This is a full mark (A*) essay considering passion/desire in Emily Bronte’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ and the AQA Poetry Anthology: to Ernest Dowson’s poem “Non Sum Qualis…” and Robert Burns’ poem “Ae Fond Kiss”.
Contains in-depth analysis of quotes, interlinked context and critics t...
Passion and desire are common themes explored in Emily Bronte’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ and the AQA
Poetry Anthology. Bronte uses conventions of the Gothic genre in order to present a passion arising
from obsessive love. This is similar to Ernest Dowson’s poem “Non Sum Qualis…” in which the
Decadent movement influences the obsessive passion and overwhelming desire. Contrastingly,
Robert Burns’ lyrical ballad “Ae Fond Kiss” utilises Romanticism in order present passion and desire
as nurturing.
As typical of the Gothic genre, Bronte uses the motif of ghosts in order to present everlasting
passion arising from obsessive love. This is evident in Chapter 3 in which Catherine’s ghost makes an
appearance in Lockwood’s dreams. It is significant to note that as Lockwood narrates this scene we
are removed from Heathcliff’s emotions and rather we witness the physical manifestation of his
everlasting passion and desire. Lockwood depicts Heathcliff as having “irregular and intercepted
breathing that he struggles to vanquish an excess of violent emotion”. This shows Heathcliff’s
physical pain due to their separation. Bronte uses aggressive verbs in order to present Heathcliff’s
physical aggression as he “wretched open the lattice, bursting as he pulled at in, into an
uncontrollable passion”. Heathcliff’s passion is exemplified by his exclamative “Oh” to present an
internal conflict between his overflowing of desire. Bronte may be suggesting that when passion is
not allowed to flourish then it can cause internal aggressions that can transfer into the physical.
Similarly, in the poem “Non Sum” written by Ernest Dowson presents the internal conflict between
one’s passion and desire over a long period of time. As typical of the Decadent movement, Dowson
focuses on the superficiality of his love rather than of the reasons for his love. Similar to ‘Wuthering
Heights’, Dowson utilises violet imagery and the semantic field of passion to present an
overwhelming passion due to his love: “Flung roses, roses riotously with the throng”. The use of the
adverb, “riotously” adds to the speaker’s impassioned frenzy due to his overwhelming desire which
is not reciprocated. The extent to the speaker’s passion can be seen through the repetition of
“Cynara!”, which suggests an almost devotional aspect to his passion. The repeated use of the
exclamative adds a caesura which makes the reader physically pause when reading the name, adding
to its significance. This is furthered by the use of the refrain: “I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! In
my fashion” which adds to the impatience and self-loathing speaker, which is a typical trope in the
Decadent movement. The refrain also acts as a chilling afterthought to the speaker’s obsession as he
suggests he still things of Cynara while in passionate movements with others. The speaker’s internal
conflict can be summed up nicely with the contrasting imagery used – Dowson uses Pre-Raphaelite
image of beauty “lost lilies” juxtaposed to the “bought red mouth” of a prostitute. It is also
significant to consider that Dowson fell in love with a minor, however she rejected him, which adds
to the reader’s discomfort. Even though this poem present obsessive love much like Wuthering
Heights, it is not reciprocated in “Non Sum”, whereas it is mutual passion in Wuthering Heights.
Passion causing not only internal but also physical destruction can be seen in Wuthering Heights in
Chapter 15 when Catherine is pregnant and dying and meets Heathcliff for the last time. During this
scene, as Nelly is the narrator we are removed from the ‘love’ aspect of their relationship and
instead we simply see the physical destruction: “I saw four distinct impression left blue in the
colourless skin”. Atypical of Victorian expectations on women, Catherine is presented as physically
violent through the aggressive verbs, “she seized his hair” and “she retained in her closed fingers a
portion of the locks”. As this is their last meeting Heathcliff and Catherine seem to adopt the same
language of murder and death as Cathy exclaims “you have killed me” and Heathcliff states “I love
my murder – but yours! How can I?” A Feminist critic may suggest that Wuthering Heights is a novel
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