Emily Bronte was an accomplished figure in Victorian literature and poetry. One of her most classic novels, Wuthering Heights has strong ties with her poetry, such as “Remembrance” and “Riches I Hold in Light Esteem.” Bronte’s writings strongly resemble depressing themes and tones. This can be seen in both Wuthering Heights as well as the two poems to be discussed; all three possess an underlying tone of sadness. However, Wuthering Heights is strongly centered on the idea of children and childhood love. It is based on a love that is never unified, but yet never disappears and thus a sense of loss is portrayed. This same theme can be seen throughout “Remembrance” and “Riches I hold in Light Esteem.” Therefore Emily Bronte’s writings show a profound sense of loss, betrayal, and mistrust, which she felt as a consequence of love.
Wuthering Heights strongly focuses on the childhood love between Catherine and Heathcliff. A love that was never considered real and a love that was taken as childhood fantasy. Heathcliff, the antagonist of the novel, possessed an intense passion, but it was not until later on in the novel that the readers were able to distinguish Catherine as the cause of his passion. Heathcliff was seen as a bitter and resentful young boy. He portrays the dark side of the novel that is so evident within Bronte’s writings and within herself. Heathcliff was happy when in the presence of Catherine though, “Miss Cathy had been sick, and that made her still; she leant against her father’s knee, and Heathcliff was lying on the floor with his head in her lap.” (Bronte 37) However, Catherine was as infatuated with Heathcliff as he was with her, “She was much too fond of Heathcliff. The greatest punishment we could invent for her was to keep her separate from him.” (Bronte 36) Thus, Catherine and Heathcliff’s obsession for each other as children was foreshadowing the childhood love that would eventually consume them as adults.
As adults, Catherine wed Linton while Heathcliff eventually wed Isabella. Yet, realistically it was easy to see that neither was happy in their marriages, and neither wanted the other to have a significant other. After a three-year separation from each other, they are reunited and Catherine expresses her joy at seeing Heathcliff openly with no regard to her husbands’ feelings:
They were too much absorbed in their mutual joy to suffer embarrassment. Not so Mr. Edgar: he grew pale with pure annoyance, a feeling that reached its climax when his lady rose-and stepping across the rug, seized Heathcliff’s hands again, and laughed like one beside herself. (Bronte 85)
It is obvious that their mutual love is what continues to hold Heathcliff and Catherine together, but this love is not recognized by either of them. It is a relationship that is based on jealousy and possession. Furthermore, Heathcliff continues to make things worse by marrying Isabella when he has no desire to wed her at all. Heathcliff ignites their love with jealousy and anger. He feels that Catherine is married so he must be married as well. Yet, both still love each other as they did as children, and it is the intensity of this love that changes them and makes them both evil and mean spirited.
Thus, the love between Heathcliff and Catherine is not fully realized by either of them until Catherine is on her deathbed. It is only shortly before her death that both allow the truth to come out about their love for each other:
“Oh, Cathy! Oh, my life! How can I bear it?” was the first sentence he uttered, in a tone that did not seek to disguise his despair. And now he stared at her so earnestly that I thought the very intensity of his gaze would bring tears into his eyes; but they burned with anguish, they did not melt. (Bronte 139)
It was a love that was never to be due to Heathcliff’s abandonment and Catherine’s marriage. They both knew even as children that they loved each other, but they didn’t allow their love to be known by the other, which meant that they were never given a true chance at love:
“You teach me now how cruel you’ve been-cruel and false. Why did you despise me? Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy? I have not one word of comfort-you deserve this. You have killed yourself. Yes, you may kiss me, and cry; and wring out my kisses and tears. They’ll blight you-they’ll damn you. You loved me-then what right had you to leave me? What right–answer me–for the poor fancy you felt for Linton? Because misery, and degradation, and death, and nothing that God or Satan could inflict would have parted us, you, of your own will, did it. I have not broken your heart-you have broken it-and in breaking it, you have broken mine.” (Bronte 142)
Thus, they both knew that nothing could save Catherine from death, but Heathcliff also knew that he could express his feelings for her while he still had the time, “Heathcliff knows that nothing can save Catherine from death, but one thing alone can give her peace, a full and honest understanding and acceptance of their relationship and what it implies.” (Owen 56) Therefore, the full extent of Catherine and Heathcliff’s love for each other was not fully revealed until the time of Catherine’s death. Heathcliff is seen in a different light. He is seen to be capable of emotions, love, and sorrow, which is different from the Heathcliff the readers have come to known, “Hush, my darling! Hush, hush, Catherine! I’ll stay. If he shot me so, I’d expire with a blessing on my lips.” (Bronte 143) Thus, the love between Catherine and Heathcliff strongly shadows Emily Bronte’s own feelings on love as it is based on a love that never actually happens.
Bronte was strongly opposed to love. She had two strong examples of misplaced love in front of her, “She saw a sister, obsessed with M. Heger, hungrily waiting for letters from Brussels that never came; she saw a brother pining for Mrs. Robinson, and convinced beyond reason that his passion was returned.” (Owen 48) It was enough to convince Bronte that love wasn’t real and thus she quickly became an opponent of love. Bronte’s feelings on love are portrayed throughout her writings, which this paper has pointed out through the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff within Wuthering Heights, however there is also a connection of the despair of love within Bronte’s “Remembrance” and “Riches I Hold in Light Esteem.”
“Remembrance” is a poem based on a lost love, but lost long before death ever occurred. However, it is after death that the extent of the love is realized, which is almost a duplicate of Heathcliff and Catherine’s realization on Catherine’s deathbed. “Remembrance” focuses on a love lost due to time; the love was left behind in childhood and never given the chance to flourish. Thus, it is after death that the memories and regrets begin creeping in, “Faithful, indeed, is the spirit that remembers / After such years of change and suffering!” (11-12) As in Wuthering Heights “Remembrance” recalls a childhood love that was left behind, but never forgotten. It emphasizes the truth of moving on with life. The love may be forgotten temporarily, but it is always there within the back of the mind, and within the heart:
Sweet Love of youth, forgive, if I forget thee
While the world’s tide is bearing me along;
Sterner desires and darker hopes beset me,
Hopes which obscure but cannot do thee wrong. (13-16)
The poem also concentrates on the idea of life without happiness. Although it is a hard concept to accept, “Remembrance” emphasizes the fact that life will go on even if it is devoid of all happiness, “Then did I learn how existence could be cherished, / Strengthened, and fed without the aid of joy.” (23-24) This same theme is also shown through Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. After Catherine’s death Heathcliff continues day-to-day, but it is an unhappy life. Heathcliff becomes even more bitter and resentful than he was before the death, and his unhappiness is focused on the other people within his life. However, at the same time he still lives his life and that is exactly what “Remembrance” is portraying, which is the fact that life can be lived without happiness.
“Remembrance” is therefore a poem by Bronte that strongly influences its readers against the concept of love. The poem concludes by advising against traveling down ‘memory lane’ because the pain just isn’t worth it. Once the memories come back, the joy that is associated with those memories will too. Furthermore, once the joy associated with love is relived, it is hard for life to go on without it:
Dare not indulge in memory’s rapturous pain;
Once drinking deep in that divinest anguish,
How could I seek the empty world again? (30-32)
Thus, Bronte’s writings within “Remembrance” represent a piece of Bronte herself. It points out the unwillingness to love even if it is right there in front you. It emphasizes a reluctance to take a risk by putting a piece of yourself out there for another to love. The readers can see the despair of love that Bronte is therefore portraying within “Remembrance” and the association it has with Wuthering Heights.
“Riches I Hold in Light Esteem” is another poem that not only illustrates Bronte’s own persona regarding love, but it also has strong links with the themes seen in Wuthering Heights. It is a poem that rejects love, “And Love I laugh to scorn.” (2) There is no looking for love as seems to be the norm, but instead an avoidance of love. It points to the importance of solidarity. Bronte wants no part of love, which is easily seen, “Leave the heart that now I bear, / And give me liberty!” (7-8) It shows that she doesn’t want a heart filled with love, but instead an independent heart. She doesn’t want to feel anymore, and thus wants freedom from her thoughts and emotions regarding her heart and love. The poem ends off with another emphasis on independence. She clarifies the fact that she doesn’t want to be tied down to anyone, she doesn’t want her heart tied down, “Tis all that I implore; / In life and death a chainless soul.” (10-11) She wants to be free of any type of commitment during life and even afterwards. She doesn’t believe that love is real or everlasting, and thus won’t permit herself to be put in the position of love. Therefore, “Riches I Hold in Light Esteem” strongly illustrates Bronte’s own uneasiness and unwillingness to engage in love. Her strong feelings on the subject are seen throughout the writing of this poem because it not only pinpoints her as a clear enemy of love, but also as an enemy of her own heart.
“Riches I Hold in Light Esteem” easily relates to Wuthering Heights in that it is another work by Bronte that strongly opposes love. The poem emphasizes a strong disbelief in love. This same disbelief in true love is portrayed by the relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine within Wuthering Heights. Neither is willing to admit their love for the other because of fear and pride. Instead they turn to other companions who they feel secure with because they know that they will never fall as deeply in love, and thus they feel safe. Therefore, both “Riches I Hold in Light Esteem” and Wuthering Heights demonstrate a strong reluctance in the involvement with the truths of love.
Thus, the themes within Wuthering Heights strongly relate to the themes within “Remembrance” and “Riches I Hold in Light Esteem.” All three of these works by Bronte focus on the concept of love using a negative tone and attitude. The themes although differ slightly still come back to the main theme of love as the enemy, as well as the despair of love. Heathcliff and Catherine’s love ends before it even begins with the death of Catherine, and both of the poems refuse the chance of love. The readers are therefore shown a portrayal of Bronte herself through these strong themes on love, which can also be looked at as Bronte’s own views on love. Bronte’s own decision not to love is represented by the strong use of language within her works that clearly comes from within herself. It is a part of herself that Bronte shares with the world by the strong influence it has within many of her works. Therefore, Wuthering Heights, “Remembrance” and “Riches I Hold in Light Esteem” are evidence of the intense mistrust, betrayal, and loss of the heart that Bronte felt regarding love.
Bibliography
Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Davies, Stevie, ed. Bronte Sisters: selected poems of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte. Cheshire: Eyre & Spottiswoode Limited, 1976.
Liddell, Robert. Twin Spirits: The Novels of Emily and Anne Bronte. London: Peter Owen Publishers, 1990.
Shorter, Clement, ed. The Complete Poems of Emily Bronte. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1910.
Vine, Steve. Emily Bronte. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1998.
Vogler A. Thomas, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations Of Wuthering Heights. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.
