A Different Look to Wuthering Heights
Untamed, savage and dark love story. It was harshly criticized when it was published for the first time. I'm talking about the Wuthering Heights of course. For the late 19th century it was a mirror for the dark side of humanity and human psychology. This psychological depth of the story can be examined through Freud's Psychology Triangle. If you are not familiar with the context, keep reading dear reader, I'm starting to explain.
Freud, rather than his weird and controversial psychological ideas, divides human mind into three parts. First one is “Id”. Primitive, instinctive and desire based part of the mind. Such as thirst, hunger and sex. It operates on the pleasure principles.
Second base of the mind is “Ego”. It is the rational part of the human mind. It provides balance between superego and Id. It finds realistic ways to satisfy the Id in under the superego's expectations and borders.
The last but not the least base of the mind is “Superego”. It is the moral conscience, the rational filter of the human mind. It shapes through societal norms, values, and expectations. It seeks for perfection, judges actions as right or wrong.
Let's start the “real deal” part of this writing. Heathcliff, Catherine and Edgar Linton are the central chracters of the Wuthering Heights. And their chaotic, complex relationships perfectly fits the psychological tension between primal desires, rational thoughts and moral values. So I'm gonna try to explain this love triangle's psychology through another triangle, Freudian Psychological Bases.
Starting with the first one, Id. Of course Heathcliff is the embodiment of it. His actions are motivated by his emotions like desire, aggression, passion, hate and jealousy. Such as his thirst of revenge against Hindley and Edgar, showing no regard for the pain he causes to others, including his own son. Also his deep love for Catherine is obsessive and possessive not regards rational thoughts or moral values.
Best obvious example for Heathcliff being an Id is the most known quote of the novel, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same…” shows us Heathcliff's love for Catherine is an uncontrollable force, beyond reason or morality. It is just there and it has been there naturally from the beginning.
Second base is, the “Ego”. Like we said earlier, Ego is a balance spot in mind. It satisfy Id's desires in socially acceptable ways. And in this love triangle, Catherine is the ego who is torn between the superego (Edgar) and the Id (Heathcliff). Even though she is passionately in love with Heathcliff, she chooses to marry Edgar because of the social status and security. She constantly fight with her idself (Id emotions) and rational thoughts as we witness. Her struggles to balance her emotions and social ambitions led to an inner conflict and eventually caused her tragedy.
But she wasn't a balance spot always. In the very beginning of the story we see that young Catherine is more likely to represent the Id. She is relentless, untamed and have some primitive actions. Even her feelings for Heathcliff shows us how she acknowledges that her soul is inter-wined with Heathcliff's (Id), “I'm Heathcliff…” line also shows us this, yet she chooses Edgar and she tries to keep her marriage on going due to societal norms and expectations.
We can conclude that Catherine starts as represantative of Id but then her seek for superego comes out and it turns Catherine into a balance spot, an ego. Tries to satisfy her Id desires in societally acceptable ways.
In the last base of the mind we see the “Superego”, Edgar Linton. He is polite, educated and morally upright, represents the civilized world. He values honor, social status and propriety. He sharply contrast with Heathcliff's wild and untamed nature. Also Edgar's love for Catherine is most like a compassion and duty rather than passion like Heathcliff's emotions.
Another hint that shows us Edgar is the superego is when he stays calm even Heathcliff provokes him too much. He doesn't react with wilderness. He stays calm and does not do anything that cannot be acceptable from society. He shows reliance on self-control and moral superiority.
The long story short dear reader, our chracters perfectly fit and ccan be explained by Freudian system. Heathcliff is Id. Pure, untamed, passionate and full of vengeance. While Catherine is the ego who is torn between her Id desires and superego expects societal conformity. On the other hand Edgar is the voice of morality, societal norms and restraint.
Like their chracteristics, also their tragic end reflect the pschological imbalance. Catherine's ego eventually fails to keep the balance between the demands of the Id and the superego, and leading to her emotional then physical breakdown. She became the victim of her own ego.
And that's it dear reader. It was a hypothesis that I realized in one of my literature classes and was eager to share with you since. I hope you enjoyed it.
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