A/N: Maybe I have major writer's block and am resorting to posting old as Essays? Oh, and if you haven't clicked... I've altered my penname. :)

The Relevance of Wuthering Heights to our Modern society. What the past teaches us about the future and about human nature and society.

Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte, although set in the late 18th/ early 19th century it holds much relevance to our modern everyday lives. The novel explores the nature of; power, money and love. How one uses love to attain money and power and how money and power is not a very good substitute for love.

Bronte uses her characters in a distinct way, Catherine Earnshaw, is in love with Heathcliff, the “vagabond” her father adopted into their family. This love they have is pure, we find that she does love him for his looks, “and that not because he his handsome, Nelly…” nor is it for his wealth -of which he has none-. Catherine’s love for Heathcliff is equal to Heathcliff’s love for Catherine.

It is as if they are soulmates, destined to be together as shone in this quote, “…he’s more myself then I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” Yet their love is tainted, for Heathcliff is no landowner nor does he come from a rich family. All he has is love. Even now, and especially during the 19th century, love is not enough to quench the thirst for a person on the road to self-actualization, and Heathcliff’s poor situation disrupts their love.

This is a classic tale of forbidden love, Catherine knows that she would never be able to marry Heathcliff, this is made clear during her passionate speech to her nursemaid Nelly, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now!” Money had been a key factor from the start but it is here that we see just how important money is, and where there is money there will always be power.

Edgar Linton is from a very wealthy and powerful family with significant social status in the neighborhood. He falls in-love with Catherine and Catherine, of course, becomes enamored by him. However, she does not feel the same affection for him as he does for her, “My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods; time will change it…” nor is it the same love she has for Heathcliff, “…but my love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath; a source of visible delight, but necessary.”

She does not love Linton, or is not ’in-love’ with him, but rather she loves Linton for his wealth and power. “…I shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighborhood, and I shall be proud of having such a husband.” The sort of love she has for Linton is perhaps tied to her infatuation with his wealth, for surely it means more to her then he does. “…and he shall be rich…”

In today’s modern society events and dilemmas such as those portrayed in Wuthering Heights do still occur; people marrying into wealth and power, not out of love. Love is not the reason. This novel depicts events that will always have relevance to our society, money will always have significance, and how we stand in the social circle will always matter.

This novel teaches us that the past often repeats itself, and that society will not evolve, for events that have taken place in the beginning will influence how events will unfold in the future. Bronte has portrayed the way our society has worked since the beginning of time. Young beautiful women marry men old enough to be their grandfathers, for what might I ask? To wait until he has conveniently died so she can reap the harvests of his vast money making accomplishments. So she can finally marry the pool boy whom she was secretly having an affair with.

To conclude, love is important, but we need to assure ourselves of our wealth and social status. There are modern day Catherine Earnshaws‘, Edgar Lintons’ and Heathcliffs’ everywhere. Our society is gripped by the powerful hand of greed, wealth and power has governed the way we, as people, live and even how we, as people, love. Bronte’s Wuthering Heights portrays this magnificently. For there have always been and will always be an insecure Catherine Earnshaw, a condescending Edgar Linton and a passionate Heathcliff in every single one of us.

Perhaps I'll post up something I did last year for English 121- one of the English classes I took in my first year of tertiary education. Whoop.