张玉双

【Abstract】：Reading Wuthering Heights is a process of experiencing aesthetic purification. The gloomy or mystic atmosphere gives readers feeling of unknown and brings people sense of terror. Tragedy not only arouses peoples sympathy， pain and terror towards death， distress and the almighty fate， but also impels people to revalue the meaning of life so as to overcome death， distress and the tragic fate and ultimately be advanced to the sublime.

【Key words】： Wuthering Heights； the Sublime； tragedy

Development of the Study on the Sublime

The sublime is a very complicated concept， especially when it comes to aesthetics. The term actually covers a very wide semantic spectrum. It begins with Aristotles style which is “grand” . In the eighteenth century， the term was broadened to become related to awe， and in the contemporary period， it is used liberally to refer to anything disturbing， uncanny， or subversive. As for the aesthetic subject， the sublime involves conflicts between pain and pleasure through which a transformation occurs into pleasure and cognition. And the sublime impels people to have moral reflections and it involves the recognition that we have a power within us that transcends the limits of the world as given to us by our senses.

Death and Distress

Over a span of thirty years in the story， many deaths occur. Most of the characters die before reaching middle age. Mrs. Earnshaw dies when Cathy is only eight years old； Mr. Earnshaw dies four years later； Heathcliff dies at the age of 37， his wife Isabella at the age of 31.Cathy passes away because of child birth at the age of 18. Hindley Earnshaw dies at the age of 27， to name just a few （116-124）. Hareton and Catherine Linton live on， but they suffer a lot from Heathcliffs revenge. The book is haunted by death from the very beginning to the end. Death and distress shows mens vulnerability towards fate. The simpler Emily describes death， the more vulnerable readers feel about life. Human beings feebleness and insignificance against the almighty fate is clearly shown， hence comes the pity， empathy and awe at the mystery of fate.

Although unable to escape the destined death， Heathcliff tries to fight for his own freedom and heaven. Heathcliff undergoes intense torment before he seeks salvation to be with his only true love Cathy and regains his own heaven. All human beings have to face the destined end. Death in calmness follows the rule of nature， whilst questioning and struggling like Heathcliff make lives more tragic and sublime. Death is no longer a mere passive cognition which people have to accept.It also excites a philosophical thinking and pursuing， and elevate lives from the mastery of fate， and radiates a sublime struggling spirit beyond death.

Doomed Love

In Wuthering Heights， almost every pair of lovers undergoes unpleasant experiences： separation， torture， suffering， which make the story a twisted and doomed love romance. Besides the agonizing story of Heathcliff and Cathy， Emily also describes love in other characters. Although Edgar loves Cathy and marries her， his love is never reciprocated. Hindley loves his wife Frances， but she dies at a young age. Isabella loves Heathcliff but she discovers that her husband is not the caring man she imagines him to be. Catherine loves Linton， but then discovers he is nothing but a sickly， spoiled brat. Linton loves Cathy but feels he is too weak to do anything about it. And Hareton loves Catherine too， but at the beginning， he is too ignorant to be worthy of her. Everyone in the book loves someone， and is hurt somehow by that love. No one finds loving or being love satisfies him or her.

Although doomed， the love between Heathcliff and Cathy is an attempt to break the boundaries of self and to fuse with another to transcend the inherent separateness of the human condition. Fusion with another will， by uniting two incomplete individuals， creates a whole and achieves new sense of identity， a complete and unified identity. This need for fusion motivates Heathcliffs determination to “absorb” Cathys corpse into his and for them to “dissolve” into each other so thoroughly that Edgar will not be able to distinguish Cathy from him. Mistake is made and it is hard to change. Death is the only way to their union. In Wuthering Heights， it is this powerfully tragic love that constitutes the core of the novel.

Conclusion

Wuthering Heights is a book of the tragedy of peoples destiny， because the tragic sense not only lies in death， the unavoidable destination of an individual， but also in the unchangeableness of fate. The sublime also bursts humans limits and impels them to contemplate and vanquish the obstacles ahead of them. Such is epitomized in Heathcliffs revenge to subdue all beyond， which transcend life and becomes a testimony to human power.

References

Aristotle. Extracts from the Poetics， in Tragedy： Development in Criticism. Hong Kong： Macmillan Education Ltd.， 1988.

Bront?， Charlotte. Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell.Wuthering Heights.By Emily Bront?. New York： Holt， Rinchart and Winston， 1950.

Bront?， Emily. Wuthering Heights. Beijing： Foreign Language Press， 2010.

Burke， Edmund. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. London： Oxford University Press， 1990.