Wuthering Heights By Bronte Essays (1230 words) - British Films

Wuthering Heights By Bronte In Bronte's novel Wuthering Heights the idea compensation for love lost is discussed. Wuthering Heights is a quiet house in the country where the Earnshaw's and Heathcliff live. Heathcliff loves Catherine Earnshaw very much but, she decides to marry another man, Edgar. Heathcliff marries Edgar's sister just to make Catherine jealous. At the end Heathcliff abandons his plan for vengeance and professes his love for Catherine only to see her die soon after. In the novel Wuthering Heights Bronte shows that revenge is not the key to happiness through irony, through plot, and through characterization. Irony is used over and over in the novel Wuthering Heights to express the notion of revenge. The main ironic incident in this novel is that no one ends up with the person they want to be with despite the fact that they can be with the one they love. For example Catherine loves Heathcliff. Catherine and Heathcliff are soul mates, and she even remarks to Nelly that, ? I [Catherine] am Heathcliff!? (142). She is angry at Heathcliff for not leaving sooner to make something of himself. Catherine could have had Heathcliff, but she chooses not to and ends up miserable. Another example of irony is that Heathcliff and Isabella do not love each other. Heathcliff thinks that he is with Isabella to get back at Catherine. He sees Isabella as an unsuspecting ?young lady?(91). However, Isabella married Heathcliff for spite. She resents the fact that her Catherine married her brother and wanted to get back at Catherine. Neither Isabella nor Heathcliff find happiness in each others arms, and they both die miserable and unsatisfied with each other. The fact that Edgar wants to get back at Heathcliff after Catherine's death is very ironic. Edgar won. Catherine marries him and not Heathcliff. Edgar is always jealous of Heathcliff. Before Catherine's demise Edgar tells her that, ?It is impossible for you to be my friend and his at the same time? (99). When Catherine does not p. 3 respond to this Edgar goes on to tell her, ?I absolutely require you to choose? (100). When Catherine does die Edgar seeks revenge. He knows that Catherine died of a broken heart torn between Edgar and Heathcliff. Edgar in a ranting rage tells Nelly, ?I'll crush his ribs in like a rotten hazel nut?(158). He seeks vengeance on Heathcliff, but never gets it. A final example of irony is with Heathcliff and Hindly. A few years after Hindly condemns Heathcliff to a life of servitude Heathcliff runs off and makes a living. He comes back a wealthy and proper man. Heathcliff helps Hindly out of debt. However, Hindly owes so much money to Heathcliff that Heathcliff takes Wuthering Heights from Hindly. So, just when Hindly thinks that he got back at Heathcliff for ruining his life Heathcliff takes his revenge and lets Hindly died a poor, miserable old man. The plot in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights reflects the concept of revenge. Mr. Earnshaw meets a poor boy on one of his trips. Because Mr. Earnshaw is such a ?capital fellow?(9) he takes pity on the boy, Heathcliff, and invites him to live with the Earnshaw's. Mr. Earnshaw has an alterior motive for the boy. He wants his children, Hindly and Catherine, to understand what it is like to share their wealth with someone who is less fortunate than themselves. Mr. Earnshaw figured that the children would learn and grow from this experience. The truth is that the children did not. Hindly grows up miserable and resentful of Heathchiff. And Catherine eventually turned her nose up to Heathcliff only to find that she is cheerless without him. The novel takes a turn when Catherine has to decide whether or not to marry Edgar. She knows that she has ?no more business marrying Edgar Linton than I [Catherine] have to be in heaven? (64). Yet Catherine marries Edgar anyway for p. 4 wealth, but more importantly revenge. She wants to get back at Heathcliff for never making something of himself. But at the end Catherine is the one who suffers. Heathcliff desires Linton and Cathy to be wed. This plan is curtailed by Edgar. Cathy falls in love with Linton and tells Edgar. When Edgar finds out he says, ?No one from Wuthering Heights shall come here? (224). Edgar does this for revenge. He does not want Heathcliff or anyone to be happy. At the end he is Edgar is the one who is not happy even though he thought he got the

Othello Essays (953 words) - Othello, Iago, Michael Cassio, Roderigo

Othello Essays (953 words) - Othello, Iago, Michael Cassio, Roderigo Othello Othello - A Racist Play? Although there are lots of things to suggest this is a racist play I don't think that racism actually dominates the play, even though it has a racist theme. There is a romantic union between black and white which gets destroyed because most people think the relationship is wrong. At the time the play was written, 1604, even the Queen of England was racist so there must have been a strong hatred of blacks around that time. Most racist comments in the play are said by people that are angry or upset. For example, when Emilia found out that Othello had killed Desdemona she was extremely mad and she called Othello a Blacker devil, this was the only time in the play that she had said anything racist about Othello. The main characters that have racist attitudes are Iago, Brabantio, Roderigo and Emilia, with the hatred of Othello as the basis for their racist actions and comments towards him. Iago is the most racist character in the book as he has it in for Othello right from the start. What sparks off Iago's hate towards him is the fact that when Othello chose his lieutenant , it was Cassio who was chosen instead of Iago. What made Iago angry was the fact that Cassio had no experience in war when he did and Cassio was chosen instead of him. Iago does not say anything racist to Othello's face but he has a lot to say against him behind his back. He schemes to destroy Othello and anything in his way including Cassio and Desdemona. The first time we hear one of his racist comments is when he's talking to Brabantio about Othello and Desdemona, Even now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe. Iago says this to try and turn Brabantio against Othello. Iago uses racist comments all the way through the play, as he tries to turn people against Othello, for example calling him a Barbary Horse. He never says anything racist to Othello's face because in his plot he had to be his best friend, so as not to make him suspicious that Iago was causing all the trouble for him. Iago is jealous of Othello for many reasons, one being that Othello has higher ranking in the army than him, and also he has a good marriage with Desdemona which Iago does not have himself with Emilia. These are the main causes of his hatred for Othello and the reason he adopts such a racist attitude. Roderigo is another one of the racist characters in the play, being so right from the start. He is Iago's accomplice and will do anything that Iago wants him to. I think he does this because of the way Iago can twist a situation to make it sound as if Roderigo would get something good from it but in the end he doesn't. One of the racist names he calls Othello behind his back is Thick-lips . He hates Othello because he's jealous of him as he also loves Desdemona but cannot have her. I don't think he views Othello in a very bad, racist way but uses the racism against Othello because he's jealous of him. Neither Roderigo or Iago would say anything racist to Othello's face as he is the general of the army. Brabantio is also a racist character, and is enraged when he finds out that his daughter, Desdemona, has been seeing the moor behind his back. Brabantio is so mad he sends out his guards to catch Othello and put him in prison. Brabantio views Othello as a foul and dirty no good black, I think this racist view of his is because he's angry when he finds out that his daughter has been seeing this moor. Unlike Iago and Roderigo, Brabantio will openly make racist comments about Othello to his face such as, lascivious moor, Wheeling stranger. Brabantio can do this because he is the Senator of Venice and is higher in rank than Othello. The other character who is racist towards Othello is Emilia, the lady in waiting to Desdemona. Emilia is disgusted with Othello when she finds out that Othello had killed Desdemona this is the