英语论文论《呼啸山庄》中男女主人公爱情悲剧之原因

本科生毕业论文（设计）册

学院 XXX学院 专业 英语教育 班级 XXXX级英语教育X班 学生 XXX 指导教师 XXX

XXXXX大学本科毕业论文（设计）任务书

编 号：

论文（设计）题目： 论《呼啸山庄》中男女主人公爱情悲剧之原因 学院： XXX学院 专业： 英语教育 班级： XXXX级英语教育X 学生姓名： XXX 学号： XXXXXXX 指导教师： XXX 职称：XX

1、论文（设计）研究目标及主要任务

本论文的研究目标是探讨名著《呼啸山庄》中男女主人公爱情悲剧之原因。其主要任务是通过分析《呼啸山庄》爱情悲剧原因加深理解其爱情主题。

2、论文（设计）的主要内容

本论文分为三章，第一章分析悲剧爱情的根本原因，即社会现实；第二分析历史背景，即工业革命及其所带来的阶级对立；最后一章分析内在原因，即男女主人公各自的复杂性格。

3、论文（设计）的基础条件及研究路线 本论文的基础条件是各评论家对《呼啸山庄》爱情悲剧原因的研究成果。

研究路线是对爱情悲剧原因从不同的方面进行详细的阐述，得出爱情悲剧是由三方面因素合力酿成的。

4、主要参考文献

Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2003. Brown, Mary. A Research on the Passionate Love of Catherine and Heathcliff. New

York: Manhattan Press, 1997.

Woolf, Virginia. The Common Reader. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co, 1925. 刘杨. 浅析《呼啸山庄》中男女主人公的双重性格. 科技信息, 2011. 杨静远. 勃朗特姐妹研究.中国社会科学出版社, 1983.

5、计划进度 阶段 1 确定初步论文题目 与导师见面，确定大致范围，填开题报告和2 任务书，导师签字 3 提交论文提纲 4 交初稿和文献综述 5 交终稿和评议书 指 导 教师： 年 月 日 教研室主任： 年 月 日

注：一式三份，学院（系）、指导教师、学生各一份

起止日期 3月9日前 3月9日-3月16日 3月16日-3月23日 3月23日-4月20日 5月8日前

XXXX大学本科生毕业论文（设计）开题报告书

论文（设计）题目 论《呼啸山庄》中男女主人公爱情悲剧之原因 XXX 学院 英语教育 专业 2013 届 学生 姓名 XXX 指导 专业 所属教研究方XXX XX 高年级 英美文学 教师 职称 研室 向 课题论证：《呼啸山庄》中男女主人公的悲剧爱情是由社会现实，工业革命历史背景及男女主人公复杂性格三方面因素合力酿成的。 方案设计：第一章分析悲剧爱情的根本原因，即社会现实， 第二章分析历史背景，即工业革命及其所带来的阶级对立， 第三章分析内在原因，即男女主人公各自的复杂性格。 进度计划：3月9日前确定初步论文题目 3月16日前写开题报告、任务书 3月23日前提交论文提纲 4月20日前提交初稿和文献综述 5月8日前交终稿和评议书 指导教师意见： 指导教师签名： 年 月 日 教研室意见： 教研室主任签名： 年 月 日

XXXX大学本科生毕业论文（设计）评议书

姓 名 论 文 题 目 XXX 学院 XXX学院 专业 英语XXXX级英语年级（班） 教育 教育X班 完成时间 XXXX/5/5 论《呼啸山庄》中男女主人公爱情悲剧之原因 《呼啸山庄》是英国女作家艾米莉·勃朗特唯一的一部小说。小说面世之初，并不被评论界和读者所看好，但它仍以其独特的爱情绝唱深深吸引着观众。半个世纪之后，《呼啸山庄》受到人们的热捧和好评。它所描绘的悲剧爱情和现实背景紧密论 文 内 容 摘 要 结合，发人深省。 《呼啸山庄》讲述了一个关于悲剧爱情和疯狂报复的故事。男主角希斯克利夫小时被呼啸山庄的老主人恩萧先生所收养，并与其女儿凯瑟琳陷入爱河。但是凯瑟琳为了地位和财富想要嫁给了画眉山庄的林顿。这激怒了希斯克利夫，他出走三年回来，变成一个财富与手段兼备的复仇者。在复仇中凯瑟琳和林顿先后死去，希斯克利夫与凯瑟琳的爱情以悲剧收场，他最后也在深深的痛苦中离世。 本论文旨在通过三个章节对 《呼啸山庄》 中希斯克利夫与凯瑟琳的爱情悲剧进行原因分析。第一章分析悲剧爱情的根本原因，即社会现实；第二章分析历史背景，即工业革命及其所带来的阶级对立；第三章分析内在原因，即男女主人公各自的复杂性格。 指 导 教 师 评 语 年 月 日 职称 初评成绩 指 导 教 师

姓名 组长 成员 职称 教研室 答辩小组答辩记录： 记录人签字： 年 月 日 答辩小组意见： 组长签字： 年 月 日 学院意见： 评定成绩： 签章 年 月 日

An Analysis of the Causes for the Tragic Love of Heathcliff and Catherine in

Wuthering Heights

BY

XXX

Prof. XXX , Tutor

A Thesis

Submitted to the Foreign Languages Institute in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts at

XXXXUniversity

May 5th, XXXX

iii

Abstract

Wuthering Heights was the only novel of the British female writer, Emily Bronte. When the novel was first published, it was not highly valued by critics and readers. But it still deeply attracted the readers for it was a unique love masterpiece. Half a century later, Wuthering Heights became popular and highly praised. Because the tragic love it had described was linked to the reality closely, and it always set people thinking.

Wuthering Heights was about a story of tragic love and crazy revenge. When he was a child, Heathcliff, the protagonist, was brought up by Wuthering Heights’ old master, Mr. Earnshaw. And he fell in love with Earnshaw’s daughter Catherine. But for wealth and status Catherine wanted to marry Linton from Thrushcross Grange. It enraged Heathcliff. He left Wuthering Heights for three years. When he came back, Heathcliff became an avenger who had wealth as well as cruel means. In the revenge, Catherine and Linton died one after the other. Heathcliff and Catherine's love ended with a tragedy, and he finally passed away in deep grief.

This thesis aims to analyze the causes of the tragic love between Heathcliff and Catherine in three chapters. The first chapter is about the root cause which is the social reality; the second chapter analyzes the historical background, which includes the Industrial Revolution and the conflict of social classes brought by it; and the third chapter analyzes the internal reasons, namely, the complicated personalities of Heathcliff and Catherine.

Keywords love tragedy cause background

iv

摘 要

《呼啸山庄》是英国女作家艾米莉·勃朗特唯一的一部小说。小说面世之初，并不被评论界和读者所看好，但它仍以其独特的爱情绝唱深深吸引着观众。半个世纪之后，《呼啸山庄》受到人们的热捧和好评。它所描绘的悲剧爱情和现实背景紧密结合，发人深省。

《呼啸山庄》讲述了一个关于悲剧爱情和疯狂报复的故事。男主角希斯克利夫小时被呼啸山庄的老主人恩萧先生所收养，并与其女儿凯瑟琳陷入爱河。但是凯瑟琳为了地位和财富想要嫁给了画眉山庄的林顿。这激怒了希斯克利夫，他出走三年回来，变成一个财富与手段兼备的复仇者。在复仇中凯瑟琳和林顿先后死去，希斯克利夫与凯瑟琳的爱情以悲剧收场，他最后也在深深的痛苦中离世。

本论文旨在通过三个章节对 《呼啸山庄》 中希斯克利夫与凯瑟琳的爱情悲剧进行原因分析。第一章分析悲剧爱情的根本原因，即社会现实；第二章分析历史背景，即工业革命及其所带来的阶级对立；第三章分析内在原因，即男女主人公各自的复杂性格。

关键词 爱情 悲剧 原因 背景

v

Table of Contents

Introduction·······························································1 Chapter I. The Root Cause: the Social Reality···································4 A. The Secular Values about Wealth as Well as Family Status······················4 B. The Low Status of Women················································6 Chapter II. The Special Historical Background: the Opposite Social Classes Brought by the Industrial Revolution················································8 A. The Industrial Revolution Reflected in Wuthering Heights·······················8 B. The Emerging Bourgeoisie Represented by Successful Heathcliff·················10 C. The Feudal Landlord Class Represented by Linton····························10 Chapter III. The Internal Reasons: the Complicated Personalities of Both Heathcliff and Catherine···························································12 A. The Complicated Personality of Heathcliff···································12 B. The Complicated Personality of Catherine···································15 Conclusion·······························································20 Notes····································································22 Bibliography······························································23

Introduction

Wuthering Heights was written by an England female writer, Emily Bronte, and it was the only novel of her. Emily Bronte only wrote this novel and some poems in her whole life. It was published in 1848, which had not attracted much attention at that time. The tragic love of misery and terror gave people a strange impression. Even the great shock caused by the plot and characters in the book were also considered to be a kind of disgusting horror. Some critics denounced Wuthering Heights as a frightful, ridiculous and meaningless work for it was full of horror and heresy.

Wuthering Heights partly inherited the description of terror, violence and ghosts from the Gothic tradition, but it was remarkable and beyond the Gothic novel. The novel was also very different from the romantic novels of the Victorian age. When people finally realized all the value, it had been nearly half a century later. In the arts of description and the themes of love and humanity, Wuthering Heights showed the author’s extraordinary ability of creation. The fierce senses of love and hatred as well as the ruthless means of revenge deeply attracted the readers. It was soon intensely welcomed by the readers, and highly praised by the critics. One related comment on Wuthering Heights is as follows:

This blending of realism and mysticism, of fictional cohesion and lyrical power is achieved by means of highly sophisticated and strikingly proto-modernist narrative technique; Wuthering heights is in many ways the most disturbingly modern work of Victorian fiction, open-ended in theme if not in plot, full of imaginative tension, posing questions rather than offering answers.1

Such an extraordinary work had come into people’s vision, which also led to people’s curiosity. Emily's life was short and simple. She only lived for about thirty years and died early. She had not received a complete educational system or an experience of love. So the readers always confused that why Emily Bronte could write out Wuthering Heights which have been such a masterpiece of love. Some people mentioned that she was a genius. But

Heathcliff could get rid of her brother’s oppression, and make rapid advances in his life. Catherine’s idea was the worst one, and it just reflected that women had no position or economic autonomy. Their only plan for a satisfactory life was to marry a rich man. Even Catherine, our rebellious innocent female protagonist, could not help thinking about it.

After the marriage, Catherine was enjoying a quiet life on the surface. In fact she was suffering from the pain of Heathcliff’s leaving. Years later the return of Heathcliff surely became the fuse of her depression. The uncontrollable violent feelings dumped out, which finally sent her to the grave. Since women’s low status, Catherine betrayed her love, paid a heavy price. The tragic love happened, with the low status of women being an indispensable factor of it.

Ancient and modern senses are interlinked. Even in recent days, we can also explain this aspect of the tragedy in our modern vision, for the phenomenon still exists in today's society. A girl with good-looking appearance and excellent education wants to have a wealthy future through marriage. Her marriage will be lack of love and her love usually keeps for a short time. She may become another Catherine, who had no ability to support herself and lost herself in the end. A lady in the new century should know sincerely that it is important to realize the equality between men and women. She would have a better life if she becomes independent financially and spiritually, without relying on her husband. It is a real and beautiful life for a lady. She need not to worry about how to live without somebody. She can do whatever she likes without asking for someone’s permit. She can enjoy her life as freely as a man. It is certainly that “no pains, no gains”. If we want to have a better life, we should pay much more than that we did before. Men are freer than women in the society, for they assume more responsibility at the same time. So it is necessary for women to assume more, learn more and carry out more. These are some inspiration from the analysis of the low position of women.

In brief, the reality of the society which included the two aspects fundamentally triggered the tragic love. And even today, it still works in our life, especially the life of love.

Chapter II. The Special Historical Background: the Opposite Social Classes

Brought by the Industrial Revolution

In the previous chapter we mentioned that in the first part of the novel, Heathcliff was a waif brought back by Mr. Earnshaw, while Catherine was a young lady of a noble family. It reflected a contrast from a low section to a high section in terms of family status. People always cannot change their family background; fortunately, they still have chances to change their future of life. In the second half part of Wuthering Heights, with his efforts, Heathcliff made rapid advances in his career. He became a wealthy, handsome gentleman. He had changed his social class, so he would never be that poor boy any more. But this did not mean Heathcliff was fortunate. On the contrary, it was the beginning that he went towards the abyss. The tragic color continued to deepen, and the reason of it was externalized to be the conflict between opposite social classes.

And the events mentioned above only happened in the special historical background: the Industrial Revolution.

A. The Industrial Revolution Reflected in Wuthering Heights

The Industrial Revolution began in 1750s, and developed quickly in1830s.It was beginning in the middle area of England. The Industrial Revolution was the early period of the industrialization of capitalism. Namely, the production in capitalist society had finished its task of manufacture industry, and began to turn its way into machines and engines. Because it was beginning with the invention and application of the machine, the period of the Industrial Revolution was also called the Age of Machine.

The Industrial Revolution emerged because of the development of capitalist economy. And the Bourgeois Revolution was meant to eliminate the feudal system, and dispel every block that was harmful to the development of capitalism. These were not accidental at all. The same was the contrasting classes. The feudal class and the bourgeoisie fought against each other fiercely. From this starting point, we can see the competitors in love in Wuthering

Heights, Heathcliff and Linton, were opposed opponents of different classes. In the novel, Heathcliff once had left Wuthering Heights for three years. And when he returned, Heathcliff had changed to another person. He was not that impoverished boy any longer. He became rich and charming, which made Catherine more regretful, and made Isabella crazy about him. If the Heathcliff years ago had been a poor pariah of the lowest class, three years later, he became a delegate of the rising bourgeoisie. And Linton, the young master of Thrushcross Grange, who owned the property succeed from the old generation, was obvious the representative of the landlord classes. And these two social classes were meant to be rivals. By the chance that they fell in love with the same girl Catherine, their conflicts developed in a new formation. But it was inevitable to involve the economic relation as well as the political position of the two relevant classes. So the clashes between the rivals of love could also be regarded as the collision of the different classes which were against to each other.

And at the same time the environment described by Emily, always reflected the special historical background, the Industrial Revolution, here and there. Wuthering Heights, as the title of the novel, was the main place for Heathcliff to revenge. “Wuthering”, is a word with special sense. It described the howling of the wind and the roar of the storm attacking the mountain villa. There was a cruel master, indifferent hostess, strange servant, several tumbledown trees, and badly skewed brambles. Compared with Thrushcross Grange, it seemed to be filled with gloomy and darkness all day long in Wuthering Heights, while legal system and moral norms in the civilization could not be found here.

All of these were just symbols of the Industrial Revolution. At that time the situation was of roaring waves, and everything could be full of uncertain factors. Living in the special background, people always performed involuntarily. They were winners in the Industrial Revolution. However they were the winners who used unscrupulous means for material interests of the temptation. In this brutal bloody battle, they lost the human nature and suffered alienation, which led to the tragedy of love. Therefore Heathcliff didn’t feel free as he supposed to be. He could not get any satisfaction and pleasure from the torture to others as well as the so-called victory. On the contrary, he longed for death, because only did the grave can offer him an end.

B. The Emerging Bourgeoisie Represented by Successful Heathcliff

Wuthering Heights’ old master Mr. Earnshaw brought back the homeless child who had strange black hair, spoke words that others could not understand. The master gave him the name Heathcliff which was also his surname. He fell in love with the master’s daughter Catherine, but she betrayed their love for marrying a rich man. And three years later, he came back. However, he was never a poor boy any more.

After leaving for three years, he came back and became a wealthy man. No one could say how he built up his fortune. With all the cruel and conspiratorial means, he finally gained the two big mountain villas into his hands.

In the process of the deliberate plan of revenge, no victims appealed to the law. After dreams of revenge and wealth came true, Heathcliff was mentally as well as physically exhausted, and lay in the grave in the end. However, no one could know his true origin. He didn't even have a surname. Finally, there was only a name carved on the gravestone.

We can find the answer of Heathcliff’s puzzle of life in the historical background of that time. The Victorian age in British history is a period of economic and cultural development. After they accumulated the huge capital, the emerging bourgeoisie wanted to win political power and status by relying on their strong force on economy. Heathcliff was just a representative of the bourgeoisie who was alienated through the process of the development of capitalism and the crazy pursuit of their own interests driven by economic interests. They damaged the interests of others by any manner of means and eventually won the political status. Through the bloody means, Heathcliff got what he wanted in economy, while destroyed what he loved thoroughly. He was a winner financially, but a miserable loser in love.

C. The Feudal Landlord Class Represented by Linton

Linton, as Heathcliff’s rival in love, represented the feudal landlord class. He had the surname and the estate of his ancestors, had a good upbringing, had the deportment welcomed by the upper class. As Heathcliff’s challenging competitor, Linton had a good educational

background.

However, just as the landlord class gradually lost its competitiveness in the Industrial Revolution, Linton always seemed pale and lack of energy. Facing the sudden intrusion from the previous love rival, he did nothing to protect his love and his family. When he learned that his sister was deceived by Heathcliff, Linton’s helplessness was more than anger. He recoiled again and again, and then pushed his daughter into fire. Finally, he died of sorrow and regrets, and his property was all fell into the hands of Heathcliff. Linton’s fail in the competition against Heathcliff, reflected the fail of the feudal landlord class in the Bourgeois Revolution. And the tragic love was also caused by the conflict between the bourgeoisie and the feudal landlord class in terms of the aspect of classes.

Because of Linton’s weakness as well as Heathcliff’s uncompromising determination, the crazy revenge in Wuthering Heights gained unprecedented power to carry on. So Heathcliff was regardless of other’s sufferings and feelings. He acted recklessly, cared for nobody, and finally hurt all the people whether he loved or hated. How mad he was. In course of the revenge, he just destroyed his love with Catherine totally. And Linton, who represented the landlord class with descending energy, opposed Heathcliff flabbily, which only accelerated the progress of the tragedy. Even we can say, he and Heathcliff pushed Catherine to the abyss together, though it was not his intention.

In conclusion, Heathcliff who represented the emerging bourgeoisie and Linton who represented the feudal landlord class struggled against each other, and in result that Linton suffered a disastrous defeat. Then this defeat made the revenge extending and boosted the progress of the tragedy.

the beginning of the tragic story. This was also a big turning point in the novel. Heathcliff with messy clothes, disheveled hair and dirty face was in total contrast to elegant and beautiful Catherine. During the period of recuperation in Thrushcross Grange, Catherine learned to pursue a decent position in life which had never appeared in Wuthering Heights. She also found that she was thorough unable to resist the comfortable and luxurious life in Thrushcross Grange. Catherine's values had undergone tremendous changes when she came back to Wuthering Heights. Her ambition began to expand. In the later days, she even tried to hide her wild side in the face of others. When she heard someone call Heathcliff a rascal, she deliberately reminded herself not to behavior like him. But when she came back home for a while, she once again denied to observe all the rules and regulations. She gradually cultivated a complex personality. In order to acquire the secular interests, Catherine finally decided to marry Edgar Linton. For wealth, for a bright future, she betrayed Heathcliff and their love with little hesitation.

Catherine knew that she was wrong, she knew it clearly. She was the girl who could lie to others but would never lie to herself. She just could not stop and control herself to listen to her heart, and follow her soul. She was aware of that the souls of her and Heathcliff could not be separated. The linked bridge of Heathcliff and Catherine was mysterious which would be hard to explain in words. In their own souls, they were most similar with each other. They were almost as alike as two peas. And Catherine even asserted,

My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff s miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning; my great thought in living is himself. 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. I should not seem a part of it. (64)

Catherine’s love for Heathcliff was intense, enthusiastic, and graven. And it was also obvious that she knew all about these thoroughly: she knew herself, knew her love, and knew her whole emotions and feelings. Catherine was never ready to abandon Heathcliff in her mind. And she was so naive that through the marriage with Edgar, she considered she could

help Heathcliff to raise his head, and get release from Hindley’s oppression. What a childish girl she was. However, once she chose to marry Edgar, her beloved Heathcliff was doomed to destruct. And she had never realized the fatal consequence in time. As we have already seen, her marriage was a deadly error in her whole life, and it was also a betrayal to her own humanity.

Three years later, when Heathcliff return to Wuthering Heights, “the gunpowder lay as harmless as sand” (72) was ignited. Catherine began to re-examine what she had done to Heathcliff and herself. She realized her nature had been cut off, and she had actually experienced a spiritual death. The loyalty she had betrayed once made her awake at this time. Catherine only left the memory in the past to Heathcliff when he came back. The memory for her first love as well as her innocent nature was the only loyalty she could share with Heathcliff. But her attention to Linton’s civilization and prosperity reflected her ambition of the big outside world. At first, this ambition always prevailed. So she married Edgar in result of her beloved’s leaving. Leaving from Heathcliff as well as Wuthering Heights, Catherine would surely lose herself. She was actually exiled outside her ideal paradise. Her nature had never been satisfied in the marriage with Linton. Thrushcross Grange, which represented the civilization, had never made her really feel happy, and only brought her the endless loneliness. But Heathcliff’s return brought her great happiness which made her like an angel. She even considered that she could persuade Edgar to accept Heathcliff. How childish. The love between her and Heathcliff could certainly not be tolerable to her lawful husband. Edgar insisted Catherine to make a choice between him and Heathcliff. Apparently, he and Heathcliff represented two different worlds to Catherine, which were impossible to replace with each other. How selfish. Catherine was always so greedy that she could not give up one of them.

Catherine and Heathcliff’s love began to conflict with secular rules. So later their fiery emotions can only expressed through giving pains as well as suffering pains from each other. What a tragedy. Every time they aimed to express their respective feelings of love, they seemed to tear self as well as the other. Their statements were just as primitive and savage as the wilderness around Wuthering Heights. The couple stressed that they could not be separated at all again and again, and vowed to torture each other until their death. And all

these clashes between them inevitably caused the tragic love. Finally Catherine's heart became a battlefield where the clashes happened. But she was too weak to change their destiny. It is impossible for her to choose another marriage again, which made her hopeless and helpless. Though she had regretted, it was too late. She was aware of that return to Wuthering Heights, which meat to go back at Heathcliff’s side, was a path leading to the death. But only could death enable her to escape from her grief completely.

All the time, Heathcliff was recognized as an evil, or Satan, but in fact, we can find Catherine was a lover of devil, who had the passion like fire. She always controlled Heathcliff’s and Linton’s emotions. Actually, whether she was living or dead, Catherine's influence on Heathcliff was equally important to him. Just as she had said to him once, “I shouldn't care what you suffered. I care nothing for your sufferings” (124). In the last part of the novel, Catherine’s ghost had always been stalking Heathcliff, actively influenced him. For him, the world without Catherine was a painful abyss. However he believed that the soul of Catherine was in the world, being always around him. It accompanied him all the time and it would never disappear until he died. But Heathcliff still grieved, because he could never see her once again. And finally, as what Catherine had ever wanted and said, Heathcliff felt too painful to live. He died, and went to find her in the other world. How could this happen? Maybe only woman like Catherine can give us an answer.

In short, a complex personality of angle as well as devil will give you the hope and also destroy it later. And in the thesis this is the last reason which caused the tragedy in Wuthering Heights.

Conclusion

Wuthering Heights was the only novel of Emily Bronte. When the novel was first published, it was not welcomed by critics. Negative comments on this novel covered the positive ones. But it still deeply attracted people with its plot of love as well as Heathcliff’s crazy revenge. And the tragic love as well as the conflicts it depicted was linked to the reality closely, which also made people contemplate for a long time after reading Wuthering Heights. So half a century later Wuthering Heights became very popular in readers and highly praised by critics. The time that they had spent on contemplating about the novel might even longer than that they had spent on reading it.

In Wuthering Heights, Emily described the love tragedy of the two protagonists, as well as Heathcliff’s crazy revenge. When he was very young, the protagonist Heathcliff was found and brought up by Mr. Earnshaw. Mr. Earnshaw was the old master of Wuthering Heights. And Heathcliff fell in love with Mr.Earnshaw’s daughter, Catherine. However Catherine wanted to marry Linton in Thrushcross Grange for a higher status and a better quality of life standard. It enraged Heathcliff. So he left Wuthering Heights for three years. When he came back later, Heathcliff became a representation of the emerging bourgeoisie who owned a large amount of wealth, and used cruel means to revenge and grab. In the process of revenge, Catherine and Linton both died. The love of our protagonists ended with a tragedy, and Heathcliff also succumbed with deeply grief.

The causes for the tragic story of the protagonists can be divided into three parts as follows: the root cause, the historical background and the complex characters of the two protagonists.

The root cause is the social reality which includes the low position of women and the secular concepts about wealth. The cruel society was really influencing people’s life as well as their love life for a long time. Even today the impact of it still exists in our society. And the love between Heathcliff and Catherine was a sacrifice of the secular values, the family status and the unfair position of women. Whether being a man or woman, that a person should be more independent and self-reliant is the enlightenment we should learn from this part.

The historical background in Wuthering Heights was the conflicts of the opposite social classes brought by the Industrial Revolution. It was the particular aspect of Wuthering Heights. The tragic love in the novel was happened in the background. The conflicts between Linton and the protagonist were also the conflicts between the landlord class and the bourgeoisie. And the conflicts enraged Heathcliff, which led to a more frenzied revenge and a more miserable love.

And the internal reasons, the complicated characters of Heathcliff and Catherine caused the love tragedy to a great extent. The evil side of human nature always destroys people’s life as well as their beloved ones. The tragedy in Wuthering Heights mainly manifested this point. By analyzing the personalities of them, we can learn much about love and humanity and it is still useful for our recent life. Only do human beings continue to abandon their deep-rooted bad habits, and get closer to the truth, goodness and beauty step by step, they will save themselves from the collapse and find hope in their life. Wuthering Heights directly revealed the essence of human nature through the description of the extreme opposite sides of love and hatred.

In terms of the causes for the love tragedy, someone considered it was the secular values that created the tragedy; someone thought that it was because the opposite classes clashed fiercely; and others believed the most important reasons were the complex personalities of the protagonists. Everything should happen with causes which always includes more than one or two aspects. The same was the love tragedy. It was happening with all of these kinds of reasons working together. Without any of these reasons, there would be another consequence showed to us.

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