Classic Literature English-Chinese Comparison (Wuthering Heights)

Author: Liu Wenjun, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: In the rolling northern mountains of England, there stands a nearly isolated mansion called Wuthering Heights. The master, Earnshaw, one day brings home an orphan from the street and adopts him, naming him Heathcliff, allowing him to live with his son Hindley and daughter Catherine. Heathcliff and Catherine grow up together, developing a deep love, but Hindley despises him. After the elder Earnshaw's death, Hindley becomes the master, not only forbidding Heathcliff from associating with Catherine but also subjecting him to constant abuse and humiliation. This persecution deepens Heathcliff's hatred for Hindley while also intensifying his love for Catherine. One day, Heathcliff and Catherine secretly leave the estate and meet Edgar Linton, the young master of the nearby Thrushcross Grange. This seemingly gentle and wealthy young man falls in love with Catherine's beauty and proposes to her. The naive and immature Catherine agrees to marry Linton, hoping to use his family's wealth to help Heathcliff escape Hindley's oppression. Upon learning of Catherine's marriage, Heathcliff is heartbroken and leaves in anger. Several years later, a handsome and distinguished visitor arrives at the Linton estate. It is Heathcliff, who has mysteriously acquired wealth and returned to his hometown. His sole purpose for returning is to take revenge on those who once persecuted him and stole his beloved. Hindley is a dissolute and profligate young man, indulging in drink and gambling, squandering the estate left by the elder Earnshaw. When he sees Heathcliff return and become wealthy, he invites him to stay at the mansion, mortgaging the remaining property to him and becoming his servant. Heathcliff becomes a frequent visitor to Thrushcross Grange, where Isabella, Edgar's sister, sees him as a legendary hero and runs away with him. He imprisons and tortures her, venting his frustrations. After marrying Linton, Catherine realizes her husband's hypocrisy and feels deep regret. Heathcliff's triumphant return pushes her into a abyss of sorrow and shame. In despair, she falls ill and soon passes away, leaving behind a daughter, Catherine, who is born after only seven months of pregnancy. Isabella escapes the mansion after Catherine's death and settles in the suburbs of London, where she gives birth to a son named Linton Heathcliff. Less than six months after Catherine's death, Hindley dies in a drunken stupor, leaving his young son, Hareton, in Heathcliff's hands. Heathcliff plans to further exact revenge on the child, "raising" him to be a savage and subjecting him to the same hardships he endured in childhood. Twelve years later, Isabella dies in a distant land, and Heathcliff brings his son back. The boy bears a striking resemblance to his uncle, is refined and cultured, but selfish and self-centered, which Heathcliff despises deeply. Time passes, and Catherine grows into a graceful young woman. On her 16th birthday, she accidentally encounters Heathcliff, her uncle, whom she does not recognize. When Heathcliff realizes that the girl before him is the daughter of his beloved Catherine and his enemy Edgar, love and hatred churn within him, forming a new pattern of revenge: to force her to marry his son so that he can legally claim the Linton estate. When Linton is on his deathbed, Heathcliff forces Catherine to hastily marry his son. A few days later, Linton dies, and Heathcliff once again becomes the master of Thrushcross Grange. The young Heathcliff also disappears shortly after the marriage, plunging Catherine into grief. By then, Hareton is 23 years old, looking exactly like the young Heathcliff, though deprived of education and lacking warmth, he is kind, loyal, and charming. Catherine falls in love with him. Heathcliff had hoped to see them hate each other, but to his surprise, they fall in love. He resolves to break them apart. However, when he observes them more closely, images of Catherine and himself as they once loved each other flood his mind. At that moment, his hatred fades, and love prevails. He cannot bear to take revenge anymore. He sets out to find Catherine. On a stormy night, he leaves the world with a hollow heart and a lifetime of bitterness, laughing maniacally after his act of revenge.