Abstract:Death plays an important role in western literature. Many famous writers such as Home, Dante, Rabelais, Shakespeare, Goethe, and Kafka have ever studied this issue during different periods. Death became a hot issue after 1980s, due to the mass translation and introduction of  the works concerning western philosophy, sociology and other humanities, with the result that more and more scholars tend to analyze the philosophical essence of death, holding the view that death shows respect to humanity and individual value.

As a fantastic literary work of 19th Century English literature, Wuthering Heights shocks most readers with its romantic style as well as minute description of extreme love and hate. More and more scholars have devoted themselves to this novel, studying, reviewing, exploring and discussing this great work. They focus on a wide range of issues related to this novel, including the topic, essence, characters, Emily’s life experience, motivation and so on. According to statistics, 12 characters in Wuthering Heights die of different reasons. Death appears from the beginning to the end, which is quite rare in novel creation. 

The thesis consists of five parts to discuss the uses of death and as well as its effects.

The first part introduces Emily Bronte and her great work, Wuthering Heights, then lists the comments of other writers and scholars on her works, and expresses the purpose of this thesis. The second part introduces the philosophical and religious origins of death, and the role of death in literary works. The third part analyzes the causes of Emily’s using death as a theme in Wuthering Heights. The fourth part explains how Emily develops the theme of death in an innovative way, and the hidden love-hate story and humanity recovery beneath the leading characters’ death. Finally, the conclusion makes a summary of the significance of death theme and this thesis.

Keywords: death; Wuthering Heights; Emily Bronte; English literature

Contents

中文摘要

Abstract

Chapter 1 Introduction-3

1.1 Emily Bronte and Her Major Literary Achievements-3

1.2 A Brief Introduction to Wuthering Heights-4

1.3 Previous Research about Emily Bronte and her works-4

1.4 The Purpose and Significance of This Research-5

Chapter 2 Death-5

2.1 The Philosophical and Religious Origins-5

2.2 The Role of Death in Literary Works-6

Chapter 3 Emily Bronte and Her Perference for Theme of Death-7

3.1 Influence of Family Background-7

3.2 Influence of Moors Environment-8

3.3 Influence of Scottish Folks and Fairy Tales-8

3.4 Influence of Death in Victorian England-9

Chapter 4 Death in Wuthering Heights-10

4.1 The Death of Catherine-10

4.1.1 Factors Leading to Her Death-10

4.1.2 Ghost-choosing as Her Destination-12

4.2 The Death of Heathcliff-13

4.2.1 Humanity recovery Connecting to His Death-13

4.2.2 Everlasting Hope Hidden in His Death-14

Chapter 5 Conclusion-16

References-19

Acknowledgements-20