Heathcliff Quotes Flashcards
(11 cards)
You have killed yourself. Yes, you may kiss me, and cry, and wring out my kisses and tears; they’ll blight you - they’ll damn you.
Heathcliff blames Cathy for her own death
Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living! You said I killed you–haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers.
Heathcliff passionately pleads for Catherine not to leave him after she has died.
I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul! (176).
Idea of symbiotic union is now being shattered due to Cathy’s death. Heathcliff is now soulless and purposeless.
I could do it, and none could hinder me. But where is the use? I don’t care for striking, I can’t take the trouble to raise my hand. (336)
Heathcliff has given up on revenge, as no longer has the will for it. It is only because of this that he is able to see Catherine again.
“I wish I had light hair and a fair skin, and was dressed, and behaved as well, and had a chance of being as rich as he will be!” (56)
Heathcliff’s outlook on life as a young boy contrasts sharply with the hardened, stoic worldview he will adopt later in life. In a rare moment of emotional earnestness, Heathcliff admits that he envies Edgar Linton. Some of the reasons for this envy are not surprising–like many characters in Victorian novels, Heathcliff aspires to be improve his financial situation. However, his desire for ‘light hair and a fair skin’ suggests a veiled critique of English attitudes toward foreigners.
“He got on to the bed, and wrenched open the lattice bursting, as he pulled at it, into an uncontrollable passion of tears. ‘Come in! come in! he sobbed. ‘Cathy, do come. Oh do - once more! Oh! My heart’s darling! Hear me this time, Catherine, at last!’ (Bronte 25)
Mr. Heathcliff (narrated by Mr. Lockwood)
The reader learns that Heathcliff’s love, Catherine Linton, is dead. Heathcliff’s superstitious manner reflects the theme of ghosts and haunting. At this point, it is a question why does Heathcliff not sleep in the haunted room if he wants desperately to see Catherine. This question is solved towards the end of the story, when Heathcliff reveals that Catherine is haunting him, and therefore he cannot sleep in that room.
” ‘I seek no revenge on you,’ replied —- less vehemently. ‘That’s not the plan. The tyrant grinds down his slaves and they don’t turn against him; they crush those beneath them. You are welcome to
Heathcliff explains that revenge travels in a straight line, and does not turn back on itself. Catherine is torturing Heathcliff with their mutual love for each other, and Heathcliff will in turn torment the young Catherine and the young Linton. Catherine and Heathcliff’s love for each other never changes, but the people around them progress, pushing them both further into despair.
‘You suppose she has nearly forgotten me?’ he said. ‘Oh, Nelly! You know she has not! You know as well as I do, that for every thought she spends on Linton, she spends a thousand on me!
Reflecting the theme of haunting, Mr. Heathcliff is already haunted by what he knows will become of him if he loses Catherine. To Heathcliff, Catherine is his soul and they are essentially the same person. With his soul gone, life would be hell.
‘You teach me now how cruel you’ve been - cruel and false. Why did you despise me? Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy? I have not one word of comfort.
Heathcliff explains that Catherine only fancied Linton, but she betrayed her own heart by marrying him. With the theme of Heathcliff and Catherine’s unity, Catherine has broken her own heart by her own actions, which in turn has broken Heathcliff’s heart. This passage also reflects that Heathcliff and Catherine are constrained by social customs of the day. Marriage could only be broken by death, and because Heathcliff is strong, he will have to suffer longer before he can join Catherine in the grave.
” ‘ May she wake in torment!’ he cried, with frightful vehemence, stamping his foot, and groaning in a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion.
Heathcliff’s soul is Catherine. This reflects the recurring theme of ghosts and haunting, which will torment Heathcliff for the rest of his life. Twenty years later, Mr. Lockwood will come across Catherine’s ghost, which has driven Heathcliff more into madness.
