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Heathcliff, determined to see Catherine, vows not to leave her to Edgar's 'duty and humanity'. His scorn at these words reflects the opposing temperaments of the inhabitants of the two houses, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. The former is an untamed world of deep passions and visceral emotions, while the cultivated Thrushcross Grange temperament is characteristically languid and conventional. Nelly is of neither a Wuthering Heights nor a Thrushcross Grange temperament. Her normality in comparison to the other characters provides us with the perspective of an ordinary person on the ensuing conflict between the two sensibilities. She is adamant in her refusal to Heathcliff upon his request to see Catherine.
Nelly believes that Catherine, torn between the two worlds, will 'never be like she was', as her 'character' has 'changed greatly'. Heathcliff is exemplary of the wild Wuthering Heights temperament, 'forcing himself to stay calm'. His comment that Edgar has 'nothing but a common humanity and a sense of duty to fall back upon's ugg ests that Linton's love for Catherine is vapid in comparison to his own. Such Thrushcross Grange values are scornfully rejected by Heathcliff, uttering them with a tone of contempt. In his opinion Catherine does not want these things. Heathcliff finds it incomprehensible that his love should be compared to Edgar's.
His determination to see Catherine is illustrated by his forceful comment, 'I WILL see her!' which is by no means a request, but a statement of strong intention, based on a strong mind. Nelly repeats her steadfast refusal to admit Heathcliff, and he retaliates, saying he would 'be justified in going to extremes'. This further brings out his violent Wuthering Heights temperament, as does his comment earlier in the nov, that he 'might have the privilege of flinging Joseph from the highest gable, and painting the house-front red with Hindley's blood!' Heathcliff continues in passage two, telling Nelly that he is so secure in his visceral relationship with Cathy, so sure in her love, that if he were his husband, he would let Edgar see her. Heathcliff believes he has more concern for Catherine than Edgar does, because he would be prepared to tolerate her having a friend. Of course, notes Heathcliff, if Cathy's regard for Edgar ceased, he 'would have torn his heart out and drunk his blood!' Such graphic images reflect the gothic element of the Wuthering Heights temperament, to complement the violence. Nelly's relative status of an ordinary Yorkshire person is again enforced by her opinion that this conflict between Heathcliff and Edgar, and thereby Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, is nothing short of a 'tumult of discord and distress'.
However, Heathcliff is unswayed in his belief that he is so much more important to Catherine than Edgar is, exclaiming that 'for every thought she spends on Linton, she spends a thousand on me!' He goes on to reflect on how wrong he was to have ever thought Catherine would have 'forgotten [him]'. Heathcliff predicts his own future if Catherine were to die, deciding that 'existence, after losing her, would be hell'. his two emphasized adjectives of his future life, 'death and hell', draw an effective contrast with his earlier description of the Thrushcross Grange values, 'duty and humanity'. We are then provided with an insight on Heathcliff's behalf of his regard for Edgar and the Grange sensibility, with an affirmation that Edgar's 'puny being... couldn't love as much in eighty years as I could in a day'. Heathcliff sets up a metaphor for his and Edgar's differing love for Catherine.
He continues to see Cathy's capacity to love as completely of a Wuthering Heights temperament, wild, deep and limitless as the 'sea'. In his opinion, Edgar is far too restricted to receive her love. He identifies Linton with a horse trough, without the capacity to accomodate the sea, or Catherine's love. Heathcliff cannot see how Catherine can 'love in him what he has not'.
To Heathcliff, there is no question as to where Catherine belongs. He regards Cathy as entirely of a Wuthering Heights personality, with 'a heart as deep as [he has]'. Indeed, later in the novel Heathcliff equates living without Catherine with living 'with [his] soul in the grave'. He tells her that 'in breaking [her heart, she] has broken [his]'. These comments show the extent to which Heathcliff and Catherine are of the same temperament, and truly belong to the world of Wuthering Heights.
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Research essay sample on Wuthering Heights And Thrushcross Grange Love For Catherine
