Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Nature vs. Nurture

 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Nature vs. Nurture

 

This novel is included among the Top 100 best novels as compiled by a group of esteemed scholars and available on The Guardian site, among others.

I wonder if this could be classified as gothic or perhaps even horror.

Heathcliff, the moors and the ghost are enough to create an eerie atmosphere which has other elements that make you shiver; the vicious dogs come to mind.

Speaking of the dogs, they reflect their masters’ perspective, even if I do not go as far as to say that masters resemble their pets, which is the belief of many.

If an owner trains his animal to bite and attack for no reason that is not the dog’s “character” which causes trouble, but his owner’s mindset.

I have five borzois and I have had dogs for the past 25 years, I may know what I am talking about.

Heathcliff was picked up from the street, where he was starving, abandoned and alone- and then he entered a family that offered him a new life.

Nature and Nurture seem to be responsible for what happens next. There used to be a polemic, with one side saying that Nature is decisive, while the other group maintaining that it is Nurture that would shape a human being.

Heathcliff had some genes that made him cruel and vicious, in my view.

But to that, Nature and the social surroundings have added their influence and the outcome is a terrible drama.

The hero has many abilities, apart from a terrible dark side. He is determined, strong and brave. Lacking an education together with his humble origins made him unsuitable for the woman he adores – Catherine Earnshaw.

His love for Catherine is another extraordinary trait. Heathcliff will stop at nothing for his love and the woman he worships.

In fact, he offers the very definition of love, as a feeling that goes beyond anything and never ends. Even when Catherine is dead, her lover does not cease, he continues to adore and see her as a…ghost.

The other side of Heathcliff looks like Mr. Hyde. If he is gentle, caring and kind where Catherine is concerned, the hero becomes an even crueler man than Othello for those who make him jealous or even have a small relation with Edgar Linton- his mortal enemy.

He marries Isabella Linton only as part of a plan to take revenge. He does not care, indeed at times even hates his own son, the result of a tragic union whose only goal is payback.

From a psychological perspective, we could have an argument based on Freud and with emphasis on childhood and Oedipus complex. Reading psychology for the past year, I tend to refute Freud, even if the troubles of Heathcliff can surely be traced to that unhappy, frustrating childhood and adolescence.

He needs to show that he is a better man and educates himself, alas, not with a positive mindset, but only in order to put his enemy down.

Heathcliff has only one purpose in life- to be with Catherine. When this is no longer possible and she marries Edgar Linton, the latter becomes the focus of all his hatred.

Revenge comes in the form of torturing Isabella, then their son and whoever comes along is treated with a vile attitude.

Heathcliff makes me think of genetics and the latest discoveries. Having established that the childhood, then an unhappy love made their mark, I am still convinced that the genes played a role.

Every week or so, we hear about various new genes that can explain different conditions, diseases and abilities. In other words, my strong belief is that Nature and Nurture have very important roles and determine the behavior and the life of people.

Eugenics is a compromised domain, but even recently I have read about a gene that, in certain circumstances makes those who have it more inclined to be aggressive and violent.

Reading and understanding more about our genetic code, will have a huge impact in the future, when we will know if we have a tendency to become Heathcliffs, Louie Ramires and what can we do about it…register for AA early, even before the first glass of wine?