Social Status and Power (WH Quotes) Flashcards
(11 cards)
‘It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him’ - Cathy
Her admission is the most explicit expression of how class barriers suppress genuine love
‘Degrade’ suggests love is subordinate to social aspiration
Bronte critiques Victorian social structures, exposing how they distort personal happiness and force tragic compromises
‘Heathcliff, you may come forward’ - Mr Earnshaw
Signifies H’s forced entry into the Earnshaw’s household - not as a son but as an outsider
His ambiguous status, neither servant not equal, lays the foundation for class-driven conflict that undermines his and Cathy’s relationship
‘We don’t in general take to foreigners here, Mr Lockwood, unless they take to us first’ - Nelly
Her casual xenophobia reflects wider social attitudes that marginalise the ‘other’
H’s foreign appearance and unclear origin isolate him socially, reinforcing how racial and class-based prejudice become instruments of exclusion from love and belonging
‘He’s a dark-skinned gypsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman’ - Lockwood
H’s paradoxical identity - externally rough but socially ascended - highlights the tension between the surface appearance and internal ambition
Though he acquires wealth and land, his origins remain a social stain, showing how power alone can’t fully erase entrenched class biases in love or respectability
‘You love Mr Edgar because he is handsome, and young, and cheerful, and rich, and loves you’ - Nelly
She lays bare the transactional nature of many Victorian marriages
Edgar represents social safety and upward mobility - qualities Cathy prioritises despite her spiritual bond with H
Bronte critiques the way love is commodified through class
‘He shall never have my soul. He shall not rule over me’ - Isabella
Her assertion reveals the oppressive nature of patriarchal and class-bound marriages
Her defiance against H, who marries her for revenge and status, illustrates how love is manipulated for dominance rather than mutual affection
‘I cannot express it; but surely you and everybody have a notion that there is, or should be, an existence of yours beyond you’ - Cathy
Her yearning for a deeper identity conflicts her choice to marry Edgar
Bronte explores the dissonance between emotional authenticity and socially sanctioned roles, suggesting that class expectations distort true identity and love
‘Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same… and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning’ - Cathy
She contrasts H’s raw, untamed essence with Edgar’s refined gentility
The elemental imagery exposes the unnaturalness of her socially advantageous marriage and reaffirms the spiritual but class-forbidden connection with H
‘He has nobody to love him, as you would say, and how can he be expected to show love?’ - Nelly
Reflects how societal exclusion stunts H’s emotional development
His lack of love is not innate but a product of systemic rejection, illustrating Bronte’s argument that love requires nurture - something denied to the socially marginalised
‘He shall have his share of my land, if I can get it from Edgar’ - Heathcliff (about his son and Thrushcross Grange)
He weaponises inheritance and land - the primary markers of class and status - to control others
By seeking to secure property for his son, he enacts the same class-driven ambitions that once excluded him, showing how power perpetuates cycles of exploitation
‘Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living! You said I killed you - haunt me, then!’ - Heathcliff
This passionate outburst blends love and domination
His obsession with Catherine transcends death, but also reveals a desire to possess her fully - a reflection of the patriarchal and class-based ideals of control that haunt the novel’s romantic entanglements
