A-Comparative-Study-of-“Wuthering-Heights”and-“Record-of-a-Golden-Lock”

A ComparativeStudy of66Wuthering Heights^and^Record of aGolden Lock”[Abstract]Wuthering Heights”and“Record ofa Golden Lock”are bothfamousworks.This articleis tomake acomparison between the two works infive aspects:Moneyand Love,Personality Distortionand Revenge,Self-abasement andLoneliness,Urban areaand Rural area,Hope andDespair.The firstthree aspectsare aboutthe similarities,whilethe last two aspects deal with the differences betweenthe two works.The maincharactersare Heathcliffin Wuthering Heights”and CaoQiqiao in“Record ofa Golden Lock”.Theyare to be perceivedas elementalpeople whosesouls aretorn betweenlove andhatred.Theytake psychopathicrevenge because of personalitydistortion.Emily Bronteand EileenChang Zhang Ailingpresent andanalyze thechief charactersfeeling world.[Key Words]Wuthering HeightsRecord ofa GoldenLockIn1847,English writerEmily Brontes singleand uniquework Wuthering，Heights“was published.In China,about ahundred yearslater,Record ofa GoldenLockconsidered to be EileenChangZhang Ailing sgreatest achievement,came outin

1943.The twoworks werenot recognizedwhen theywere publishedand allopposed atfirst,thevalue andmeaning ofthem wasdeveloped andagreed untilmany yearslater.This articlewill study“Wuthering Heightsand“Record ofa GoldenLock”in ordertofind a way ofbuilding bridgesbetween peopleto communicateand developdeepunderstanding.There arefour aspects:Money andLove,Personality DistortionandRevenge,Urban areaandRuralarea,Hope andDespair.The firsttwo aspectsare thesimilarities,while thelasttwoaspectsdealwiththedifferencesbetweenthe twoworks.Thepaper willcompare thetwoworksin theseaspects.Money andLoveIt isdifficult togive adefinite relationshipbetween money and love.Nowadays,it isalsodifficult to get bothmoney andlove.Catherine andHeathcliff forma kindofindispensable unionand emotionalbond,and CaoQiqiao lovesJiang Jizewith her life.Butin makingmarriage choice,they allchoose moneyfirst.Wuthering Heights”and“Recordof a GoldenLock”describe theirstruggle betweenmoney andlove fromdifferent aspects.Catherine says/My greatmiseries inthis worldhave beenHeathcliff miseries,and Iwatchedand felteach formthe beginning;my greatthought inliving ishimself.If allelseperished,and heremained,I shouldstill continuetobe;and,if allelseremained,and hewas annihilated,the Universewould turn to amighty stranger.I shouldnotseem apart ofit.Wuthering HeightsP82This showsher passionatelove forHeathcliff andthis isled byher“super-ego”caring forthe realizationof selfideal.However,Catherine choosesLinton formarriage,and shedecides tobetray hernatureand hersoul.Her ego”caring fbrthe practicaland immediateprofit tellsher thatmarryingLinton is the bestchoice,which canbring her money andsimple happiness.Catherine says,“He willbe rich,and Ishall liketobethe greatestwomen oftheneighbourhood,and Ishall beproud ofhaving sucha husband9Wuthering HeightsP78And shehas anotherplan,“whereas,if Imarry Linton,I canaid Heathcliffto rise,and placehimout ofmy brother,s power.Wuthering Heights”P81Catherine stragedy beginsfromthen on.When Heathcliffcomes toher lifeagain,she canno longerkeep herillusionabout Linton.Catherine is aware thatin herinner soulshe mustchoose deathif shebetraysHeathcliff.Heathcliff wants toget money inorder toraise hisstatus andfinally heis asrich asCatherine.But moneycant recovertheir hopelesslove andirresistible fate.He justwants torevengeand destroy.His mindloses balanceand hishumanity dies.，In“Record ofa GoldenLock”Eileen givesa moreapparent expressionof theinfluenceof moneyon peoplein civilizationin Shanghai.Cao comesfrom anurban pettybourgeoisfamily inShanghai.It isobvious that she can,t satisfy her lifebecauseoflackingof money.The focusof Cao s lifeis goldand money.When thereis nohope of love,shebecomes theslave ofgold bitby bit.For money,she givesup heryouth,staying withherhusband“who justhave body,but isnot live.”“Record ofa GoldenLock P53Formoney,She smashesillusion of her love with Jiang Jize afterten years,and it is herlasthope tosatisfyherlove.The onlygoal inherlifeis toprotect themoney thatshe gotwithher youth.Later sheeven tellsher daughter,“You couldnt loveany men!Everyone ofthemwantstoget yourmoney.It isdifficult forme togetmoneyand itis moredifficult tokeep it.It sturntoyou tokeepit,I couldnt makeyou cheatedto loseit.Record ofaGolden LockP61She thinksthatshe isthemaster of money,but infact,she isjust theslave ofmoney.She distortspersonality in the goldenyoke.Personality Distortionand RevengeAlthoughHeathcliff andCao haveright toallot moneyfreely,they cant makethemselvescomfortable andhappy.On onehand,they chooseawayof fleeing,and theyadoptpsychopathic formto controlother people so asto showup theirstrength.On theotherhand,the reasonfor psychopathicbehaviour isthat theywant torevenge deeply.Revenger andpeople whoare revengedare oppressedwith personalitydistortionand revenge.The storyis startedby thespecific piercingwind inWuthering Heights”.“Wuthering isYorkshire dialectforweathering which is indicativeofthe atmospherictumultto whichits stationis exposedin stormyweather.Selected Readingin Englishand American LiteraturesP273In Wuthering Heights,trees aretwisted,while thepersonsare psychopathicto differentdegrees.Among allthe psychopathiccharacters inWuthering Heights”,Heathcliff isthe mosttypical onewhose personalityis splitbyintense love and extremehate.Heathcliff hateseveryone exceptfor Catherine,even Catherines daughterand hisownson.He makesviolent lovetowards Catherinewho soondies ofgrief.Hismanipulation ofthe secondgeneration ismotivated alsoby revenge.She hasbecome aslaveofmoney.But itisn tdoubtful thatshe stillhas pure love inhersoul andno oneis allowedto breakit.So whenshe realizesJing Jizes actualpurpose,which isto gainhermoney,she isso disappointedabout herlove illusion.JiangJizerefusesher lovefirst,and thendeceives her.Her lifeis inhibited,so shebegins topersonalitydistort.Little Catherineis ableto changethe savageHareton,thetwofall inlovewitheachother.Both theirminds tendingto thesame point-one loving and desiring to esteem,andthe otherlovinganddesiringtobe esteemed-they contrivedin theend toreach it.WutheringHeightsP316They planfbr marriageat last.Emily changespureloveintoinspiring strength.The loveforged inhate makesnumb personalityrecovered anddistortedpersonality liberated.On thecontrary,in“Record ofa GoldenLock,peopleslife aredestroyed bydespair.The secondgenerations despairgradually.Changbai andChangan dont paymuchattention tolove likeCao.It isnot importantfor themwhether tolose happinessor not.Changbai doesn t treathis lifeseriously.He isnt responsiblefor himself,and hehas beenunconscious,maybe heis neverconscious.Changan sfirst loveis destroyedby Cao.Changan givesup herfaith andher hopewith abeautiful andbleak gesture“Record ofaGolden LockP73ofherown accord.The lastsentence inRecord ofa GoldenLock”is“The moonthirty yearsago hasset and the personthirty yearsago hasdied.However,thestories happenedthirty yearsago havent beenfinished,they willcontinue.99Record ofaGolden LockP77In theend,the novelimplies thatthe tragedy,whichisimpossible toresist,will extendinthefuture.Hope anddespair inthe novelsare relatedto writerscharacter andtheir culturalbackground.Although Emilyisareserved andshy girl,sheisconfident,energetic andhopeful.At last,the ghostsof Heathcliffand Catherinerove onthe moorlandfreely.Forthem,itisthe highestdegrees forlove.So sheexpresses thepositive aspectof life.Eileenhas illusionabout lifeowing toher birth.She thinksthat noone canescape frommisfortune.Caosmarriage isher fate,and sheregrets herchoice formarriage,but shedoesntregrether revengeon herchildren.Eileen issensitive toperceive thatpeople cant escapefromcontradiction betweenloveandmoneyandfrom controlof passion.Eileen revealsthefrailty of humanity andthe confusionof lifein“Record ofaGoldenLock”.So shedecideson thedespairing aspect.WutheringHeightsand RecordofaGoldenLockcreate differentfeelings world.There aremany similaritiesand differences.The pursuitofloveis basicand reasonabledesireofhumanity,but itis restrictedby manyfactors,such associal system,social status,economic conditionand soon.Only whenthe wayis rationalandtheattitude iscorrect,humanity canget happinessand liberatepersonality.Bibliography:[l]Bronte,Emily,WutheringHeights,Beijing,Foreign LanguageTeaching andResearch Press,

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