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Rachel Oldfield 2-25-06
Modern British Literature
A Ghostly Love
Oh Rebecca, the question of the plausibility of my having an affair with Heathcliff is a valid, as well as complex, one indeed. I daresay that it could have been a possibility, if you want the candid truth. When Father first brought him to Wuthering Heights he seemed to me a dark little child who stole Father’s affections. Yet after Father’s shockingly abrupt death, traumatic for any young child, it was Heathcliff who was there with me, against the wrath of my ill-natured brother.
True, he grew into a dirty and somewhat gruff youth, but he was still the Heathcliff that had comforted me with the glorious descriptions of Heaven after my father had passed. As a girl on the cusp of womahood I was surely too foolish and blinded to initiate any other type of relationship with Heathcliff; yet even at that tender age I could recognize the same smoldering intensity of his character, which had fused our souls thus far. I do remember, Rebecca, that even then I was completely attached to Heathcliff and always would be. Of this there is no question.
Our connection has remained strong and our love deeper and truly more whole than the regard in which I hold Mr. Linton. Oh but even still Rebecca, how difficult it is to think of what would have been. Though our love for each other will always be of the most solid kind, I am inclined to think that our love would not have been channeled into forms inappropriate for already married persons. After all Rebecca, let me inform you that I have no pretensions regarding Mr. Heathcliff’s character; he is a handsome, cruel, unscrupulous and sporadically moraled man that has little regard for others’ feelings. If anything of consequence were to happen between him, and me it would not be due to some ridiculous romantic trap as Isabella set for herself.
In the reality of the situation, my soul yearned for Heathcliff but it was most sensible to maintain a shallower existence with Mr. Linton. Oh how my heart has longed for the moors, yet Thrushcross Grange is where I must remain. Heathcliff and I are intimate in spirit - I believe I have communicated our inseparability - but he still remains a stranger in his birth and standing. If this were not true then I can imagine I would be inseparable from his side, but reality imposes certain constraints.
If we were to initiate any sort of affair, I feel that it would occur because of an unbearable separation and not carnal passion. It is really Heathcliff’s absence in my life due to Edgar’s loathing of him that has caused me so much pain and yearning for him. If Edgar had been more permissive and welcoming of Heathcliff into Thrushcross Grange, I should think I would not even be explaining myself to you right now. My soul only needs the companionship of its mate and the form of this companionship does not matter much.
In the end, Rebecca, I find it most difficult to make a conclusion on this matter. What I do know is that we will only truly be united when we have both left this life and are free from its earthly limitations.
Modern British Literature
A Ghostly Love
Oh Rebecca, the question of the plausibility of my having an affair with Heathcliff is a valid, as well as complex, one indeed. I daresay that it could have been a possibility, if you want the candid truth. When Father first brought him to Wuthering Heights he seemed to me a dark little child who stole Father’s affections. Yet after Father’s shockingly abrupt death, traumatic for any young child, it was Heathcliff who was there with me, against the wrath of my ill-natured brother.
True, he grew into a dirty and somewhat gruff youth, but he was still the Heathcliff that had comforted me with the glorious descriptions of Heaven after my father had passed. As a girl on the cusp of womahood I was surely too foolish and blinded to initiate any other type of relationship with Heathcliff; yet even at that tender age I could recognize the same smoldering intensity of his character, which had fused our souls thus far. I do remember, Rebecca, that even then I was completely attached to Heathcliff and always would be. Of this there is no question.
Our connection has remained strong and our love deeper and truly more whole than the regard in which I hold Mr. Linton. Oh but even still Rebecca, how difficult it is to think of what would have been. Though our love for each other will always be of the most solid kind, I am inclined to think that our love would not have been channeled into forms inappropriate for already married persons. After all Rebecca, let me inform you that I have no pretensions regarding Mr. Heathcliff’s character; he is a handsome, cruel, unscrupulous and sporadically moraled man that has little regard for others’ feelings. If anything of consequence were to happen between him, and me it would not be due to some ridiculous romantic trap as Isabella set for herself.
In the reality of the situation, my soul yearned for Heathcliff but it was most sensible to maintain a shallower existence with Mr. Linton. Oh how my heart has longed for the moors, yet Thrushcross Grange is where I must remain. Heathcliff and I are intimate in spirit - I believe I have communicated our inseparability - but he still remains a stranger in his birth and standing. If this were not true then I can imagine I would be inseparable from his side, but reality imposes certain constraints.
If we were to initiate any sort of affair, I feel that it would occur because of an unbearable separation and not carnal passion. It is really Heathcliff’s absence in my life due to Edgar’s loathing of him that has caused me so much pain and yearning for him. If Edgar had been more permissive and welcoming of Heathcliff into Thrushcross Grange, I should think I would not even be explaining myself to you right now. My soul only needs the companionship of its mate and the form of this companionship does not matter much.
In the end, Rebecca, I find it most difficult to make a conclusion on this matter. What I do know is that we will only truly be united when we have both left this life and are free from its earthly limitations.