PosterĄG Valerie Chen at 12:19:30 5/7/98 from c550-14.svdcc.fju.edu.tw
MentionedĄG
| In this second part of the novel, the loving
relation between Hareton, Cathy and Linton was a repetition of the first generation: Heathcliff, Catherine and Edgar, but with some changes in the roles. Linton, whose father used to be the inferior one, took the place of Edgar and became superior while Hareton, the heir of the Earnshaws, took the place of Heathcliff as the low one. Linton, being the son of Heathcliff, had a completely different appearance and character from his father. Just like his name, he was more a Linton than a Heathcliff. His constant sickness made him looked always pale and lifeless. He hardly went to the outside for he said that it was too tiresome and made him ill. He closed himself most of the time inside the house reading or resting near the fireplace. One big contrast that made Linton different from the people who lived in Wuthering Heights was that he could read and write. It was quite contradictory that Heathcliff, who scorned so much reading and writing, would let his own son do so. Because by good education, Heathcliff wanted Linton to be what he himself had never been --- superior to the Eanrshaws and Lintons. However, the more Linton grew alike Edgar the more Heathcliff hated and looked down on him. Linton was just the opposite of his father. He was incredibly weak. He hated the outside world and was always complaining and crying for everything. More than his own son, Heathcliff liked better his enemie's son Hareton. Although Heathcliff hated Hindley so much that he was determined to make the latter's son miserable, there was a kind of sympathy between Heathcliff and Hareton. And this sympathy seemed to be already predicted when the former saved little Hareton from Hindley's madness. They both shared one same experience and Heathcliff was the best one to understand the suffering and pain that Hareton was going through. Besides, Hareton was very much alike Heathcliff. He too had a strong personality and rude attitude. He was quiet and did not complain or tell his real feelings. I think maybe this character of his was due to another remarkable similarity between the two men which was a very important theme in the novel: the pride. No matter how low and miserable Hareton was made, his pride had never been decreased. Cathy was the combination of her mother's wildness and her father's gentleness. On one hand ,she was very alike Catherine: very energetic, brave and loved the outside nature. But on the other hand, Cathy who had grew in a protected and comfortable environment, did not have her mother's strong and tough personality. She was milder and less rebellious. Besides, her crying easily showed that she had taken after Edgar's weakness. In addition to this, Cathy was very fond of books, which was a typical characteristic of the Lintons. She read a lot, gave books to Linton and even kept her readings after moving to the Heights,no matter how Heathcliff detested them. The relation between Cathy and Linton was more like brothers than like lovers. Cathy felt pity for her cousin's bad health and lack of love. As well as Catherine, Cathy too got married for the sake of the person she most loved: Catherine for Heathcliff and Cathy for her father. Therefore, marriage in this novel seemed to be a deal instead of a union of love. And both resulted to have bad endings. |