A Brief Study on the Connection between Names and Dispositions in Wuthering Heights.doc

a brief study on the connection between names and dispositions in wuthering heights abstract: the whole story of wuthering heights is told in an extraordinary way, which is embodied in its abstruse theme and form, and the implied meaning of characters names is an indispensable part of it. emily bronte carefully and intentionally gave name to each character in wuthering heights. this paper mainly focuses on the study of two characters names and the connection between names and dispositions: heathcliff and hareton. through analyzing the names of those two characters, we could have a better understanding of their dispositions and their quite different fate.key words: wuthering heights; names; dispositions.i. analysis of the name of heathcliff and his disposition.undoubtedly, heathcliff is unique and quite different from other characters in wuthering heights; he is a mixture of a hero and a failure, of passion and violence, and of love and hatred. after finishing the novel, most of readers feel puzzled and surprised at heathliff, what he has experienced and what he has done both can evoke toward him of sympathy, contempt, scorn and indignation.heathcliff, this unique name bears his unusual social status and disposition. after his death, his gravestone just has one word on itheathcliff, both this mans given name and family name. as we all know, heathcliff is an orphan, when he is alive, no one cares about where he is coming and what he is going to do; when he is dead, nobody comes to visit his tomb and shears tears for him. we can dare to guess that emily would not allow any other people to bear this name, there is only one heathcliff, and he is unprecedented.now lets have a detailedly study of this nameheathcliff. in this name, “heath” represents barren or waste lands, “cliff” obviously means steep precipices, just according to this names literal meaning, and its easy to find out that there is not any softness. his name just like crashing thunder sweeps through the far woods and fields, and then his behaviors look like rough and raging natural disasters, and they seem to swallow the mankind and destroy all the human beings. however, this name is not evil or brutality, it more relates to the human nature, passion and long repressed hatred. he himself is like an abandoned or waste land, vast and rough, there should be someone ploughing and weeding it, unfortunately, his most possible farmercatherine earnshaw comes to him, pauses for a while , and then quickly passes by. therefore, thousands of thistles and thorns grow so swiftly and violently on this waste land that no one dares to step on it. so in all his life, heathcliff is struggling alone, fighting alone and living alone. he dreams and endeavors to make his life colorful, but adopts an extreme way to pursuit his happiness. he is abandoned and so he makes up his mind to pay back the whole world an eye for eye, so when catherine marries to mr. linton, he loses his mind and spends no efforts to revenge. i should say heathcliffs revenge is largely driven by his strong and storming-like disposition.ii. analysis of the name of hareton and his disposition.hareton is the only son of the earnshaw in the third generation and also the eventual successor of two families. in some degree, his childhood is surprisingly like heathcliffno parents love and caring. but heathcliff is companied by catherine in his early years, at this point, hareton is much sadder. his name “hare” means “rabbit”, and “ton” is a suffix, so “hareton” means “a rabbit”. the rabbit is full of vigor and energy; on the other hand, it is always threatened by nature and human beings. in wuthering heights, hareton grows up under the control of heathcliff, he becomes rude, has a foul mouth and cuts loose from old ties. wild as he is , but not as extreme as heathcliff, for example, he shows great forgiveness and acceptance when he knows that heathcliff deprives him of everything, both spiritual and material; and when heathcliff is dead, “but poor hareton, the most wronged, was the only one who really suffered much. he sat by the corpse all night, weeping in bitter earnest. he pressed its hand, and kissed the sarcastic savage face that everyone else shrank from contemplating.” (emily bronte, 2006:431) heathcliff and young hareton are both totally or largely affected by two catherines. catherine earnshaws depart with haethcliff makes heathcliff brutal and crazy, while catherine lintons companionship with hareton changes hareton into a literate and polite man. namelessly, hareton is descended from a dignified family, which he can be proud of. but at first he is a rough diamond, then for his restless striving for knowledge and love, he defeats the hatred and eventually becomes a gentleman. the young hareton together with the beautiful young cathy brings back life to this old house, and becomes the heights eventual host.iii. conclusion. the names of characters in wuthering heights are abundant in meanings, reflecting the intentions of the author. we are impressed with heathcliffs passion and brutality, and his love and hatred make us reproach ourselves. while in the case