摘要：《呼啸山庄》中作者艾米莉?勃朗特表现出了对男性角色的双重态度。她一方面批判男性的脆弱，另一方面又对他们寄以深深的同情。而这种双重态度是由她所处的生活环境及其个人经历所决定的。
关键词：五位男性角色 双重态度 男权社会 个人经历
Critics have paid attention to two aspects of Wuthering Height―the novel’s narrative strategy and its idea of feminism and they assert it must completely criticize the patriarchy. This paper, however, holds a different idea that Emily Bronte had a mixed attitude towards male images. The lives of the five men were all miserable with tragic endings except Hareton’s. Meanwhile, the author did not describe them extremely scathing, and showed her sympathy to them. This mixed attitude originated from two factors--the living environment and her personal experience.
I. Emily Bronte’s Mixed Attitude
Her Criticism: The story happened between two generations in the Earnshaws and the Lintons. There were five major male and four female characters. Women were independent and strong in character. Men on the contrary, were obscene and frail due to various reasons. Through negation and tarnish of men, Emily Bronte achieved her purpose of criticizing the patriarchy. She refuted the representatives of patriarchal society Hindley Earnshaw and Edgar Linton conspicuously for their irresponsibility and cruel or weak tempers. Linton Heathcliff was a puppet for his father’s revenge, and Hareton Earnshaw was vulgar and ignorant for the first small half of his life. As a victim of the patriarchal society, Heathcliff became one after grown up to torture others. So Emily Bronte’s criticism pours clearly to the male characters.
Her Sympathy: While denouncing the decay order through rebuking the five main images, she also showed great sympathy to them. Earnshaw died to make Heathcliff be well to his son. At the end of Linton’s life, no one was by side. The white lie his daughter told was the author’s great sympathy to comfort him. They were blind-passionate men who bore the pain of losing their love. Linton Heathcliff is a tragic ignorant and naïve one. The author’s opinion conveyed through little Catherine who, after the deceit, still did not leave him and felt depressed after his death. Hareton was illiterate but could understand love and pardon. Brought up by an enemy of his father, he never complained and wanted revenge. In the end, he got little Catherine’s affection and fair treatment. This man, the only hope of patriarchy would live with Cathy happily ever after. Heathcliff originally was a victim of that monstrous society. His hatred was the result of the betrayal of his love. The ghost of his love haunted him for nearly twenty years, which was an unusual thing people can bear. For him, life “is a long fight”. [1](Bronte, 259)Then he had a visional connection with his life-love Catherine and ended his hard life with a smile. Heathcliff did not have a family name and no one cared for him, which was the biggest tragedy in the book. Emily Bronte valued their love in that she arranged Heathcliff’s tomb next to Catherine’s in the end.
II. Reasons for Her Mixed Attitude
“The Victorian era of 19th century in England was a typical patriarchy with severe class conflicts and sense of hierarchy. Women were the pressed one”. [2](Wang, 118) That was also “a period of time that female sex began to fight for independence and the traditional ‘Family Angel’ status”. [3](Yang, 119) As a sensitive observer and well-educated woman, Emily Bronte strongly opposed the old order. But, she preserved in scrutiny that not all men were bad and some were the victims of it, such as labor workers and orphans and did not rebuke the whole male group.
Emily Bronte led a hard life so she understood women’s poor living condition. Meanwhile, as an introverted woman having a recluse life, she got enough space to create her wild imagination. She desired a wild and free life on a heath and beside the cliff, which was fulfilled by Heathcliff. After many years’ of caring for her brother, she knew his bitter love experience and realized the difficulty of being a man and a weak group. Her father was a gentleman and got his success via hard work. Emily Bronte was influenced by her father’s nurture. So she might still keep faith in men.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, a conclusion is drawn that Emily Bronte articulated her mixed attitude towards male images in Wuthering Heights. She criticized them for their tyrant behaviors and also felt sympathy for them. Her mixed attitude was determined by her living environment and personal experience. Making this approach broaden, any author may express a mixed idea in his/her works, and the reasons can be traced back to social and personal experience. This can exert in following research when analyzing author’s attitude and the deep meaning of literary works.
Bibliography
[1]Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. 上海: 世界图书出版公司, 2007.
[2]王桢. 英国女性文学的两座丰碑――《简爱》与《呼啸山庄》比较研究之. 贵州: 贵州大学学报（社会科学版）, 2005.
[3]杨雪. 现实的抑郁与虚幻的快感――《呼啸山庄》的女性主义诠释. 广州: 信阳师范学院学报(哲学社会科学版), 2007.