最新TheClashbetweenHumanityandCivilizationinWutheringHeights英语专业毕业论文

The Clash between Humanity and Civilizationin Wuthering HeightsCONTENTSChapter1 Introduction (1)Chapter2 Initial State of Human Nature (2)2.1 Love Is Built on Knowing of Each Other (2)2.2 What Kind of Love between Hero and Heroine (3)Chapter3 Challenge of Humanity (4)3.1 The Trouble That Catherine Faced (4)3.2 British Traditional Bourgeois Values of Marriage (6)3.3 Warm between People (6)Chapter4 Humanity is Distorted (7)4.1 The Nature of Tree Is a Symbol of Humanity (7)4.2 Reasons for the Formation of Heresy (7)4.3 The Role of Environment (9)4.4 The Character of Heathcliff’s Personality (9)Chapter5 Struggle of Humanity (11)5.1 The Meaning of the Process of Growing Up (11)5.2 Catherine Can’t Be Pure Heresy (12)5.3 A person’s Family Is another Important Factor in Growth (13)5.4 Some Feelings about Their Love (14)iChapter6 Conclusion (14)BIBLIOGRAPHYiiAbstract: It was the era of social unrest in the United Kingdom when Emily Bronte wrote Wuthering Heights. Capitalism was developing rapidly and exposed its intrinsic flaws, social conflicts were intensified, and the real life was complex and brutal. The writer presented the readers a miniature of the real society in Wuthering Heights.Since human civilization came into being, the clash between humanity and civilization has become an eternal topic in literature. In the novel Wuthering Heights, it was almost the struggle between the personality and civilization that caused t he love to be killed. The novel shows us not only a vigorous love, but also a social choice. This thesis is proposed to analysis the clash between humanity and civilization from several aspects such as: the initial state of humanity, the challenges of humanity, the formation of heresy and s struggle, taking Wuthering Heights a s an example.humanity’Keywords：era; inherent flaws; civilization; vigorous love; personality摘要：艾米莉·勃朗特创作《呼啸山庄》时，正是英国社会动荡的时代。

资本主义正迅速发展并越来越暴露出它内在的缺陷，社会矛盾激化，社会现实复杂残酷。

在《呼啸山庄》里面，也给读者呈现了一个缩小了的社会。

关于人性与文明的抗争在人类文明出现之后就不断地发生。

在小说《呼啸山庄》里面，造成那段坎坷的爱情被扼杀的原因几乎也是围绕着个性与文明所做出的挣扎。

小说给我们展示的不仅仅是一段轰轰烈烈的爱情，而且是一个社会的抉择。

本文将从人性的初始状态，人性面临的挑战，异端的形成，人性的抗争等方面以《呼啸山庄》为例，分析人性与文明的碰撞。

关键词：呼啸山庄；文明；人性；爱情; 成长环境；碰撞Chapter1 Introductionsingle novel.When it was published in 1848, Wuthering Heights was Emily Bronte’ｓit did not cause much attention. Even the shock brought by the plot and characters in the1novel was considered as a kind of sickening horror.The author was in the age when capitalism developed fast in the United Kingdom. With the development of capitalism, bourgeois values had gradually penetrated into every corner of Britain. In Wuthering Heights, we can see two parties in conflict. In the wilderness there are Hendry, Linden and others representing of bourgeois values, the other party is the hero and heroine who live a simple and isolated life. The former who is hypocritical, selfish and cold, hold traditional moral beliefs and values, acting as the defenders of traditional values; the latter represent of the free, the unconstrained, and the dynamic spirit of the wilderness, called the true “Son of The Wild Land.”　The former stresses the tameness, obedience and defense of social order. The latter stresses independence, freedom and fulfillment individual will. Therefore the two forces representing different personality and concepts are bound to have irreconcilable conflict which has brought misery and destruction upon both sides.Chapter2 Initial State of Humanity2.1 Love Is Built on Knowing of Each OtherIn Wuthering Heights,what shocks readers most is the earth-shattering love between the hero and heroine. Their love is not the kind of love in the living room. In short, it isnot the love that we can control. It is a kind of power, which has become a force of our human’s confrontation, and almost overpowers our humans. Love is so strong that it can destroy people, destroy your reasons, and destroy your body while it lives forever. Emily created a love which is so terrible. Heathcliff developed his strong love and hate in a cruel life. When Catherine, the faithful lover of him, betrayed him, for vanity and ignorance hisfinally let this hatred burst extremely love was reduced into hate, and Catherine’s deathout like a volcano and became the motivation of his crazy revenge. He took revenge frantically. It seemed i rrational, but this behavior expressed his rebellious spirit to the utmost. It was a special character to resist the injustice of fate. However, the goodness of nature made him eventually give up the idea of revenge on the next generation through deep repentance. His strong love was replaced by deep sadness and depression, leaving2The Clash between Humanity and Civilization in Wuthering Heights3the stirring power of art becomes the backbone of this classic love story.Living in an isolated wilderness, and being free from any external disturbance, inchildhood Heathcliff and Catherine were like two cute little wizards flying freely in thiswide world. Since childhood they had been was confined in deserted w asteland, so the lively natures of innocent children were subject to the civilized world controlled by theadults. The daily life which depressed c hildren ’s personality and monotonous ritual are something they very much disliked.“I c an not stand that stuff. I picked up this book written in this dirty child, will it go suddenly thrown into the kennel, and swore that I hated a good book. Heathcliff also somehow he kicked the place to go with Andrew.”（P32）Disrespect for Christ and even this appalling “blasphemous ”behaviors were exactly the same in their characters. How difficult it is to reconcile little children ’s personality with the stereotyped, trite doctrines! For thousands of years, rigid religious dogma ruined many children ’s life and deprived of their nature, so that they became a dull shell. In Western literature, with rebellious children ’s images abound the hero and heroine in Wuthering Heights who hate and deny the Christian doctrine are completely quite rare.2.2 What Kind of Love between Hero and Heroine?On the Sunday night, Heathcliff, regardless the threat of Hendry, made noises by hisfingers in front of him. After the death of old Earnshaw, Hendry became the head of the family. He forced Heathcliff to do heavy farm work out of hatred, so Heathcliff was actually in a slave state. Katherine, defying his brother ’s order, kept a close relationship with Heathcliff, worked and played with him in the fields. Their companionship helpedthem resist all oppressions and punishments. As described in the novel: “How I hate my brother Hindley! He is so cruel to poor Heathcliff. If only my father hadn ’t died! While he was alive, Heathcliff was like a brother to Hindley and me. That horrible old servant Joseph is always angry with Heathcliff and me because we don ’t pray or study the Bible, and when he tells his master, Hindley says he is wicked, and can ’t play with me or eatwith me any more.”（赵兵，1997：P17）The common enemy and the similar personality of the two people combine them together to the degree that they are a part of each other.After reading Wuthering Heights, the readers will no doubt be moved by thisunforgettable deeply love and can not help marveling at their miserable fate. What exact love is?The heroine once confided to her servant:“Heathcliff is more important to me than myself. My love for Edgar is like the leaves on the trees-I am sure will change it. But my love for Heathcliff is like the rocks in the ground-not beautiful, but necessary and unchanging. He is always, always in my heart- .’’（赵兵，1997：P63）The reason why Catherine love Heathcliff is neither because he was handsome nor because he is wealthy, which can provide her with a comfortable life, but because they are congenial with each other. Here, love is not the pursuit of happiness, but the pursuit of oneself.The love between Heathcliff and Catherine is so strong and sincere. There was another confession what Catherine said to Allen “In I shall never let Heathcliff know how much I love him. I don’t love him because he is handsome, but because he is more I than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, Heathcliff’s and mine sure the same. Edgar’s is as different from mine as a moon-beam from lightning or frost from fire(刘维成，1992：P72)”Heathcliff said in anther way: “two words can be summed up in my future: death and hell. Lost her, life is also hell.”It seemed that the two people from acquaintance to knowing each other, and to the state that no one can exist without each other, were connected by fate. Once the love was gone, each side will not survive. Such kind of love is natural, original spiritual; because their souls are a whole without distinction, ignoring the two physical bodies.Chapter3 Challenges of Humanity3.1 The Trouble That Girl Catherine FacedAlthough, it is unforgettable of Catherine’s love to Heathcliff, Catherine can not resist gentleness.Edgar and his family are perfect. Their behaviors are confined strictly to civilized norms. They are the ideal model of secular society, being the brilliant example for delicate demeanor of ladies and gentlemen, and the most beautiful pearl nourishing by modern civilization. They have elegant manners and the virtue of tolerance. If there are some shortcomings, that is they are really too perfect. They are really civilized. However, a4The Clash between Humanity and Civilization in Wuthering Heights5 civilization of human society itself has duality in nature: civilization is not purely human’s brilliant, it also brings the shadow of depression, sometimes it is hypocritical, and sometimes it is cowardly.Emily never forgot to laugh at Edgar ’s coward liness in the book. When Edgar washumiliated by Catherine ’s slap on the face in his first love, he, to our surprise, could not maintain his self-respect but instead of surrendering to his sassy girl.Undeniably, Edgar is very good, although we more or less a little contempt forEdgar ’s weakness, this is not Edgar ’s defects, but intrinsic defects of civilization. They live in accordance with civilization. The brilliance of human civilization flashes on him.Defects of civilization are self-evident, because o n the one hand, human civilization is built on the basis of the conquest of nature. This inevitably deviates from the essence of nature, making people lose their original characters to a certain extent; On the other hand, when the civilization standardizes and integrates the original life of human beings, it deprives of the vitality and heroic courage.The formation of a civilized law, sometimes is suppressive, while sometimes isnecessary f or the maintenance of a good civil order. Civilization is always built on the basis of repression of Eros, and this repression, is of rationality to a certain degree. If everyone in this society act outside the norms like Catherine, then the human society has already been destructed. Maintenance of a civil society is often based on utilitarianpurposes and ethics. The presence of Eros always goes hand in hand with the breath of the devil. However, our heroine Catherine, does not love this world of perfection, and feel content in this heaven on earth. What haunts her dreams is still the original, innate, instinctive, natural, pure and emotional love, which has not been tamed by civilization. Catherine from is just a wild child, so she has her love for wilderness. Listen to Katherine ’s call from the soul –“Ellen, I once dreamed I was in heaven, but heaven did not seem to be my home, and I broke my heart weeping to come back to earth. The angels were so angry with me that they flung me out into the middle of the moor, on top of Wuthering Heights. I woke sobbing with joy.”(刘维成，1992：P70)Catherine and Edgar are not matched. It is not a m atch of temperament. As Edgar ’ssassy girl, Catherine is not competent partner. Though she tries to be a qualifiedhousewife after marriage a devil has always dwelled in her. And the devil ultimately destroys Edgar. Catherine is a possessed person. For her, the ideal secular marriage is a tomb for her soul.3.2 British Traditional Bourgeois Values of MarriageAs we cried for the tragedy of their love we may ask: what is the cause of the herothe happiness of their lives?and heroine’s love tragedy? Who ruinedIn a capitalist society which developed fast after the industrial revolution, money’s influence permeated all aspects of the capitalist superstructure. Marriage, as a form of the superstructure, is no exception. As a member in the capitalist society, the hero and heroine can not shake off the fetters of the money-oriented marriage system. This kind of marriages thinking andis like an invisible shackle that has circumscribed the hero and heroine’behavior, so that their individualities can not develop freely.Although our heroine from an early age has a kind of rebellious spirit, she nonetheless belongs to a rich family, and belongs to up-society. She and Heathcliff who come from an unknown place can not match on the social status. Between the two spans there is an insurmountable gap. Catherine, as a maiden in the upper class, has been accustomed to luxurious way of life. Although she is infatuated with Heathcliff’s unique charm and character, and even regards him as another self, due to the limitations of the class, and shackle of traditional ideas, she can not imagine, even dare to bear the consequences if she married Heathcliff, so she has no courage to cross bridge of the class.3.3 Warm between PeopleSometimes we feel the outside world is very large, while our living space is too small. We can hardly find our love, because we have few choices to choose from. Love in this wilderness, however, is almost impossible to exist in our real life. This stormy love is an illusion. Only after people are deported to the wilderness, then, they feel and understand this love. Those who have been captured by such a loving soul, definitely have a sense ofs pen, or a not living on earth. Such a love is often an exaggeration under romantic poet’strong rebellion caused by suppressed love.Although Emily is a novelist who has the temperament of a poet, she still described the softhearted feelings between Catherine and Edgar prudently and rationally. This6The Clash between Humanity and Civilization in Wuthering Heights7simple warm care and trivial consideration between the two is true and touching in the same. This love grows in accordance with the rules of civilization. Perhaps this kind oflove compared to the non-human one, is too bleak and boring, but we should keep in mind that love is just an original childish impulse and a kind of aesthetic allusion after all. It is an emotion to find a release of pleasure, and lack of far sight and deep wisdom. When those non-humans images disappear, the love will die along with it too. The ties that maintain the real order of human society and civilization is not that kind of vigorous love but an average light, profound feelings of warmth, which is immortal. Immeasurable happy families are based on the warmth.Chapter4 Humanity Is Distorted4.1 The Nature of Tree Is a Symbol of Humanity.The story begins with a description of the natural environment around WutheringHeight. The fierce storm often visits this Hill:“Just look at those poor tilt of the fir tree at the end of the house, all the branchestoward the same direction, you can think that how the power of the north wind grasping.”(赵兵，1997：P3)This is a poetic and personalized description, with a high degree of symbolicsignificance. Constant and fierce north wind year-round, do not allow the trees to grow towards sky, forcing them to go one-sided. Trees have lost its original beautiful shape. The nature of the tree is contorted by the big wind.In this works, the nature of tree is a symbol of humanity. Humanity bears thepressure throughout the year, thus cruelly distorted and wrecked like badly tilted trees.4.2 Reasons for the Formation of Heresy.Heathcliff is a child brought back from the street by the master of Wuthering Heights.When a person grows up in an environment away from the parents, it is very easy for him to form a pathologically eccentric personality, because o nly parents can make the most intimate contacts and exchanges with their children, a natural form of communication that can not be replaced by any other approaches, because the vast majority of human beingsare grown up in the arms of their parents. This is the habit of human society. In one sense, child who loses their parents is a child abandoned b y civilization. There are also some children, although they have not lost their parents, since the parents are not fulfilling their responsibilities as a father and mother, then they are also unfortunate, because they have neither the resources to develop their own nature, nor opportunities of integration with the civilization. These children can only survive in a narrow environment with distorted personality.In Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff used to have a golden age. His old host loved himvery much, which made Hendry hate and be jealousy of him. The love between him and Catherine also quietly sprout at this time. But the golden age of his life was soon destructed. When the old master passed away, Heathcliff was in an inferior status lowerthan that of the humble servants after Hendry became the new owner. His close partner Catherine also became the object of revenge of her brother, thus lost a rich girl’s dignity. That wind in Wuthering Heights was not just whistling outside the cottage, but also raged within the house. Heathcliff lived in such an environment where a cold wind was blowingall the day, and developed a morbid personality and a pathological way of life. He is so unreasonable, suspicious, melancholy, aloof, sensitive, indifferent, bad tempered, and away from the real world, because he lives in his own inner world. For Heathcliff, there isa hell of loneliness in his heart where there is hatred and death. He is a person abandonedby civilization. He was hurt by the civil society, but he has a stubborn faith love towards Catherine. The more obstacles presented by civilization, the stronger the love is, because despite love, he has nothing in this world. He does not require more of this world, as longas getting together with the person who he loves; Human wealth and status are insignificant in his eyes. The devil will therefore arise.This heresy is the failure of marriage. Marriage and love are not the same: The basisof marriage is material, because marriage needs to conclude a new social order. Love can cross the gap of all social levels and all barriers of the material world, as long as the two share the same feelings. Marriage needs to face the adjustment of the social order, changes of social status and the distribution of benefits. As a heresy outside the civilized order, Heathcliff apparently lack enough materials to make the love last and get a8The Clash between Humanity and Civilization in Wuthering Heights9complete and happy ending. So when Catherine determined to marry Edgar, Heathcliff went abroad in despair.4.3 The Role of EnvironmentIn Wuthering Heights, the author gave a different environment at every stage inaccordance with the change of Heathcliff ’s personality. Heathcliff was good and quietwhen he came to the wilderness and fell in love with Catherine. After hearing C atherine ’s confession, he lost the lover he could rely on, and his love lost the object of attachment, so he chose to escape from this environment. The betrayal of his lover changed his living environment; his personality also changed dramatically, resulting in this crazy plan of revenge. When he re-entered this old homeland with the plan of his revenge, he gradually became the master of Wuthering Heights and the Grange, and his enemies have died in row. The change of his social status and the death of his enemies, made his revenge plans lose the meaning of consideration, he seemed to have thoroughly disillusioned. The remnants of virtue rose again. He gives his kindness to the next generation and he also received an eternal life himself: “Two Wizards ”, “hand in hand wandering in the wilderness ”,under the ground the two continued their non-human love. 4.4 The Character of Heathcliff’s Personality In Heathcliff ’s personality, it can be said that traces of the tradition almost leftnothing in him. He seems to have no place in any civilized society. He is a natural person. He is a complete rebel against traditional values of civilization. The arrangement of his unknown identity in Wuthering Heights seems to imply that he has no sense of belonging in a civilized society. Indeed, he is incompatible with the value system of all civilized society. Although being humble and helpless, he never feels inferior, and struggles with the traditional forces relentlessly to defend his dignity and pursuit spiritual freedom, which expresses the powerful force that can change human ’s fate under the pen of Emily ’s.Russian literary critic Belinsky once said : “You will not be a requirement imposed on the poet vector loyal to his tendency, but asked him to vector loyal to his own tendency not to go against his own nature, do not evade his duty.” (3)The figure Heathcliff created by Emily Bronte is real and complies with the rules of her own life. It is not her ownsubjective creation. The various characters in Wuthering Heights can find their true colors in the real world. The characters are real; the fate of characters is deplorable. That is the reason why the novel causes so much shock. Emily removed the society of her era to the wilderness, showing the dark side of the whole society to the readers. Heathcliff is a microcosm and a symbol of thousands of poor people. And his tragedy is also the tragedy of thousands of the poor in a rich community. In a society represented by the prevailing capitalist, this novel was not recognized by the community at the time, shows the wide range of practical significance is reflected in the character of Heathcliff who has a tragic fate.Chapter5 Struggle of Humanity5.1 The Meaning of the Process of Growing Up.The process of growing up is a continuous process of socialization, a continuous process towards civilization and perfection. Maybe everyone more or less was born with certain anti-social and anti-civilization tendencies while the process of socialization is a process of eliminating the tendency, because the birth of all evil comes from the infinite expansion of personality. Personality must yield to the rules of community and then we can get our place in society, or we will be abandoned by society. Although there are some darlings of fate who have sufficient resources to fend for them, who can avoid social responsibility and at the same time withstand violations from civilization, in a civilized society, the vast majority of people must take up social responsibility.annoyance is often experienced in the course of socialization; this is a Catherine’scommon trouble people will encounter in the process of growing up. On the one hand, Catherine wants to pursue her own personality, on the other hand she subjects to the pressure from civilized society, and succumbs to the order of civilization and reality. She lives in between civilization and heresy suffering the pain of tearing the soul. If Edgar is living in heaven, and Heathcliff is living in hell, then Catherine can be said to live in purgatory. This kind of tragedy is the most painful.There are two factors that are most important in the process of human socializations:10。