Heathcliff

You know Heathcliff? Catherine's jilted lover. Wuthering Heights. He left an impression, rather a scar on me. Every woman has a Heathcliff. Her Heathcliff.

A man who loves her, and loves her like no other man ever could. No I am not talking mundane love here, the one that comes and goes, shows a symptom or two of attraction and then leaves the victim distraught, but only for a while. Just a while, and before time could even blink we move on. It's true, even those of us who have witnessed the most maddening bouts of compelling passion would agree, life is above it all. But not for Heathcliff.

He destroyed himself, and everyone around him, in the process of wanting Catherine. Ironically, he was responsible for Catherine's end too. What kind of love was that which destroyed the object of affection itself? Wasn't the motive lost in madness. In specimens like Heathcliff, love tends to insanity.

And every woman has her Heathcliff. A man that needs to be done away with. Seriously. Every moment you let him be, he would take a step further towards self destruction. Every moment you let him be, he would become the Heathcliff I fear he would become one day. So dear woman, make yourself as worthy of his hatred as you can, kick him in his heart. And be not guilty of it, you're only saving him.

Be guilty only if he becomes a Heathcliff. But die of shame if he becomes an artist in your love.


JFK & Jacqueline 

19 comments:

Vagabond said...

wasn't Cathy at fault too?

Soumya said...

I kicked. Kicked hard.

WomanInLove said...

Or is it that some women invite a lot of heathcliffs?

And only some men can become heathcliff

And some men can become only heathcliff!

The Sage said...

why make it gender specific? every guy has had a feminine version of heathcliff too!!

Blasphemous Aesthete said...

The last line, it brightened up my face. Yes, I am laughing, and am laughing at that line.

There are only three things to be done with a
woman. You can love her, suffer for her, or turn
her into literature.

This is what ran through my mind.

Perhaps, she wouldn't want to know how he turned her into a creation of beauty that she couldn't fathom, or live by it?

Was it a serious article? Am sorry I couldn't do justice to it.
:D

Awesome post,
Blasphemous Aesthete

wildflower said...

B
Yeah, obviously she was. She co-conspired the whole thing!

Soumya
Call me a sadist, but well done! Pat on the back ;)

Rajita
On a deeper thought, yeah. All three are statements are more than just right.

Vagabond said...

what i meant to say was. it needs a Catherine for a Heathcliff and vice-versa.they r not too different.

wildflower said...

Rishi
I only wrote about the instances that I have noticed. I could be biased being a woman, typical or atypical ;)

BA
I give you the liberty of interpretation. For you every post here is just as serious as the other. For me, just as awesome as the other ;)

wildflower said...

B
Oh, that ways! :) May be I was trying to write about my Heathcliff and I just couldn't see myself as Cathy. I don't know what it is, may be it is age, may be the solitude, something is sure making my biases stronger. Though I have this promise that I would choose death over hypocrisy.

Vagabond said...

Cathy is a character that is very raw; the hypocrisy and the lack of judgement, the madness, the passion. she looks more real to me than any of the other "heroines" here are.

Vagabond said...

but then some people are scum.
it takes a lot of strength to make the "right" choice. kudos!

wildflower said...

Sometimes I feel that my Heathcliff is the One. And that is exactly when I get scared of life! I do not deserve the kudos, I have no idea what choice to make.

Vagabond said...

like i said there is always a Heathliff if there is a Catherine.
and they are made for each other,(they might just kill each other, but what the hell right?)

yes, Heathcliff is the one for a Catherine because he becomes the ref point, nothing and no one lives up to him. there is always something or the other that is absent, and the worst part is whenever u are in need he is always standing there waiting to help you.
there is just no way out.
unless like you said, that you can kick him hard.

and if you are able to, then you actually arn't a Catherine and/or he is not the Heathcliff.

or maybe you belong to the Jane Austen world!

Anonymous said...

I kicked hard.. real hard.. but it pains me.. Everytime i look into his eyes it reminds me of the pain i caused to him..

wildflower said...

B
I adore your adoration for both Catherine & Heathcliff. May be the entire point of me writing this post now stands disproved.

Anonymous
Well in this case, let's hope that time and distance will cure this Heathcliff of yours.

etymofreak said...

I maybe biased towards my sex, but I always believed Cathy was the reason for everything Heathcliff was. There is a point of existence for every male and more often than not, its a woman. She had the power of making him a better person, yrt the capriciousness of her character drove Heathcliff mad and almost drove Linton to his ruin. She loved Heathcliff and yet married Linton coz he offered more material things. Maybe the only time Heathcliff was happy in his entire miserable life when he died...

And whats more excruciating is the fact that more Cathy's have transcended the pages of the book than the number of Healthcliffs.

Vagabond said...

don't take me seriously i don't know when to stop sometimes =P

wildflower said...

etymofreak
Surprised, had no idea guys too read Wuthering Heights, and in such detail .. :)

B
I love to see you speak :) Kindly do not think about stopping!

etymofreak said...

Well I am not altogether surprised at your reaction :P
Its our own fault that some jackass thought that reading the Bronte sisters is somehow sissy and the rest followed suit.
Btw I also love Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf :P