An Analysis of Heathcliff’s Personality Degeneration in Wuthering Heights---Social Hierarchy Leads to the Personality Alienation

Abstract Emily Bronte is one of the most famous female novelists of the 19th century 。 However, in the history of English literature, her excellent writing Wuthering Heights is always regard as the most peculiar novel and an inscrutable book, since at first it was evaluate as “gloomy, indecorous and morbid-minded (Zheng Kelu 248)”, “a direful and brackish novel (Yang Jingyuan 129-130)”。 The hero of the book, Heathcliff contributes a lot to such bad evaluation 。 Heathcliff , a man with complex love and hatred , is the soul of the book 。 With his character degeneration , He becomes a cloudy, cruel, mad and evil man。 It is distressing to see His change and it is worth discussing 。 There are several reasons leading in this change: the torment from Hindley, the betray by Catherine and  identity suppression by Linton。 However,the essence of these events is a straight conflict of directly opposed aims。 The essential reasons can be concluded to the oppressing of social class and concept of money and pedigree。 This paper will be pided into three parts。 In the first part , I will introduce the significance and background of the paper。 The second part consist of 3 sections 。 They are analysis of heathcliff’s character , summary of critical events leading to the degeneration and influence of class distinction 。 Here, I will analyze Heathcliff to discover his striking rebellious spirit and brilliant characteristic charms。The last part is conclusion 。 The reasons for Heathcliff’s change are multifarious 。 Especially, class distinction plays a serious and significant role in the process。73034

Keywords:  Heathcliff ; character; class distinction 

《呼啸山庄》西斯克里夫性格堕落的原因分析---社会等级导致的人性异化

摘  要埃米莉勃朗特是19世纪最伟大的女作家之一。然而，在整个英国文学史上，她的著作呼啸山庄却常常被视作荒诞，不可理喻的小说，甚至被指责为“阴森恐怖，病态心理，不道德和异教思想 ”，“可悲的，让人痛苦的”作为书中的主人公，西斯克里夫的言行在很大程度上促成了这些坏的评价。西斯克里夫是这部作品的灵魂，他有着复杂而强烈的爱与恨。伴随着他的性格沉沦，他变成了一个阴郁，残暴，邪恶的男人。这种剧烈的变化使人痛惜的同时更值得我们去研究讨论。养父的死，辛德拉的侮辱，凯瑟琳的背叛，林顿的优秀将他一步步推向堕落。而隐藏在这些事件背后的共同的根本是当时的社会背景与希斯克利的自身身份的对立。也就是不可摆脱的世俗的观念，社会的阶级，门第观念。论文将分为3个部分。第一部分为引言，主要介绍论文的意义和目的，以及历史背景。第二部分，包括三章。第一章从爱与恨两方面概括了西斯克里夫的性格特点。第二章，指出在性格变化上两个标志性的大事件。第三章重点描写了阶级对于西斯克里夫命运的压迫。第三部分是结论。西斯克里夫的悲剧性命运是由于多种因素造成的，尤其是阶级问题，有着深刻的影响。

毕业论文关键词： 西斯克里夫； 性格； 等级差别 

Contents

Contents 3

1。 Introduction 1

1。1 Background of The Study 1

1。2  Significance of the Study 1

2。The Analysis of the Character of Heathcliff 2

2。1 Love 2