Ａ Ｃｏｍｐａｒａｔｉｖｅ Ｓｔｕｄｙ ｏｆ“Ｗｕｔｈｅｒｉｎｇ Ｈｅｉｇｈｔｓ”ａｎｄ“Ｒｅｃｏｒｄ ｏｆ ａ Ｇｏｌｄｅｎ Ｌｏｃｋ”

南　楠　韩　涛

摘要:《呼啸山庄》和《金锁记》都是著名的小说。本文旨在从四个方面比较两部作品:金钱与爱情,人格扭曲与复仇,城市与乡村环境,希望与绝望。前两部分是关于两者的相同之处,后两部分是不同之处。作者艾米莉••勃朗特和张爱玲在各自的作品中展现和分析了主人公西斯克里夫与曹七巧的内心世界。

关键词:《呼啸山庄>, 《金锁记》

In 1847, English writer Emily Brontes single and unique work “Wuthering Heights” was published. In China, about a hundred years later, “Record of a Golden Lock”, considered to be Eileen Chang (Zhang Ailing)s greatest achievement, came out in 1943. The two works were not recognized when they were published and all opposed at first, the value and meaning of them was developed and agreed until many years later.

This article will study “Wuthering Heights” and“Record of a Golden Lock” in order to find a way of building bridges between people to communicate and develop deep understanding. There are four aspects: Money and Love, Personality Distortion and Revenge, Urban area and Rural area, Hope and Despair. The first two aspects are the similarities, while the last two aspects deal with the differences between the two works. The paper will compare the two works in these aspects.

Money and Love

It is difficult to give a definite relationship between money and love. Nowadays, it is also difficult to get both money and love. Catherine and Heathcliff form a kind of indispensable union and emotional bond, and Cao Qiqiao loves Jiang Jize with her life. But in making marriage choice, they all choose money first. “Wuthering Heights” and “Record of a Golden Lock” describe their struggle between money and love from different aspects.

Catherine says:“My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff miseries, and I watched and felt each form the beginning; my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and, if all else remained, and he was annihilated, the Universe would turn to a mighty stranger. I should not seem a part of it.” (“Wuthering Heights” P 82)

This shows her passionate love for Heathcliff and this is led by her “super—ego” (caring for the realization of self ideal).

However, Catherine chooses Linton for marriage, and she decides to betray her nature and her soul. Her “ego” (caring for the practical and immediate profit) tells her that marrying Linton is the best choice, which can bring her money and simple happiness. Catherine says, “He will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest women of the neighbourhood, and I shall be proud of having such a husband.” (“Wuthering Heights” P 78) And she has another plan, “whereas, if I marry Linton, I can aid Heathcliff to rise, and place him out of my brothers power.” (“Wuthering Heights” P 81) Catherines tragedy begins from then on. When Heathcliff comes to her life again, she can no longer keep her illusion about Linton. Catherine is aware that in her inner soul she must choose death if she betrays Heathcliff.

Heathcliff wants to get money in order to raise his status and finally he is as rich as Catherine. But money cant recover their hopeless love and irresistible fate. He just wants to revenge and destroy. His mind loses balance and his humanity dies.

In “Record of a Golden Lock”, Eileen gives a more apparent expression of the influence of money on people in civilization in Shanghai. Cao comes from an urban petty bourgeois family in Shanghai. It is obvious that she cant satisfy her life because of lacking of money.

The focus of Caos life is gold and money. When there is no hope of love, she becomes the slave of gold bit by bit. For money, she gives up her youth, staying with her husband “who just have body, but is not live.” (“Record of a Golden Lock” P 53) For money, She smashes illusion of her love with Jiang Jize after ten years, and it is her last hope to satisfy her love. The only goal in her life is to protect the money that she got with her youth. Later she even tells her daughter, “ You couldnt love any men! Everyone of them wants to get your money. It is difficult for me to get money and it is more difficult to keep it. Its turn to you to keep it, I couldnt make you cheated to lose it.” (“Record of a Golden Lock” P 61) She thinks that she is the master of money, but in fact, she is just the slave of money. She distorts personality in the golden yoke.

Personality Distortion and Revenge

Although Heathcliff and Cao have right to allot money freely, they cant make themselves comfortable and happy. On one hand, they choose a way of fleeing, and they adopt psychopathic form to control other people so as to show up their strength. On the other hand, the reason for psychopathic behaviour is that they want to revenge deeply. Revenger and people who are revenged are oppressed with personality distortion and revenge.

The story is started by the specific piercing wind in “Wuthering Heights”. “ ‘Wuthering is Yorkshire dialect for ‘weathering which is indicative of ‘the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather.” (“Selected Reading in English and American Literatures” P 273) In Wuthering Heights, trees are twisted, while the persons are psychopathic to different degrees. Among all the psychopathic characters in “Wuthering Heights”, Heathcliff is the most typical one whose personality is split by intense love and extreme hate.

Heathcliff hates everyone except for Catherine, even Catherines daughter and his own son. He makes violent love towards Catherine who soon dies of grief. His manipulation of the second generation is motivated also by revenge.

She has become a slave of money. But it isnt doubtful that she still has pure love in her soul and no one is allowed to break it. So when she realizes Jing Jizes actual purpose, which is to gain her money, she is so disappointed about her love illusion. Jiang Jize refuses her love first, and then deceives her. Her life is inhibited, so she begins to personality distort.

She hates everyone around her, including her brother, later even her son and daughter. This kind of rebellion is distorted and psychopathic, but sometimes it is instinctive. “There is just one man in her life these years. She isnt afraid of him because he will not cheat her and gain her money in abnormal way. But he is her son, he isnt capable as a true man … now, she cant control her son on account of his marriage.” (“Record of a Golden Lock” P 65)Cao envies of other women at their normal happiness. She induces Cangbai to take drugs in order to let him stay with her and make him inhospitable to her daughter-in-law. Her purpose is to control her son entirely. For her daughter, Cao often insults Changan intendly, and disturbs her to find her love several times.

Although with different backgrounds, “Wuthering Heights” and “Record of a Golden Lock” provide same feeling form. Heathcliff and Cao remind and arouse their love with psychopathic behaviour. They resist grief with revenge. But what can they obtain from the abnormal living condition? They only get regret.

Urban area and Rural area

Environment has great influence on not only the writers, but also chief characters in the works.

In “Wuthering Heights”, the breath of storm and tremendous vigor are felt. “My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath—a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nellly, I am Heathcliff—hes always, always in my mind—not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself—but, as my own being.” (“Wuthering Heights” P 82) Catherines words are permeated with violent and wonderful strength. The passionate love between Heathcliff and Catherine “lasts through their death and burial in the quiet churchyard on the moors.” (“History and Anthology of English Literature” P 232) The love is savage and anguish.

Emily Bronte was born in a large family in Yorkshire in Irish. She had a passionate love for the wilderness of the moor in all seasons and enjoyed staying outside as much as she could. “Emily drew on her own emotional, introverted nature and on the wild and mysterious moorland around her to write the novel.” The novel is about introspection and an intense concentration on fate and death, passion and eternity.

Eileen lived in modern times in Shanghai. The urban petty bourgeois lived in mediocre life in this city. Eileen showed remarkable insight into the nature of the society. She was familiar with or even close to crafty and bad people. “Record of a Golden Lock” is full of loneliness, bleakness and sadness to express the true personality and to manifest peoples personality in civilization, while “Wuthering Heights” is filled with savageness and violence. So “Record of a Golden Lock” reveals desolation in delication.

Hope and Despair

Love is the perpetual feeling of humanity. When describing the love of the second generation, the writhers of “Wuthering Heights” and “Record of a Golden Lock” offer two different interpretations.

Little Catherine is able to change the savage Hareton, the two fall in love with each other. “Both their minds tending to the same point –one loving and desiring to esteem, and the other loving and desiring to be esteemed—they contrived in the end to reach it.” (“Wuthering Heights” P 316) They plan for marriage at last. Emily changes pure love into inspiring strength. The love forged in hate makes numb personality recovered and distorted personality liberated.

On the contrary, in “Record of a Golden Lock”, peoples life are destroyed by despair. The second generations despair gradually. Changbai and Changan dont pay much attention to love like Cao. It is not important for them whether to lose happiness or not. Changbai doesnt treat his life seriously. He isnt responsible for himself, and he has been unconscious, maybe he is never conscious. Changans first love is destroyed by Cao. Changan gives up her faith and her hope with “a beautiful and bleak gesture” (“Record of a Golden Lock” P 73) of her own accord. The last sentence in “Record of a Golden Lock” is “The moon thirty years ago has set and the person thirty years ago has died. However, the stories happened thirty years ago havent been finished, they will continue.” (“Record of a Golden Lock” P 77) In the end, the novel implies that the tragedy, which is impossible to resist, will extend in the future.

Hope and despair in the novels are related to writers character and their cultural background. Although Emily is a reserved and shy girl, she is confident, energetic and hopeful. At last, the ghosts of Heathcliff and Catherine rove on the moorland freely. For them, it is the highest degrees for love. So she expresses the positive aspect of life. Eileen has illusion about life owing to her birth. She thinks that no one can escape from misfortune. Caos marriage is her fate, and she regrets her choice for marriage, but she doesnt regret her revenge on her children. Eileen is sensitive to perceive that people cant escape from contradiction between love and money and from control of passion. Eileen reveals the frailty of humanity and the confusion of life in “Record of a Golden Lock”. So she decides on the despairing aspect.

“Wuthering Heights” and “Record of a Golden Lock” create different feelings world. There are many similarities and differences. The pursuit of love is basic and reasonable desire of humanity, but it is restricted by many factors, such as social system, social status, economic condition and so on. Only when the way is rational and the attitude is correct, humanity can get happiness and liberate personality.

Bibliography

Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights, Beijing, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1996

Zhang Ailing, Zhang Ailing Florilegium , Shanxi, Beiyue Culture Press, 2003

Zhang Boxiang, Selected Reading in English and American Literatures, Beijing, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1999

Wu Weiren, History and Anthology of English Literature, Beijing, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1998

Ge Hongbing, www.confucius 2000.com/poetry/zgxdwxjs.htm, Date Assessed: October 7, 2003