Time passes, and Mr. Earnshaw grows frail and weak. Disgusted by the conflict between Heathcliff and Hindley, he sends Hindley away to college. Earnshaw as he nears the end of his life, and the old servant exerts more and more sway over his master. Soon, however, Mr. Earnshaw dies, and it is now Catherine and Heathcliff who turn to religion for comfort. They discuss the idea of heaven while awaiting the return of Hindley, who will now be master of Wuthering Heights.
One of the most important aspects of the novel is its second- and third-hand manner of narration. Nothing is ever related simply from the perspective of a single participant. Because of the distance that this imposes between the reader and the story itself, it is extremely important to remember that nothing in the book is written from the perspective of an unbiased narrator, and it is often necessary to read between the lines in order to understand events. A vain and somewhat shallow man, he frequently makes amusing mistakes—he assumes, for instance, that Heathcliff is a gentleman with a house full of servants, even though it is apparent to the reader that Heathcliff is a rough and cruel man with a house full of dogs.
Nelly Dean is more knowledgeable about events, as she has participated in many of them first hand, yet while this makes her more trustworthy in some ways, it also makes her more biased in others. Later in the novel, she describes how she took the young Linton to live with his cruel father after the death of his mother. She lies to the boy on the journey, telling him that his father is a kind man, and, after his horrible meeting with Heathcliff, she tries to sneak out when he is not paying attention.
He notices her and begs her not to leave him with Heathcliff. The family relationships, including multiple Earnshaws, Catherines, Lintons, and Heathcliffs, seem at this point in the novel to intertwine with baffling complexity, and the characters, because Lockwood first encounters them late in their story, seem full of mysterious passions and ancient, hidden resentments.
Even the setting of this history seems to possess its own secrets. Indeed, the mysteries of the land cannot be separated from the mysteries of the characters, and the physical landscape of the novel is often used to reflect the mental and emotional landscapes of those who live there.
Because Lockwood has proven himself flighty and emotional, and he is still half asleep when he encounters the ghost, one could infer that he never actually sees a ghost, but simply has an intense vision in the midst of his dream. Clearly he concurs with Lockwood in believing that she haunts Wuthering Heights. Ace your assignments with our guide to Wuthering Heights!
It is this encounter which provides the basis for the rest of the story. How does Hindley punish Heathcliff when he returns? He kicks him out of the house. He treats him like a worker. He physically beats him.
Unable to return home, Catherine was taken inside Thrushcross Grange by a servant. Dean had worked as a servant at both Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights, the two manors featured in the story. Who plans to live at Thrushcross Grange at the end of the novel, Wuthering Heights? Lockwood and Heathcliff. Nelly Dean is not a reliable narrator. However, she does tip us off as to her bias against Catherine Earnshaw.
Nelly is a servant for the Earnshaws and later, after Catherine marries, for the Lintons. She is older than Catherine and Heathcliff and has witnessed almost all of their story. Heathcliff and Catherine enter into a dramatic, highly charged conversation during which Catherine claims that both Heathcliff and Edgar have broken her heart. She says that she cannot bear dying while Heathcliff remains alive, and that she never wants to be apart from him.
She objects, pointing to the lateness of the hour, and Lockwood tells her he doesn't go to bed early, seemingly unaware or simply not caring that Nelly might have to because as a paid housekeeper, she may have to rise early to fulfill her duties. When he mentions he stays up late and sleeps in until AM, she says that a person should have half their work done by that time in the morning confirming that she has to rise early to fulfill her duties. Nelly tries to jump forward in her recounting, no doubt so that she can hurry it along but Lockwood will have none of it and tells her to continue minutely.
And he flatters her, likely with the aim of softening her up. After adding more to the story, Nelly looks at the time-piece over the chimney and is amazed at the lateness of the hour. It is now half-past one. She won't hear of staying one second longer. Lockwood falls ill, and likely is after getting lost and sinking up to his neck in snow when he returned to the Grange from the Heights and not having the good sense to go to bed and rest but rather sitting up to the wee hours with Nelly.
He is sick for four weeks and is distressed by the intimation of the surgeon, Kenneth, that he need not expect to be out of doors till spring, which should have suited someone who claimed to be seeking solitude; and he bemoans the impassable roads and being confined to the Grange, but as always, his perception of his state of affairs isn't based in reality.
If the roads were truly impassable, Kenneth wouldn't have been able to get through to nurse Lockwood, neither would Heathcliff, who unexpectedly pays a visit. In two acts of kindness, Heathcliff sends a brace of grouse and then a week later, stops in to see Lockwood and actually sits at his bedside and visits with him. No doubt he has heard his tenant has fallen ill.
Instead of feeling appreciative for the kindness and for Heathcliff's voluntarily initiating attention to Lockwood at last, Lockwood promptly mentally calls Heathcliff a scoundrel and feels he's partly to blame for Lockwood's illness.
This is truly amazing, since it was Lockwood's decision to go over to the Heights in winter and with a snowstorm threatening and it was Lockwood himself who got lost and sunk up to his neck in the snow, in spite of Heathcliff walking him home most of the way. After Heathcliff leaves, Lockwood, while claiming he is too weak to read, is somehow strong enough to want Mrs.
She tries to hedge, saying he should take his medicine but Lockwood waves this off and insists she take up her tale. When Nelly later goes down to admit Kenneth, Lockwood's thoughts turn to himself and he conceitedly reflects that he's seen fascination in Cathy's eyes a young woman over at the Heights and he tells himself to beware of losing his heart to her because she might turn out like her mother, Catherine. He has such an inflated ego, he invents interest, where there is none.
While denying his interest in the young woman over at the Heights, Lockwood has Nelly hang a picture of her where he can see it. Lockwood denies this but readers learn that he had Nelly hang a painting of Cathy over his fireplace. As per usual, he is fascinated by anyone who rejects him and doesn't give him the attention he feels he deserves--but he isn't seriously interested and when Nelly suggests the two might get together, Lockwood furnishes excuses as to why this can't happen, instead of thinking of ways it could.
Lockwood rides over to tell Heathcliff he is leaving, which is a good excuse to see if he can incite Cathy's interest. Nelly concludes her history of the happenings at both households. And Lockwood, having extracted what he could from those around him, now makes plans to depart, even though he rented the Grange in October and it is now only the second week in January. He plans to ride over to Wuthering Heights and inform Heathcliff he is leaving.
This is entirely consistent for a man who is thoughtless, rash, impulsive, and seems to only look at people for what they can do for him. Remember, Heathcliff actually made an effort to be friendly and just as Lockwood did with the girl at the sea-coast whose interest he finally elicited, he has now seemingly lost interest.
Since, by now, we know he isn't honest about his motives, readers may wonder if his removing himself up north had more to do with embarrassment over others' perception of his treatment of the young lady rather than a real desire to spend time in solitude, which the winter months at the Grange would have afforded him.
After priding himself that Cathy is interested in him, he notices when he arrives again at the Heights that she continues to pay him little heed. Dean would persuade me to believe. When Cathy mentions she has no books, instead of feeling sorry for her plight or offering to send some to her, he turns the conversation to himself: "How do you contrive to live here without them?
In a surprising show of "concern," he then takes Hereton's side against her, no doubt secretly annoyed that she won't give him the admiration he desires from her. This is the same Hereton that Lockwood thought of as a clown, a boor, and a bear, but suddenly, he acts like he actually cares what happens to him.
When Cathy later does as instructed by Heathcliff, Lockwood tellingly relates: living among clowns and misanthropists, she probably cannot appreciate a better class of people when she meets them. So once again, he convinces himself that her lack of interest in him, i.
As he rides away, it still rankles and he tells himself that it would have been a realization of something more romantic than a fairytale for Cathy, if the two of them had struck up an attachment. Lockwood leaves in a thoughtless and cowardly fashion. Eight months later, Lockwood travels up north to see a friend, and he has a sudden impulse to see the Grange again. He figures since he still has it rented until October he may as well spend the night there, rather than paying for an inn.
He arrives out of the blue and announces he is the master and wishes to stay over. The new housekeeper is surprised and remarks that no one knew he was coming and he should have sent word.
She is flurried and now has to hurriedly try to accommodate him. When he reaches the Heights, he hears and sees Hareton and Cathy flirting as Cathy teaches Hereton to read and he feels envious and skulks and avoids them, telling himself that Hereton would condemn him to hell, and he hides out in the kitchen. Nelly is now housekeeper at the Heights and when she sees him, she expresses similar sentiments as the Grange housekeeper did: "How could you think of returning in this way?
You should have given us notice! Her explanation about Heathcliff's introduction into the Earnshaw household provides sympathy for both Heathcliff and Hindley. From Hindley's perspective, Heathcliff has usurped the love of both his father and his sister. Heathcliff is an orphan who is ready to accept the members of a family that is not fully ready to accept him. The childhood of both Catherine and Heathcliff provides the development of their characters and foreshadows their futures.
When crossed, Catherine, the warm and loving daughter, can be defiant, headstrong, and cruel. Heathcliff can be brooding, sullen, and capable of vindictiveness. Their relationship begins to explore one of the primary themes of Wuthering Heights , namely that love can be capricious and its consequences, devastating.
0コメント