20 quotes
A Tale of Love and Reckless Hate
Taglines
A Poignant Drama Of Chastised Love ! Reckless Hate that made a fighting fury of a stranger!
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A Haunting Encounter on the Moor
Ellen
She calls him, and he follows her out to the moor.
Lockwood
Oh, he's mad. He's like a madman. He seized me by the collar and dragged me out. You see, I had a dream. I thought I heard a voice calling. I reached out to close the shutter and something touched me, something cold and clinging like an icy hand. And then I saw her, a woman, but then my senses must have become disordered, because the falling snow shaped itself into what looked like a phantom...
Ellen
It was Cathy.
Lockwood
Who is Cathy?
Ellen
A girl who died.
Lockwood
Oh no, I don't believe in ghosts. I don't believe in phantoms sobbing through the night.
[startled]
Ellen
Poor Cathy.
Lockwood
I don't believe that life comes back, once it's died, and calls again to the living. No, I don't.
Ellen
Maybe if I told you a story, you'd change your mind about the dead coming back. Maybe you'd know, as I do, that there is a force that brings them back, if their hearts were wild enough in life.
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Love's Enduring Echo Beyond Death
Ellen
I can still see and hear that wild hour, with poor Heathcliff trying to tear away the veil between death and life, crying out to Cathy's soul to haunt him and torment him til he died.
Lockwood
You say that was Cathy's ghost I heard at the window?
Ellen
Not a ghost, but Cathy's love, stronger than time itself, still sobbing for its unlived days and uneaten bread.
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Heathcliff's Despair Over Catherine's Death
Ellen
Oh my wild heart! Miss Cathy. She's gone! She's gone!
Dr. Kenneth
You've done your last black deed, Heathcliff. Leave this house.
Edgar
She's at peace now, in Heaven beyond us.
Heathcliff
What do they know of Heaven or Hell, Cathy, who know nothing of life? Oh, they're praying for you, Cathy. I'll pray one prayer with them - I repeat til my tongue stiffens - Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest so long as I live on! I killed you. Haunt me, then! Haunt your murderer! I know that ghosts have wandered on the Earth. Be with me always. Take any form, drive me mad, only do not leave me in this dark alone where I cannot find you. I cannot live without my life! I cannot die without my soul!
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Love, Revenge, and Emotional Conflict
Cathy
Oh Heathcliff, you must not do this...she hasn't harmed you.
[about his plan to marry Isabella and neglect her]
Heathcliff
You have.
Cathy
Then punish me.
Heathcliff
I'm going to. When I take her in my arms, when I kiss her, when I promise her life and happiness.
Cathy
Oh Heathcliff, if there's anything human left in you, don't do this! Don't make me a partner to such a crime. It's stupid, it's mad!
Heathcliff
If you ever looked at me once with what I know is in you, I would be your slave. Cathy, if your heart were only stronger than your dull fear of God and the world, I would live silently contented in your shadow. But no, you must destroy us both with that weakness you call virtue. You must keep me tormented with that cruelty you think so pious. You've been smug and pleased with my vile love of you, haven't you? Haven't you? Well, after this, you can think of me as something else than Cathy's foolish and despairing lover. You can think of me as Isabella's husband. And be glad for my happiness as I was for yours.
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Longing and Heartbreak in Wuthering Heights
Cathy
You're very grand Heathcliff, so handsome. Looking at you tonight, I could not help but remember how things used to be.
Heathcliff
They used to be better.
Cathy
Don't pretend life hasn't improved for you.
Heathcliff
Life has ended for me. How can you stand here beside me and pretend not to remember? Not to know that my heart is breaking for you. That your face is the wonderful light burning in all this darkness.
[A long pause]
Cathy
Heathcliff no, I forbid it.
Heathcliff
Do you forbid what your heart is saying to me now?
Cathy
It's saying nothing.
Heathcliff
It tis. I can hear the love of the music. Oh Cathy, Cathy.
Cathy
I'm not the Cathy that was. Can you understand that? I'm somebody else. I'm another man's wife and he loves me. And I love him.
Heathcliff
If he loved you with all the power of his soul for the whole lifetime, he couldn't love you as much as I do in a single day. Not he, not the world. Not even you Cathy can come between us.
Cathy
Heathcliff, you must go away. You must leave this house and never come back to it. I never want to see your face again or listen to your voice again as long as I live.
Heathcliff
You lie. I did come here tonight because you willed it. You willed me here to cross the sea.
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A Tale of Love and Vengeance
Taglines
A Story of Vengeful Thwarted Love.
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A Promise of Return and Revenge
Cathy
Go on, Heathcliff. Run away. Bring me back the world.
Heathcliff
I'm going. I'm going from here and from this cursed country both...But I'll be back in this house one day, Judge Linton, and I'll pay you out. I'll bring this house down in ruins about your heads. That's my curse on you. On all of you.
[He spits downward]
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Search for Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights
Cathy
Heathcliff. Is he here?
Ellen
Oh yes, he came back one night last week with great talk of lying in a lake of fire without you. How he had to see you to live. He's unbearable. I wonder where he could be, the scoundrel. Heathcliff? Heathcliff?
Heathcliff
Cathy!
Cathy
Heathcliff!
Heathcliff
Why did you stay so long in that house?
Cathy
Didn't expect to find you here?
Heathcliff
Why did you stay so long?
Cathy
Why? Because I was having a wonderful time. A delightful, fascinating, wonderful time. Among human beings. Go and wash your face and hands Heathcliff. And comb your hair so that I needn't be ashamed of you in front of a guest.
[Edgar walks into the room and stands next to Cathy]
Ellen
Heathcliff! What are you doing in this part of the house? Go and look after Mr. Linton's horses.
Heathcliff
Let him look after his own.
Cathy
Heathcliff!
[She is restrained by Edgar]
Edgar
I've already done so.
Cathy
Apologize to Mr. Linton at once.
[Heathcliff walks out of the room without a word]
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Heathcliff's Noble Heritage Revealed
Edgar
Well, what brought about this amazing transformation? Did you, uh, discover a gold mine in the New World, or perhaps you fell heir to a fortune?
Heathcliff
The truth is, I remembered that my father was an Emperor of China and my mother was an Indian Queen. And I went out and claimed my inheritance. It all turns out just as you suspected Cathy - that I had been kidnapped by wicked sailors and brought to England, that I was of noble birth.
[He glances at Cathy, watching her reaction to their childhood make-believe]
Cathy
Are you visiting here long? I mean, in the village?
Heathcliff
For the rest of my life. I've just bought Wuthering Heights - the house, the stock, and the moors.
Edgar
You mean that Hindley has sold you the estate?
Heathcliff
He's not aware of it as yet. I'm afraid it will be somewhat of a surprise to him when he finds out that his gambling debts and liquor bills were all paid up for him by his former stable boy. Or perhaps he will merely laugh at the irony of it, Mr. Linton.
Cathy
Edgar and I have many neighbors whom we receive with hospitality and friendship. And if you are to be one of them, you're welcome to visit our house, but not with a scowl on your face or an old bitterness in your heart.
Heathcliff
Thank you. It occurs to me that I have not congratulated you on your marriage. I've often thought of it. Allow me to express my delight over your happiness now.
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Class Distinction and Personal Loyalty Explored
Edgar
I simply cannot understand how your brother can allow that beast of a gypsy to have the run of the house.
Cathy
Don't talk about him.
Edgar
Cathy, how can you, a gentle-woman, tolerate him under your roof? A roadside beggar giving himself airs of equality. How can you?
Cathy
What do you know about Heathcliff?
Edgar
All I need or want to know.
Cathy
He was my friend long before you.
Edgar
That blackguard!
Cathy
Blackguard and all. He belongs under this roof and you speak well of him or get out.
Edgar
Are you out of your senses?
Cathy
Get out I said, or stop calling those I love names.
Edgar
Those you love?
Cathy
Yes! Yes!
Edgar
Cathy, what possesses you? Do you realize the things you're saying?
Cathy
I see that I hate you. I hate the look of your milk-white face, I hate the touch of your soft, foolish hands.
Edgar
Some of that gypsy's evil soul has gone into you I think.
Cathy
Yes, it's true!
Edgar
So that beggar's dirt is on you?
Cathy
Yes, yes! Now get out!
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Imaginary Nobility and Childhood Dreams
Young Cathy
You're so handsome when you smile...Don't you know that you're handsome? Do you know what I've always told Ellen? That you're a prince in disguise...I said your father was the Emperor of China. Your mother an Indian queen. And it's true Heathcliff. You were kidnapped by wicked sailors and brought to England. But I'm glad they did. Because I've always wanted to know somebody of noble birth.
Young Heathcliff
All the princes I ever read about had castles.
Young Cathy
Of course, they captured them. You must capture one too. There's a beautiful castle that lies waiting for your lance, Sir Prince.
[Cathy points up at Peniston Crag]
Young Heathcliff
You mean Peniston Crag?
Young Cathy
Yes.
Young Heathcliff
Aw, that's just a rock.
Young Cathy
If you can't see that that's a castle, you'll never be a prince, Heathcliff. Here, take your lance and charge. See that black knight waiting at the drawbridge - Challenge him! Now charge... Heathcliff! You killed him. You killed him. You killed the black knight.
[She hands him the riding whip; After a make-believe struggle]
Young Heathcliff
He deserved it, for all his wicked deeds.
Young Cathy
Oh it's a wonderful castle. Heathcliff, let's never leave it.
Young Heathcliff
Never in our lives. Let all the world confess, that there is not in all the world a more beautiful damsel than the Princess Catherine of Yorkshire.
Young Cathy
But I - I'm still your slave.
[She curtsies down to serve him]
Young Heathcliff
No Cathy. I now make you my queen. Whatever happens out there, here, you will always be my queen.
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Conflict Over Social Interactions and Preferences
Heathcliff
You're not gonna sit all evening, simpering in front of him again, listening to his silly talk.
Cathy
Oh I'm not?
Heathcliff
No.
Cathy
Well Heathcliff I am. It's much more entertaining than listening to a stable boy.
Heathcliff
Cathy. Don't you talk like that.
Cathy
I will. Go away. This is my room. It's a ladies room. Not a room for servants with dirty hands to come into with their insulting complaints. Now let me alone.
Heathcliff
Yes. Yes. Tell the dirty stable boy to let go of you. He soiled your pretty dress. But who soiled your heart? Not Heathcliff. Who turns you into a vain, cheap, worldly fool? Linton does. You'll never love him, but you'll let yourself be loved because it pleases your stupid, greedy vanity. Loved by that milksop with buckles on his shoes...
Cathy
Stop it. Stop it and get out. You had your chance to be something else. The people's servant were all you were born to be, a beggar in the center of the road, begging for favors, not earning them but whimpering for them with your dirty hands.
Heathcliff
That's all I've become to you. A pair of dirty hands. Well, have them then. Have them where they belong! It doesn't help to strike you.
[He strikes her across the face with one hand, and then with the other]
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A Dream of Reunion and Longing
Cathy
Heathcliff. Come here.
[on her deathbed]
Heathcliff
Cathy...
Cathy
I was dreaming that I wake up before I die, that you might come and scowl at me once more.
Heathcliff
Cathy...
Cathy
Oh, Heathcliff. Oh how strong you look. How many years do you mean to live after I'm gone? Don't, don't let me go. If I could only hold you until we were both dead. Will you forget me when I'm in the earth?
[They passionately hug and kiss each other, finally revealing their truest emotions to each other]
Heathcliff
I could as soon forget you with my own life, Cathy, if you die.
Cathy
Boy, Heathcliff. Come. Let me feel how strong you are.
Heathcliff
Strong enough to bring us both back to life, Cathy, if you want to live.
Cathy
No, Heathcliff, I want to die.
Heathcliff
Oh Cathy, why did you kill yourself?
Cathy
Hold me. Just hold me.
Heathcliff
Oh, and love comfort you. My tears don't love you, Cathy. They blight and curse and damn you!
Cathy
Heathcliff, don't break my heart.
Heathcliff
Oh Cathy, I never broke your heart. You broke it! Cathy! Cathy! You loved me! What right to throw love away for the poor fancy thing you felt for him, for a handful of worthiness. Misery and death and all the evils that God and man could have ever done would never have parted us. You'd be better alone. You wandered off like a wanton, greedy child to break your heart and mine.
Cathy
Heathcliff, forgive me. We've so little time.
Heathcliff
I won't go, Cathy. I'm here. I'll never leave you again.
Cathy
I told you, Ellen. When you went away that night in the rain, I told you I belonged to him, that he was my life, my being.
Ellen
Don't listen to her ravings.
Cathy
It's true. It's true. I'm yours, Heathcliff. I've never been anyone else's.
Ellen
She doesn't know what she's saying. You can still get out. Go before they get here.
Cathy
Take me to the window. Let me look at the moors with you once more. My darling, once more. Heathcliff, can you see the Crag over there where our castle is? I'll wait for you til you come.
[Heathcliff carries her in his arms to the window]
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A Tense Conversation About Choices and Change
Cathy
It would be dreadful if Hindley ever found out.
Heathcliff
Found out what? Can't you talk to me once in a while?
Cathy
Shouldn't talk to you at all. Look at you. You get worse every day. Dirty, unkempt, and in rags. Why aren't you a man? Heathcliff, why don't you run away?
Heathcliff
Run away? From you?
Cathy
You could come back to me rich and take me away. Why aren't you my prince like we said long ago? Why can't you rescue me Heathcliff?
Heathcliff
Cathy, come with me now.
Cathy
Where?
Heathcliff
Anywhere.
Cathy
And live in haystacks and steal our food from the marketplaces? No Heathcliff, that's not what I want.
Heathcliff
You just want to send me off. That won't do. I've stayed here and been beaten like a dog, abused and cursed and driven mad, but I stayed just to be near you, even as a dog. And I'll stay til the end. I'll live and I'll die under this rock.
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Desire for Forgiveness and Belonging
Heathcliff
I want to crawl to her feet, whimper to be forgiven, for loving me, for needing her more than my own life, for belonging to her more than my own soul.
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Conflict Between Love and Social Expectations
Ellen
Well, if Master Edgar and his charms and money and parties mean Heaven to you, what's to keep you from taking your place among the Linton angels?
Cathy
I don't think I belong in Heaven, Ellen. I dreamt once that I was there. I dreamt I went to Heaven, and that Heaven didn't seem to be my home. And I broke my heart with weeping to come back to Earth. And the angels were so angry they flung me out into the middle of the heap, on top of Wuthering Heights. And I woke up sobbing with joy. That's it, Ellen. I have no more business marrying Edgar Linton than I have of being in Heaven. But Ellen, Ellen, what can I do?
Ellen
You're thinking of Heathcliff.
Cathy
Who else? He's sunk so low. He seems to take pleasure in being mean and brutal. And yet, he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same. And Linton's is as different as frost from fire...Ellen, I am Heathcliff. Everything he's suffered, I've suffered. The little happiness he's ever known I've had too. Oh Ellen, if everything in the world died and Heathcliff remained, life would still be full for me.
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A Moment of Eternal Connection
Cathy
Forgive me, Heathcliff. Forgive me. Heathcliff. Make the world stop right here. Make everything stop and stand still and never move again. Make the moors never change, and you and I never change.
Heathcliff
The moors and I will never change. Don't you, Cathy.
Cathy
I can't. I can't. No matter what I ever do or say Heathcliff, this is me, now, standing on this hill with you. This is me forever. Heathcliff, when you went away, what did you do? Where did you go?
Heathcliff
I went to Liverpool. One night, I shipped for America on a brigantine going to New Orleans. We were held up by the tide and I lay all night long on the deck, thinking of you, and the years and years ahead without you. I jumped overboard and swam ashore.
Cathy
I think I'd died if you hadn't.
Heathcliff
Cathy, we're not thinking of that other world now.
Cathy
Smell the heather. Heathcliff. Fill my arms with heather. All they can hold. Come on.
[She stands and holds her arms outstretched]
Heathcliff
Cathy. You're still my queen.
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Heathcliff's Passion and Vengeance
Taglines
I am Heathcliff! I love a woman who belongs to another man!... My love was fierce... my hate is burning! I will have vengeance!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Conflict of Desire and Hate
Taglines
I am torn by Desire... tortured by hate!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.