
up complex role-playing games, taking place in imaginary worlds. Brontë was said to have a
strong character, in that she was the most stubborn of the sisters, always trying to get her way,
and even going as far as to hold her breath when she did not (Wuthering Heights, n.d.). In many
ways, Emily Brontë had a very distinct resemblance to Catherine Earnshaw; both girls loved and
needed the freedom and nature of the moor, Brontë leaving school after a few months after being
overcome with homesickness. Additionally, both Catherine and Brontë were known for being
stubborn to the point of self harm (Nussey, 1985). These connections highlight that the novel
Wuthering Heights was deeply personal to Brontë, and contained many references to her owns
life, including the village of Haworth, where she grew up being isolated on the Yorkshire Moors,
inspiring the setting for her novel. Similarly, the early death of her mother is also reflected in the
lack of mother figures in Wuthering Heights (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014). Contrary to the
passionate themes expressed in her book, Brontë’s father was a very strict, religious man, who
educated his children at home under firm supervision. Therefore, it was extremely unexpected
for a woman like Brontë, who passed away before ever being in a relationship at the young age
of 30, to write such a passionate and violent story. In fact, most people assumed a story of this
style must have been written by a man (Wuthering Heights, n.d.). The emotional and violent nature
of the story was not only unexpected from a minister’s daughter who had grown up in isolation,
but it was also extremely unusual for the conventions of the Victorian Era, where classic, didactic
tales, such as Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, were common.
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Before becoming a classic, Wuthering Heights evoked a great deal of negative criticism
from magazines at the time it was published. The December edition of the 1847 Spectator stated
that the novel was “too coarse and unagreeable” with a “moral taint”. Similarly, in 1848 Douglas
Jerrold’s Newspaper commented that “the reader is shocked, disgusted, almost sickened by
details of cruelty, inhumanity, and the most diabolical hate and vengeance”. The USA magazines
went as far as to suggest that the reader may ‘commit suicide before he had finished a dozen
chapters’ (Graham’s Lady Magazine, 1848) and that to ‘burn Wuthering Heights’ (Paterson’s
Magazine, 1848) was the only, most appropriate response to such a publication. These
overwhelmingly negative responses come from the paradigm of Victorian era culture. The
Victorian era was a extremely male dominated time, during which women had a very low
position in society, and were expected to conform to specific rules. All decisions were made by
men, and women had very few freedoms. Therefore, particularly in the upper echelons of society,
women were not allowed to choose their husband, who would often keep mistresses. Brontë
expressed some social criticism of these ideas through Heathcliff and Catherine’s story, primarily
as Catherine’s lack of choice in her life partner caused her misery and lead to her tragic, early
demise. The Victorian society was strongly based on social advancement and ‘proper behaviour’,
which was seen as the only way to move up in society or to be successful. For women, marriage
was their only vehicle to this. Furthermore, this mentality was reflected strongly in the literature
of the time. It was oftentimes written to educate the readers, usually women and girls, about right
and wrong and to define ‘proper’ behaviour. A very strong example of this was Charlotte
Brontë’s Jane Eyre, which was accepted far more easily by the public (Brooklyn University, 2009).
The tumultuous love between Heathcliff and Catherine that Brontë describes is contrary to the
idea of social advancement, as it puts love first and everything else second. Additionally, the
novel identifies the weaknesses in the victorian mentality. Although, Catherine married the man
she was expected to, and thereby did the ‘proper’ thing, she died unhappy and young. This is in
clear contrast to the Victorian model of novels, which typically described stories that instructed
young ladies through the use of happy endings. Brontë’s novel shows that Catherine and
Heathcliff’s passionate love leads to the physical and psychological destruction of themselves
and others.
From the outset, the two protagonists are positioned as oppositional to one another, for
when Heathcliff first arrives at Wuthering Heights, he and Catherine are in conflict. When Mr.
Earnshaw picks him up off the street and introduces him into Wuthering Heights, he immediately
creates a environment filled with hostility and imbalance amongst the family, “he seemed a
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sullen, patient child; hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment […] so from the beginning he bred a bad
feeling in the house” (p.33). Here, Brontë foreshadows that the destruction their relationship will
bring throughout their lives is already beginning to take hold in the family. Additionally,
Heahtcliff is characterised in a very negative way, with adjectives such as ‘sullen’ and
‘hardened’ highlighting the unfavourable image he will carry with him throughout his life,
leading to his relationship with Catherine never reaching fulfilment. Nevertheless, Catherine and
Heathcliff soon become inseparable by bonding over their lower positions in the household,
being both the girl and outsider respectively. This inseparable bond causes heightened conflict
between Heathcliff and Hindley due to Hindley’s resentment of Heathcliff’s acceptance into the
family and the clash of their strong personalities, which endures for the rest of their lives. Upon
the death of Mr. Earnshaw, the conflict between Heathcliff and Hindley increases and Catherine
and Heathcliff grow even closer, becoming completely devoted. One of the first examples of the
blossoming relationship occurs right after Mr. Earnshaw’s death when Nelly walks in on a
moment between Catherine and Heathcliff, “the little souls were comforting each other with
better words that I could have hit on: no parson in the world ever pictured heaven so beautifully
as they did, in their innocent talk” (p.37). Brontë depicts the bond between Heathcliff and
Catherine as chaste, highlighting how deep their relationship has become. This is achieved
through the use of extremely religious diction such as ‘heaven’, ‘parson’, and ‘souls’, which
characterises their innocence, thereby creating sympathy for the characters and their relationship,
so that the reader feels attached to the childish innocence depicted here. This, in turn, heightens
the devastation and sadness during the times of their separation and trouble to come. Coupled
with this, Nelly’s description of the moment she witnesses between the children creates a sense
of irony; the innocence and peace characterised in the aforementioned quote is significant
because it is the last time their relationship is shown in such a positive light, creating a strong
contrast to their extreme conflicts throughout the rest of their lives. Sadly, once Mr. Earnshaw
passes away, the reader can see the negative effects their attachment has on their lives.
Immediately following his father’s demise, Hindley takes control over the household. Due to his
position of power and preexisting hostility towards Heathcliff, his and Catherine’s relationship
becomes more forbidden and harder to sustain. This is the first time Catherine and Heathcliff
realise that they are not supposed to be together and are forced to face consequences imposed
upon them by the social mores of the time. During the time in which Hindley is the head of
Wuthering Heights, Nelly mentions some of the effects the friendship of Catherine and
Heathcliff has on their lives. “She was much too fond of Heathcliff. The greatest punishment we
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could invent for her was to keep her separate from him: yet she got chided more than any of us
on his account.” (p.36). Catherine is admonished and chided because of Heathcliff as, under the
control of Hindley, both children suffer for their close friendship; Hindley punishes them and
actively tries to keep them apart. Brontë’s use of the affectionate diction ‘fond’ by Nelly
highlights that Catherine and Heathcliff are still children and that the relationship is not supposed
to be taken seriously and this, in turn, reveals that their love is misunderstood by the people
around them, subsequently highlighting the main, external conflict of the novel. This also
foreshadows the suffering that both Heathcliff and Catherine will undergo in their future. Though
the pain that their friendship causes at this point is only small and here only affects Catherine, it
will grow and cause pain and suffering for many people around them, including Edgar,
Catherine’s daughter, Hareton, and most others who enter their lives. This moment only
illustrates the very beginning of this conflict. As they grow older the pressures of society affect
their relationship more, finally tearing them apart.
The beginning of the major conflict - when Catherine chooses Edgar over Heathcliff - is
revealed when Catherine is introduced to the Lintons. During her stay at Thrushcross Grange,
she is explicitly taught about the social expectations of her status: to marry someone of her
social class, and to avoid the low social ranking that Heathcliff carries. After her stay at the
Grange, Nelly describes her return to Wuthering Heights as a true change in character.
“Instead of a wild, hatless little savage jumping into the house and rushing to squeeze us all
breathless, there ‘lighted from a handsome black pony a very dignified person, with brown
ringlets falling from the cover of a feathered beaver, and a long cloth habit, which she was
obliged to hold up with both hands that she might sail in” (p.45). Nelly’s description highlights
very clearly Catherine’s character change and is a very strong juxtaposition between the ‘savage’
that spent her childhood with Heathcliff and the ‘dignified person’ who returns from the Grange.
Even though this change is far from permanent, it foreshadows Catherine decision to become
Mrs. Linton and relenting to that which is expected of her as a lady. This contrast is furthered,
not only by the difference in her attire, ‘a feathered beaver, and a long cloth habit’, but also a
change in mentality which can be highlighted by the fact that she holds it up to keep it
clean. These social expectations she has learned so recently are what ultimately lead to her
decision to marry Linton, even though her feeling for Heathcliff are far deeper and stronger.
This change in thought process and acceptance of her place in the upper social class becomes
clear when Catherine explains these feelings to Nelly. As she is making her decision of whom to
marry, she comments that “my love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change
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it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. 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. So don't talk of our separation again: it is impracticable.” (p. 70) Catherine’s mention
of separation as ‘impracticable’ here is ironic, as while she is saying these words Heathcliff is
leaving Wuthering Heights, and they will not see each other again until both have grown up.
Brontë conflicts their intimacy and devotion to each other with the social expectations, making
their relationship and marriage extremely unlikely. In the same conversation with Nelly,
Catherine confesses her love, as well as expressing how she has been influenced to see Edgar as
her only option for a husband and a happy life. By highlighting her inner conflict, Brontë is once
again creating sympathy for Catherine’s undying love for Heathcliff, and underlining how at this
young age Catherine is suffering due to their passionate love. The choice she makes to marry
Edgar, brings Heathcliff nothing but pain and suffering, which is the beginning of his self-
destruction. Brontë also uses the simile of comparing Catherine's feeling for Linton with the
imagery of nature of ‘foliage in the woods’ to show how impermanent her emotions are for
Edgar in comparison to the immovable ‘eternal rocks’ that symbolise her bond to Heathcliff.
Brontë uses this imagery to illustrate how, even at this young age, the relationship strongly
affects Catherine, and to evoke sympathy for Catherine and Heathcliff from the reader, making
their unfulfilled romance, and Catherine’s subsequent death, far more impactful and resonant.
Similarly, at this point Brontë also foreshadows Heathcliff’s suffering, when Catherine
innocently imagines her world without him: “If all else perished, and he remained, I should still
continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a
mighty stranger.” (p.70), describing the way Heathcliff feels after her passing, and how his world
is destroyed, as well as emphasising their deep and unbreakable connection. This quote not only
highlights Catherine’s child like innocence, but it also shows how, even at the young age,
Catherine realises the potential for suffering and pain their affection holds. Simultaneously, she
does not see their separation as a feasible possibility at this point because Heathcliff is such a
constant and reliable part of her life, and is even described as a part of her. This foreshadows the
pain and suffering both Heathcliff and Catherine endure once they are apart; their separation
destroys both their lives, and neither are able live normally again. Brontë uses particularly strong
diction such as ‘annihilated’ and ‘perished’ which highlights Catherine’s faith in Heathcliff
always being there, and that she does not see his death or leaving as a natural event, but rather
something unnatural and unthinkable. Again, this reveals irony as at this moment Heathcliff is
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removing himself from her life. They will not make peace with each other, until Catherine’s last
moments, thus, highlighting the suffering that their love causes for both of them. Heathcliff has
to leave his home and the only person he cares about. Meanwhile, Catherine unhappily marries
Edgar, directly leading her to mental illness and death.
Catherine’s relationship with Heathcliff reaches a climax shortly before she passes away,
causing more pain and suffering to those around her, including Heathcliff. As her health and
happiness deteriorate, Nelly recalls her speaking to Heathcliff even though he is nowhere to be
seen, "we've braved its ghosts often together, and dared each other to stand among the graves and
ask them to come. But, Heathcliff, if I dare you now, will you venture? If you do, I'll keep you.
I'll not lie there by myself: they may bury me twelve feet deep, and throw the church down over
me, but I won't rest till you are with me. I never will!" (p.106). Here, Brontë’s metaphorical use
of the graveyard and death demonstrates how Catherine interprets her relationship with
Heathcliff. The phrase ‘We've braved its ghosts often together’ reveals that they stood together
against the pressures of Hindley and society trying to break their bond, which were seemingly
insurmountable obstacles in their childhood. The use of the metaphor of a graveyard underlines
that Catherine and Heathcliff have something between them which transcends life and death.
Brontë outwardly challenges a strong belief of her time, that God is the highest power, by
underlining that neither death, nor even religion, could stand in the way of love. Neither is as
influential or powerful as their emotional connection to one another and, since death does not
matter, Catherine asks Heathcliff to join her ‘will you venture?’. A metaphor for their entire life
together as they journey into the afterlife, choosing a death with Heathcliff over the lifetime of
emotional and physical pain that lies before her. Catherine asks Heathcliff for this before she
dies, to which he responds: "Are you possessed with a devil," he pursued, savagely, "to talk in
that manner to me when you are dying? Do you reflect that all those words will be branded in my
memory, and eating deeper eternally after you have left me? You know you lie to say I have
killed you: and, Catherine, you know that I could as soon forget you as my existence!" (p.134).
Heathcliff’s response to Catherine further captures the raw emotion of the relationship.
Heathcliff is devastated by the notion of being alone, without Catherine just after they have been
reunited once more. Here, Bronte plays on the emotions of the readers as it evokes a sense of
sympathy for the relationship and Heathcliff in Catherine’s final hours.
Catherine and Heathcliff’s final meeting is highly charged and full of both positive and
negative emotion, as their ever-present feelings of love clash with the anger over the conflict of
the past years. This is conveyed through diction such as ‘devil’ and ‘branded’ being contrasted
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with the expression of his love ‘I could as soon forget you as my existence’, while once again
confirming that Heathcliff and Catherine are so strongly linked that their very existences rely on
each other. This demonstrates the destructive nature of their conflict on both characters;
Catherine exhibiting the physical suffering in her disease and anorexia, and finally her death,
while Heathcliff expresses the emotional and psychological suffering, through mental illness. In
this case, Heathcliff says Catherine is ‘possessed with a devil’ and Brontë uses the adverb
‘savagely’ highlighting the cathartic nature of this final, reconciliatory meeting, where they are
both setting the past aside as they are overcome by their feelings which are ‘eating deeper
eternally’. Their feelings will not be altered by death, but will transcend life and death,
highlighting that their purely passionate expression of their emotions is completely ignoring
outside issues such as social class which initially drove them apart. This, in turn, serves to
expressly highlight how both of them are destroyed and reduced to something so raw by their
love.
The destruction created by Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship is best depicted by
Catherine’s death. Upon meeting Heathcliff, Lockwood witnesses a surge of what he thinks is
mental illness as his strong and dark host bursts into tears in his bedroom "Come in! come in!"
he sobbed. "Cathy, do come. Oh, do – once more! Oh! My heart's darling, hear me this time –
Catherine, at last!" (p.24). Even many later, Heathcliff breaks down with the long term suffering
caused by Catherine’s death. The repeated crying and calling out to her “Come in! Come in!”
underlines the desperation on Heathcliff’s part. The words “hear me this time” show that this is
an obsessive behaviour that is often repeated by Heathcliff, and the intensity and passion in his
love, that is not extinguished by her death, but rather has worn away his character. This is further
reinforced by Heathcliff before her passing as he says “Two words would comprehend my future
– death and hell: existence, after losing her, would be hell” (p.125). Heathcliff knows already
that he cannot bear to live without her, and his emotional collapse in Mr. Lockwood’s presence is
testament to this statement and the ferocious, passionate nature of their undying love. The
connection Heathcliff makes between the afterlife and that of his own is continued throughout
the rest of his life without Catherine. Right after Heathcliff is told that Catherine has passed
away, he cries out in agony as Nelly watches. “Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I
am living! You said I killed you--haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers.” (p.
141). After her death, he begs multiple times for her ghost and soul to stay with him, even haunt
him, which generally has a very negative association, and would not usually be wished for. This
highlights his desperation and how dependent he has become on her company; that even being
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haunted would bring their inseparable souls closer together and ease his pain. After her death
Heathcliff calls to her immediately, “I believe--I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be
with me always--take any form--drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I
cannot find you!” (p.141). The use of ghosts throughout the book is evidence of the gothic nature
of the novel. This is further exemplified when Catherine’s ghost seems to come and haunt
Lockwood. Catherine’s visit as a ghost is an inherent convention in gothic literature, and brings a
supernatural aspect to the novel, this is used to further demonstrate that love is stronger than life
and death. It has caused Catherine so much suffering, that she is trapped in Heathcliff’s world as
a ghost, sharing her suffering with him.
The final moments of Catherine’s suffering occur, during their final meeting at Catherine
and Edgar’s home. Heathcliff’s outcry to her, "Cathy, do come. Oh, do – once more!”, shows that
these moments when he sees her ghost are the moments he lives for. The immediate effects of his
loss are not only emotional, but also very physical. When Heathcliff loses Catherine, Nelly goes
outside to speak to him. “He dashed his head against the knotted trunk; and lifting up his eyes,
howled, not like a man […] probably the scene I witnessed was a repetition of others acted
during the night.” (p.141). The emotional pain of Catherine’s demise leads him to violently cause
himself physical pain to cope with the emotion. This underlines the destructive nature of their
relationship, as well as showing the depth and power of their love for one another. Additionally,
the animalistic diction of ‘howled’ shows that Heathcliff has lost his humanity in the wake of
Catherine’s death. The violent verbs ‘dashed’ and ‘knotted’ also underline this, as Heathcliff can
only seems to assuage his grief with a physical manifestation of it. Further, Heathcliff’s reaction
to the death of his loved one causes him to desperately reach out to God. This is important
because Heathcliff is not a religious man, who from early on expects to go to hell, yet here he is
desperately reaching out to God for support, as well as relieving himself of the guilt and shifting
the blame to another entity. “Oh God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot
live without my soul!” (p.141). He even makes the statement that Catherine is his soul, and her
death is the loss of his own soul, without which he can no longer feel happiness or even content,
as it is believed especially by the strongly religious society of the Victorian Era, that these
emotions come from the soul, and the soul is what makes a person human. Here Heathcliff uses
short apostrophes which all end in exclamation marks, making his cries seem like short, painful
outbursts, speaking to God, highlighting his pain and anger. This suffering is what leads to his
vindictive and cruel life after her death, inflicting his own pain on those around him.
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Throughout the novel, both Catherine and Heathcliff’s characters deteriorate, while their
emotions and love for each other grow stronger, and never fade, dominating all aspects of their
lives. From the time they were young children there was conflict: firstly, between Heathcliff and
Hindley, putting stress on all their lives, which was was then followed by the internal conflicts of
Catherine, being torn between the social expectations to marry the right man, and her strong
feelings of love for Heathcliff, clear to her from a young age. This conflict leads to Catherine
marrying Edgar, causing Heathcliff’s suffering through their separation, and finally through
Catherine’s death. The destruction caused is depicted through Brontë’s portrayal of their love as
pure and unbreakable, being put under the pressure from the people around them and social
expectations of the time.

Word Count: 3,999

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References
Anonymous. (1848). Graham’s Lady Magazine (USA).

Anonymous. (1848). Douglas Jerrold’s Newspaper.

Anonymous. (1848). Paterson’s Magazine.

Anonymous. (1847). Spectator.

Brontë, E. (2011). Wuthering Heights. New York: Tribeca Books. (Original work published
1847).

Brooklyn University. (2009). Later Critical Response to Wuthering Heights. Retrieved from
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/novel_19c/wuthering/

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (2014). Emily Brontë Biography. Retrieved from http://
www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/w/wuthering-heights/emily-brontxeb-biography

Nussey, E., & Pruchnicki, S. (1985). Reminiscences of Charlotte Brontë. Kankakee, Ill.: Brontë
Press.

Wuthering Heights. (n.d.). Emily Jane Brontë. Retrieved from http://www.wuthering-

heights.co.uk/emily-bronte.php