In the first half of the story, Hindley is often times abusive to Heathcliff. In fact, after Mr. Earnshaw dies, Hindley forces Heathcliff to work in the fields like a common laborer. "[Hindley]... insisted that [Heathcliff] should labour out of the doors instead, compelling him to do so, as hard as any other lad on the farm" (Bronte 33). Years later, after Hindley has died, Heathcliff does the same thing to Hindley's son, Hareton. "... Hareton, who should now be the first gentlemen in the neighbourhood, was reduced to a state of complete dependence on his father's inveterate enemy [, Heathcliff]; and lives in his own house as a servant deprived of the advantage of wages..." (Bronte 139). Both of the men are compelled to degrade their inferiors by the same motive: revenge. As boys, Mr. Earnshaw favors Heathcliff over Hindley, and as a result, Hindley seeks to exact revenge on Heathcliff after Mr. Earnshaw dies. Heathcliff seeks revenge because of the way that Hindley treated him as a child, and he gets his revenge by degrading Hindley's son, Hareton, in the same manner as Hindley degraded him.
Other than the cycle of degradation started by Hindley and continued by Heathcliff, there are other ways in which Wuthering Heights repeats itself. For instance, one could observe the similarities in personality between the characters of the first generation and their children, the second generation. The characters Catherine and her daughter, also Catherine, are very similar (aside from their names being identical). Both are head-strong and not afraid to stand up for what they believe in. The second Catherine stands up for Linton by yelling at Heathcliff fearlessly and passionately. "... I know [Linton] loves me and for that reason, I love him. Mr. Heathcliff, you have nobody to love you... You are miserable, are you not? Lonely, like the devil, and envious like him? Nobody loves you- nobody will cry for you, when you die!" (Bronte 211). The first Catherine exhibits the same traits when she disobeys her elders orders by going out on the moors with Heathcliff. Similarities can also be drawn from Linton Heathcliff and Heathcliff. Linton, like his father is demanding and short-tempered, but, also, like his mother, Isabella Linton, he is frail, sickly and weak. He is so sickly and weak that he dies from a cold while he was a teenager and had just married Catherine Linton.
Wuthering Heights is simply a novel split in two, with the second part repeating the patterns and personalities of the characters of the previous generation.
Works Cited
Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New York: Dover, 1996. Print.
