[打卡]阅读打卡第36天 (Dec 30, 2021) - Wuthering Heights

Progress: 112

Reflections:

Finding myself sighing ++, as I prowled through the pages. What a bloody dramatic twist of plots (in Chinese terms, 狗血啊狗血!).

It is utterly difficult to determine whether the main characters are heroes or villains.

Heathcliff, after enduring 3 years of hardship in the army, returned to Thrushcross Grange a handsome grown man, seeking out his love of life, Catherine. By now, all the positive qualities that the old Earnshaw had bestowed upon him be gone, years of bitterness and mistreatment had crystallized in him an animalistic ferocity, calculatedly subdued, lurking underneath, waiting for a chance to spring.  Upon learning Miss Linton’s adoration towards him, Heathcliff seized the opportunity. He apparently did not love Miss Linton, but would marry her for her “fortune and expectations”. As Catherine well observed, “avarice is growing with him a besetting sin”. Yet, due to her attachment and fondness to the boy that she had grown up with, Catherine cannot relinquish her “friendship” to Heathcliff. Finally, when pushed by her husband, Mr Linton, to make a choice between him and Heathcliff, the height of her internal tumult almost tore her apart from the inside. Her old fever was rekindled, deteriorating her sanity to delirium and madness. All the while, Heathcliff ran off with Miss Linton in the night.

I had no doubt that Heathcliff and Catherine were madly in love. Neither of them could endure separation from each other. However, as Catherine was already married to Mr Linton, it would be against our convention and morality to allow such relationships to exist. I pity for Mr Linton, who loves his wife with all his life, yet his emotions would hardly be returned.

The lesson to be learned hitherto is: Do not marry the man or woman who doesn’t love you, even if you are madly in love with that man or woman. A love that doesn’t flow both ways will eventually fail, no matter how much you work or wish for it. As a lady, it is better to marry a guy that loves you than you love.

To be continued…