Research Paper on:
Revenge in 'Wuthering Heights'

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
of his own life. Never quite able to be comfortable in his own skin, Heathcliff always wanted for more - more respect, more understanding and certainly more of Catherine.  With slight exception, his desires were forever met with disappointment. Inasmuch as Heathcliff completely loses himself in Catherine, it can readily be argued that the thematic importance of  this aspect clearly relates to his desire to break free from the patriarchal control he has experienced throughout his life, never quite able to see himself as anything other than  a lowly social outcast amidst a sea of transparent elitism. "The subsidiary themes of possession, social status incest, adultery, child abuse and treachery and violence have been curiously intertwined  with the main theme of revenge to foreground it. The central motif in this exquisitely crafted arabesque is Heathcliff and his unquenchable thirst for revenge" (Deconstructing the Arabesque of Revenge).  Heathcliff is destined to become a brooding, troubled and angry man who has lost control of his own life due in large part  to the abusive treatment he receives as a child. One might argue that the most interesting aspect of Heathcliffs character is the manner by which he perpetually transfers his  deep-seated anger and frustration upon all who enter his life, even to the point of emotionally poisoning his own offspring. In spite of the manner by which he ineffectively  works through his life of physical and emotional torment, as well as the loss of his one true love, Heathcliff comes to represent the underdog of lifes unrelenting disappointments, forever  struggling with issues of control. The "dirty, ragged, black-haired child" (Bronte 77) from Liverpool who finds his way back to Wuthering Heights under