Wuthering Heights Literary Motifs, Essay Example

This paper examines the concept of illness within the Emile Bronte novel of Wuthering Heights. Bronte has somewhat of a morbid obsession with illness and death and this is demonstrated at length throughout the novel. In many regards this is what contributes to its’ gothic character.  Illness was rife at this period in English history and many people died early from such illnesses as Tuberculosis and Pneumonia.  Bronte herself experienced this as a child and this may account for her many emphases on this point.

It is probably appropriate to start off with the character of Catherine Earnshaw who was anorexic (similar to Bronte in real life) and we find numerous comparisons with the characters in Wuthering Heights to that of Bronte’s own character and life experiences.  Catherine becomes a victim of her illness and the plague of Society around her, as she violates these rules she becomes ill.  The weakness of her character is later contrasted to that of her daughter, Cathy, who by comparison brings strength and ultimately pshcological

This section will discuss Chapter 10 and Bronte’s use of metaphors as they apply to references of illness in the novel.  References made to the various types of illness in the novel.

The next section deals with the concept of Catherine’s illness in Chapter 12 and the different illnesses mentioned here i.e. delirium, death at childbirth, consumption or tuberculosis.  Contrasted to modern day views and treatments.

The next section examines the history behind the Bronte family in terms of illness and how this is reflected back into the novel and writing of Emily Bronte. The Bronte family had also been a long suffering family with various serious illnesses.  Emily’s two sisters had died at a young age from Typhoid and in 1848 Emily herself suffered from Tuberculosis.  She refused all medical assistance and two months later died of the disease.

Anorexia is dealt with as an illness through the character of Catherine and in Chapter 15 she is seen to be physically and mentally transformed by her illness, the concept of lying listless and withdrawn, marked for an early death.  Anorexia was a society disease in Victorian times as young girls felt it necessary to remain lithe and thin for social acceptance and as such it became an integral part of their self-esteem.  It was not until 1932 that this became formally recognized in medical circles as the disease Anorexia Nervosa.  It remains as a social problem to this very day

Bronte also illustrates the concept of Mental illness in the novel.  This particularly focused upon the state of Catherine “Catherine has a glaze to her eyes that will not allow her to focus on anything nearby. She looks lost as her mental illness is getting the best of her” (Bronte).  In conclusion we see many references to illness throughout the novel and these ranges from:

• Mental illness
• Consumption / Tuberculosis
• Influenza
• Anorexia
• Alcoholism / Gambling and addiction
• Fever and delirium

Works Cited

Bronte, Emile. Wuthering Heights. London: Whites Books, 2010.

McKinney, Bethy Ellen. Mental Illness in the Victorian Era. 10 11 2009. 4 9 2010 <http://www.suite101.com/content/mental-illness-in-the-victorian-era-a168105>.

Monet, Dolores. Emily Bronte – Did the Writer of Wuthering Heights Have Asperger’s Syndrome? 2010. 4 9 2010 <http://hubpages.com/hub/EmilyBronteDidtheWriterofWutheringHeightsHav-AspergersSyndrome>.

National Health Services. Statistics on Alcohol, England 2009. 20 5 2009. 4 9 2010 <http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/alcohol09>.

Samaritans. Alarmist headlines overstate impact of gambling on young people. 2010. 4 9 2010 <http://www.samaritans.org/media_centre/emotional_health_news/alarmist-headline-gambling-004.aspx>.

Torgersen, Beth. Maladies, Madness, Miracles, Monsters, and Medicine: Representations of the Body in Victorian Culture . 2010. 4 9 2010 <http://www.uiowa.edu/~mmla/abstracts2004/english2b.htm>.

Westwind. Anorexia Statistics. 2010. 4 9 2010 <http://www.mirror-mirror.org/anorexia-statistics.htm>.