Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights uses universal themes such as revenge and love, but mostly love. The way revenge is found in this novel is by Heathcliff’s need for it. Not until the end of his life, when he finally gives up on the revenge he seeks, does he truly become happy. During his life, he wanted revenge on Catherine because she married Edgar instead of him. He never wanted to hurt her badly; he just wanted her to be jealous of him by marrying Edgar’s sister, Isabella. But then, when Catherine dies, he realizes that making her jealous never would have helped anything. Eventually, after Heathcliff gives up on his revenge and finally is happy, he too dies. Together, Catherine and Heathcliff meet in death, and finally get to be together, forever.
The other universal theme used in the novel was love. Even though Catherine treated Heathcliff like a piece of trash when he first arrived, they grew to love each other as they aged. They became two lovers who could never be brought apart. The love they share is a dark love, for even though they love and care for one another, they are opposites, one dark and one light. Emily Bronte really understands human nature in that even when two people love each other as strong as Heathcliff and Catherine did, life is not a fantasy, and sometimes we just do not get what we want.
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