| - KisekiAh.
- Long time no update yet again.
- I have nothing to update with, except a paper I wrote for literature.
**notice the horrible metaphor our prof pointed out in class (sprinkled forshadowing) :P
- my attempts at taming the english language are at best oh so disheartening . But I made up for it with my last Genetics test .**
Read on and revel in its inferiority (the literature paper).
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The
Oak-Paneled Bed… and Death
The significance of parallel elements in Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is a Victorian era novel which presents the reader with
a unique form of demonic love or hate between certain characters. Even if a reader goes through this novel
without much thought to anything but the plotline, they will notice that Emily
Bronte generously sprinkled heavy foreshadowing into the story, along with
references to other parts within the novel.
With some analysis and effort, we realize all the parallels hidden
within this novel.
When reading this book we realize many recurring themes –
particularly that of oak-paneled bed and Catherine Earnshaw’s spiritual
presence on the moors. Our first
encounter with this imagery comes in the form of Mr. Lockwood’s dream during
his first night’s stay at Wuthering Heights. When we first encounter
this scene, we think of it as nothing else than a slightly horrific dream
induced by the strangeness of the household.
Later on, however, we find that there lies a more profound significance
to the use of parallels and symbolisms in the theme of Catherine Earnshaw’s
spiritual presence on the moors, and Mr. Lockwood’s subsequent nightmare.
Although Mr. Lockwood has no idea of
Catherine’s identity, reading her name and rummaging through her journal seems
to mysteriously implant a seed of horror into his mind. In his dream Lockwood was annoyed by the
scraping sound of a branch upon the window, but when he reached out towards the
branch, his “fingers closed on the fingers of a little, ice-cold hand!” The name of ‘Catherine Linton’ first came to his
mind, although he “had read Earnshaw twenty times for Linton”. This seems to imply, quite distinctly, that
there is a supernatural underpinning for all occurrences at the Heights. Lockwood’s dream is one of the most horrific
images presented by Bronte throughout this novel.
However it is necessary for the
reader to encounter the second reference to the oak-paneled bed, and
Catherine’s desire to be out running upon the moors, before one can realize any
real significance to Lockwood’s dream.
When we encounter the segment about Catherine’s illness, we assume that
she is being delusional and whatever she says is of little or no importance
whatsoever. There we are wrong. Ironically, it seems that her delusions allowed
her to see the world more clearly than ever and manifested her true emotions,
which were normally hidden behind a facade of confidence and wildness.
During her illness, Catherine tells
Nelly that after her argument with Edgar, she fainted and had a dream about her
childhood. She then reminisces upon her
childhood and says: “I wish I were out of doors! I wish I were a girl again, half savage and
hardy, and free… I’m sure I should be myself were I once among the heather on
those hills.” When reanalyzing this book
from the beginning, we realize that the ‘little white fingers’ which grab onto
Lockwood’s hand, in his dream at Wuthering Heights, may very possibly belong
the Catherine Earnshaw. The proof of
Catherine Linton’s desire to be young and upon the moors is found in the
aforementioned quote. The horror of the
supernatural comes into play when we realize that Lockwood, a man who for all
practical purposes had no knowledge of Catherine, has a dream in which a girl,
who is probably the same age as Catherine Linton wishes she were, tries to get
inside her own room at Wuthering Heights – just like Catherine Linton wishes
she could do.
To make matters a little more
interesting, we find yet another parallel between these two episodes – that of
a decline into death. As Lockwood brings
to our attention, there are three names scratched into the wood of the
oak-paneled bed at Wuthering Heights. These names can be said
to represent three different people, although in reality two out of the three
names belonged to Catherine during the course of her life. Considering these assumptions to be true, we
can argue that each of the three people had definite births and death, but
never coexisted as they had only one manifestation in the physical world. One of the names, Catherine Earnshaw, was
Catherine’s first ‘incarnation,’ if we may call it that. Catherine Earnshaw was characterized by the
wild girl who ran and played with Heathcliff upon the moors. In the context of this novel, her birth was
contemporaneous to Heathcliff’s acceptance into the family and her death came
around the time when she and Heathcliff went to spy upon the Linton’s. When the children were caught by Mr. and Mrs.
Linton, Catherine’s fate was sealed. The
wild and playful Catherine Earnshaw ceased to exist, but in her place Catherine
Linton was born. Although the flesh and
blood remained the same, Catherine Earnshaw and Catherine Linton were spiritually
unrelated. While the former was wild and
uncultured, the latter was refined by the social standards of the time – while
the former had a relationship of immense companionship with Heathcliff, the
latter could not subject herself to the degradation of loving anyone from
Heathcliff’s social status.
Catherine Linton spent the majority
of her life with Edgar Linton – in the absence of Heathcliff. The arrival of Heathcliff led to the slow
disintegration of her relationship with Linton.
Although they still loved each other, the argument which led to
Catherine’s illness foretold the coming death for both Catherine Linton and the
physical manifestation of Catherine. It
was during this illness that the symbolism of the moors and the oak-paneled bed
was invoked once again by Bronte.
Catherine Linton dies in spirit a little after she dreams of roaming like
a savage girl upon the moors. At this
point in the book the emphasis of the relation between Catherine and Heathcliff
is removed and in its place we learn the story of the second generation, which
has a plotline almost identical to the plot line of the first generation’s
story.
After her death, we are led to infer
that Catherine is born once again in a purely spiritual sense. In this spiritual life her bonds with Heathcliff
seem to form once again and this life is the best candidate for the one name
which never existed in flesh – Catherine Heathcliff. This supernatural relationship seems to be
given very little mention in the novel and that too only towards the end of
Heathcliff’s own life. The evidence of
such a relationship is given to us through his behavior just preceding his
death. He began to gaze “at something
within two yards distance. And whatever
it was, it communicated, apparently, both pleasure and pain… The fancied object
was not fixed, either; his eyes pursued it with unwary vigilance.” This coupled with the fact that “He muttered
detached words also; the… name of Catherine, coupled with some wild term of
endearment or suffering” implies very strongly that he felt a sort of spiritual
presence – strong enough that he began to interact with it.
He died soon afterwards; the role of
the oak-paneled bed and the window became important once again. We can only conjecture as to whether Catherine
Heathcliff ‘dies’ again, but it is very likely that Heathcliff’s own death
allowed his spirit to join Catherine’s upon the moors. Anyhow, the fact that Heathcliff died in the
oak-paneled bed seems to suggest that both finally found peace, which in a sense
can be symbolized by death.
The symbolisms in this novel are
very deep and very strong – which may be why it has become one of the most well
known novels written in history. These
symbolisms stretch from the association of the oak-paneled bed with death, to
the similarity of the plotline between the stories of both generations.
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