Let us remember the strong role that family and bloodlines
play in this novel. A key aspect of Gothic literature is the way in which family curses
or evils are passed down through the generations, and cycles of violence and abuse are
repeated. We see this in the way that Heathcliff, having been abused by Hindley, himself
abuses Hindley's son, Hareton. However, in the form of Hareton and of Cathy, we have
representatives of both the Earnshaw and of the Linton families, and thus their union
represents a kind of healing of the relationship between these two houses. The fact that
the new married couple are going to leave Wuthering Heights to "such ghosts as choose to
inhabit it" and will move in to Thrushcross Grange also is highly significant, as
throughout the novel, these two opposing houses symbolise, respectively, the dark,
passionate nature of the human soul and respectable civilisation. Thus the fact that the
married couple will move to Thrushcross Grange points towards a more settled, civilised
existence than the kind of lives that they experienced on the exposed moor in Wuthering
Heights. The marriage thus symbolises a happy ending, and that things have gone round
full circle. Lockwood himself makes a very revealing comment about the
couple:
"They
are afraid of nothing," I grumbled, watching their approach through the window.
"Together, they would brave Satan and all his
legions."
In their youth,
vitality and love, the couple are shown to be more than a match for any lingering
phantoms that may still walk around the moors.
No comments:
Post a Comment