Motifs In Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

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Motifs: The weather reflects the mood during certain events in the novel. After Catherine's death and Cathy's birth, Heathcliff, positioned under a tree, is “soaked with the dew that had gathered on the budded branches” (120). The dew in this instance is more indicative of a sense of a new beginning following the young Cathy's birth than of the sadness surrounding Catherine's death. Usually death is accompanied by heavy rain and stormy weather while birth connotes a feeling of sunshine and warmth. While the dew does imply new life, the birth is a bittersweet one; Heathcliff is still shaken by Catherine's death. When Lockwood first arrives at Wuthering Heights, the weather is described as “pure, bracing ventilation” with “the power of the north…show more content…
When Catherine and Heathcliff are children at the beginning of Nelly's recount, they are inseparable and sneak out often. However, as Catherine finishes her stay with the Lintons, she comes into contact with those of the upper class and the wealthy lifestyle. She learns all of their mannerisms and values and enjoys their way of life. Hindley also demotes Heathcliff's status to that of a servant in his own house. Ultimately, even though Catherine knows that she loves Heathcliff, Catherine marries Edgar Linton because marrying Heathcliff would not be right in the eyes of society as she would be lowering herself to his position in society. Later, when Heathcliff returns, he takes advantage of his marriage with Isabella, Edgar Linton's sister, and his son's marriage with Edgar's daughter, Cathy, to secure Edgar's own home, Thrushcross Grange, for Heathcliff. This indicates that in that time, marriages consist of property transfer from the bride to the groom in terms of inheritance. Due to Isabella's marriage to Heathcliff, Thrushcross Grange will be Heathcliff's upon Edgar Linton's death because Edgar does not have male heirs. Heathcliff, to secure loopholes, makes Linton and Cathy marry ensuring that Thrushcross Grange is his. In society of that time, women could not own their own property
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