Wuthering Heights

The influence of childhood in its different ways, on the major characters in Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights" can be seen as a pervasive theme throughout the novel. Through an exploration of the relationship between the main characters, the theme of childhood's influence is apparent. It can be said, as noted by Steve Davies, that the childhood of both protagonists Heathcliffe and Catherine, haunts them in their adult lives thus affecting their interactions with and their behavior towards other people in a negative way. However, through Bronte's portrayal of Hareton and the younger Catherine, the redeeming qualities of the human spirit prevails as they overcome negative influences and memories of their childhood. They emerge at the conclusion of the novel as characters who are not "haunted" by their childhood and "its refusal to die away", but as two people who have overcome adverse conditions in their past by seeking to improve their existence and personalities

It is evident in th...