Abstract

Wuthering Heights, published in 1847, is a masterpiece of Emily Bronte. This is a romantic tragic story of the Victorian age. The hero, Heathcliff, is brought up by old Earnshaw, the former owner of Wuthering Heights, but he can not get on well with his other family members. Then, he runs away for his future. Several years later, he earns enough money and comes back for revenge. So my paper describes the relationships between Heathcliff and Catherine, Earnshaw, Hindley, Isabella, Cathy, Edgar, Catherine’s daughter little Cathy and his own son Linton Heathcliff, etc. In this way, it explores the changes of human nature in Heathcliff and its terrible impact, and also tries to pursue the social meaning of that tragedy and writer’s concern about human nature.

Key words: Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights, love, revenge, human nature

摘    要

《呼啸山庄》是英国女作家艾米莉•勃朗特1847年的作品。小说描写了维多利亚时期的一个浪漫主义悲剧故事。主人公希斯克利，遭遗弃后被呼啸山庄老主人恩肖收养后，因受辱和恋爱不成，外出致富，回来后对与前其女友凯瑟琳结婚的画眉山庄地主林顿及其子女进行报复的故事。本文通过分析和探求小说中希斯克利夫与凯瑟琳、埃德加以及他们的下一代之间的关系，希斯克利夫从小作为弃儿忍受的辛酸以及下一代人凯瑟琳•林顿与林顿•希斯克利夫的结局，探求引起悲剧的社会原因以及作家对人性的关注。

关键词：艾米莉•勃朗特； 《呼啸山庄》； 爱； 复仇； 人性

1.    Introduction
Emily Brontë (1818 - 1848) is the second eldest of the three surviving Brontë sisters, between Charlotte and Anne (from Wikipedia). Wuthering Heights(1847) is her only masterpiece, but it was not well accepted by the public just when it was published. Naturally, comments from the critics have never been stopped. Even her sister Charlotte Brontë (author of Jane Eyre) complained about the young sister’s gallery of lost and depraved souls and her inability to put her gifts to better use. However, with time going by, people have gradually started to accept Wuthering Heights and also Emily Brontë. People start to learn about the unaccepted writer Emily Brontë. The early reading of Emily Brontë comes from their father’s library, which held works of history, biography and poetry. She must have absorbed a lot in library.  When they find that Emily Brontë’s peculiar life and extensive reading inspire her desire for knowledge and her love for English literature, which establish the basis for the novel Wuthering Heights. Even people begin to read this novel and study it after generation by generation. They gradually find Emily Brontë shaped Heathcliff to demonstrate an abnormal society which called Victorian age later. And Heathcliff can present the people who have suffered a lot in that society.