'Violence breeds violence'. Wuthering Heights.

The Victorian Gothic novel 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte is set in the 17th Century Yorkshire moors. The Yorkshire moors is the birthplace of Emily and her two sisters and brother, and was influential in her works-especially Wuthering Heights which is set in the same setting, this may have been due to her love of the moors as they are wild and uncontrollable- which is further reflected in her characters which are too wild, passionate and violent, as ‘The Gothic . Emily Bronte's novel is very Gothic in terms of its transgression of social and moral boundaries which may have had a more shocking impact on the original Victorian readership than modern readers as elements of the plot- such as Cathy 1's violence to her own body, by starvation, in order to have a relationship simultaneously with the two men she loves- would have transgressed the hegemonic ideologies of relationships which their society was rigidly built upon. Violent behaviour runs through the novel and an interpretation for why the violence (and passion) of the characters are so extreme-for example Hindley threatening to kill Nelly with a gun in her mouth- is due to the lack of societal influence in the moors, merging both civil and primitive behaviour within the characters.

As previously mentioned the novel is set in the moors. The moors are displayed as a vast and un-tameable landscape which is inhabited by two houses: Wuthering Heights and Thurshcross Grange. Both houses are a doubling of each other (a key Gothic theme) as one may been seen to show the primitive side of humanity which transgresses boundaries due to the stimulation of extreme passionate and violent emotions (the Heights) whilst the other highlights the civilised culture of society which encourages human moral flourishing (the Grange). The houses have an effect on the characters and amplifies their emotions, for example in chapter 3 when Lockwood stays over night at the Heights (due to the 'stormy weather' in which the Heights is 'exposed' too as it represents a Gothic 'fallen world'-Ann B Tracy. Lockwood’s fear and terror are magnified in the Heights (the ‘central mood for the Gothic’-Punter), causing shocking actions which are unexpected of a character traited to be calm, proper and pacifist (as he is stereotyped as a gentleman, in which those trait would have been expected of an upper class Victorian male). Lockwood, after punching his hand through the glass window pane was ceased by 'cold little fingers' which awoke him stirring the feeling of an 'intense horror of a nightmare'. As 'terror made him cruel', he rubbed the child of Cathy 1's  ghost’s wrist over the broken glass of the window pane causing her 'blood' to soak the 'bedclothes' as he tried to be released from her grasp, as in the ‘Gothic we are constantly in the presence of ghosts’(Punter)An interpretation of this moment is that his violent reaction towards Cathy 1 is fuelled by the nature of the Heights, as the Heights can be seen to expose the dark, primitive side of humanity which bases action on heightened emotions –such as fear or passion- as opposed to reason and logic.

What’s more, violent behaviour within the Heights is treated as normality in everyday life of the household, as before Lockwood had his supernatural ghostly encounter he had a shock with the household dogs. The dogs are wild and savage as they are not domesticated dogs but (like the Heights) they serve for practical use such as hunting or guarding the house, and so when Lookwood went to show affection (by stroking it), the dog went to bite him which Heathcliff stopped by 'punching' the dog in the face with his foot. Thus violence is one way for people in the moors to establish power/dominance over others, causing it to become a cycle as it is learnt and breed to other characters. A key example of this is when Nelly returns to visit the Heights (to tell Heathcliff to leave Cathy 1 alone) and she meets Hareton after 10 months. His response to her is to pick up a 'flint' and throw it at her 'bonnet' and then followed his action by repeating a 'string of curses' he learnt from Heathcliff, highlighting that his aggressive nature was breed by Heathcliff’s own violent nature and his reason for inflicting degrading behaviour on Hareton is to get revenge for Hindley’s abusive treatment of Heathcliff showing that violence has been breed in a vicious cycle. Alternatively, it could be argued that violence was not breed into Hareton as he is intrinsically good and moral, this can be seen when he is the only person to morn Heathcliff after his death even after his inflicted degradation. This gives the plot hope, as the problems and issues caused by the first generation can now be fixed and restored by the second through the marriage engagement of Hareton and Cathy 2 in the ‘new-year’ with the house Wuthering Heights fully restored to the rightful Earnshore and the Grange being inhabited by a civilised man of high social standing.

In conclusion violence is breed by violence which is used as a continuous cycle for characters-mainly Cathy 1 and Heathcliff- to use to maintain or manipulate power. However the infliction of violence does not seem to apply to the second generation-Hareton and Cathy 2- who instead promote a relationship of education and civility.