s to desire to save themselves. To change themselves, they would have had to know themselves first, and neither of them is able to do that. Heathcliff is controlled by his rage and pride, and Catherine is controlled by her weakness, her beliefs that she needs Heathcliff to be complete.The evil destructiveness of their love finally kills Catherine, and Heathcliff is in a state of madness. The sign of goodness is in the fruits of the acts of love. The sign of evil is also in the fruits of the acts of evil. It might not be fair to say that the love of Catherine and Heathcliff is entirely evil, but it is clear that much evil has come out of it. Still, the love is a good thing, and then it is difficult to see how we can call such a miserable relationship love at all. Perhaps love is first and foremost a caring for the beloved, which leads us to do everything, we can to avoid hurting him or her. Heathcliff was incapable of controlling himself in such a way that he would not hurt Catherine by his rageful actions. And Catherine, hurt so many times directly and indirectly by Heathcliff’s anger and pride, was finally driven to evil herself by her pain.When Catherine dies, Heathcliff’s insane misery shows us a man left alone with the evil results of the selfish actions of a lifetime:I distinguished Mr. Heathcliff’s step, restlessly measuring the floor;and he frequently broke the silence, by a deep inspiration, resembling a groan.He muttered detached words, also; the only one, I could catch, was the name of Catherine, coupled with some wild term of endearment, or suffering; and spokenas one would speak to a person present---- low and earnest, and wrung from he depth of his soul (362).This is a portrait of a man in a living hell, a hell he created for himself because of his evil actions.It is up to the individual reader how he or she interprets the relationship of Heathcliff and Catherine. It may be that these two people who were i...
