Emily Bronte 's Wuthering Heights is a romance novel that cannot simply be labeled as a love story. About a tragic and unfulfilled love, the book does not conclude with the traditional happy ending for the main characters and the female lead dies halfway through the story. One of the important motifs in Wuthering Heights revolves around books. Throughout the novel, books are not only representatives of comfort and suffering, but also act as a method of reconciliation for a broken relationship.
For some characters in Wuthering Heights, books serve as a refuge from the hardships of reality and real emotions. After marrying Heathcliff, Isabella Linton discovers her husband’s true vengeful self and the growing hatred between him and Hindley Earnshaw. She constantly feels trapped in her marriage and the hostile environment at Wuthering Heights, but she finds respite by delving into books: “I dared hardly lift my eyes from the page before me, that melancholy scene so instantly usurped its place” (191). Through reading, Isabella is able to mentally escape the tension and hostility between Heathcliff and Hindley within the world of her books. Edgar Linton also finds ease in books, as seen when Catherine Earnshaw falls ill and all he can do is withdraw to his library and …show more content…
Although books does not reconcile the relationship between Catherine and Edgar, it does with the relationship between Cathy and Hareton. Books provided Cathy and Hareton the opportunity to change and better themselves. In their case, Hareton seized the opportunity to educate himself and be better for Cathy, something neither Edgar nor Heathcliff did for Catherine. Books are very intertwined with the perspectives, emotions, and relationships of the characters in Wuthering Heights. In short, books can be a constructive or destructive force in the
For some characters in Wuthering Heights, books serve as a refuge from the hardships of reality and real emotions. After marrying Heathcliff, Isabella Linton discovers her husband’s true vengeful self and the growing hatred between him and Hindley Earnshaw. She constantly feels trapped in her marriage and the hostile environment at Wuthering Heights, but she finds respite by delving into books: “I dared hardly lift my eyes from the page before me, that melancholy scene so instantly usurped its place” (191). Through reading, Isabella is able to mentally escape the tension and hostility between Heathcliff and Hindley within the world of her books. Edgar Linton also finds ease in books, as seen when Catherine Earnshaw falls ill and all he can do is withdraw to his library and …show more content…
Although books does not reconcile the relationship between Catherine and Edgar, it does with the relationship between Cathy and Hareton. Books provided Cathy and Hareton the opportunity to change and better themselves. In their case, Hareton seized the opportunity to educate himself and be better for Cathy, something neither Edgar nor Heathcliff did for Catherine. Books are very intertwined with the perspectives, emotions, and relationships of the characters in Wuthering Heights. In short, books can be a constructive or destructive force in the