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Wuthering Heights is the masterpiece of Emily Bronte in the 19th century， and this novel pays much attention to its main character Heathcliff’s psychological struggle and miserable fate. This paper aims to analyze the neurotic personality of Heathcliff in light of Karen Horney’s Mature Theory.
Karan Horney is a famous German psychoanalyst. In the 1940s， she develops mature theory. According to Horney， “people have a real self that requires favorable conditions to be actualized”（Horney 12）. If the real self can’t develop well in childhood， the child develops a feeling of basic anxiety that “prevents him from relating himself to others with the spontaneity of his real feelings and forces him to develop defensive strategies” （Horney 18）. As for the defensive strategies， Horney divides it into two kinds：one is interpersonal strategy and the other is intrapsychic strategy. The interpersonal strategy includes the compliant solution and expansive solutions.
This paper will mainly analyze the Hithcliff’s Arrogant-Vindictive defense strategy on three different stages.
The first stage is about Heathcliff’s miserable childhood. The reasons of Hithcliff’s Arrogant-Vindictive defense strategy have a close relationship in this stage. Horney emphases that pathogenic conditions in the family make children feel unsafe， unloved， and unvalued. In order to reduce the misery， the child adopts such strategies of defense. In this novel， Heathcliff is brought to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw. As Gypsy orphan， he is subject to much discrimination and bad treatment especially from Hindley. Besides， he has been constantly threatened and marginalized and he can’t get sense of belonging. Living in this abnormal environment， Heathcliff has no possibility getting normal love from his parents like other children， which makes him feel inferior to other people. Feeling lonely and helpless in this “basic anxiety”， he can’t get along with others sincerely but by various hostile ways. According to Horney， “Arrogant-vindictive people were harshly treated in childhood and have a need to retaliate for the injuries they have suffered” （Paris 14）. Therefore， after all these miseries he suffers， he has to choose the Arrogant-vindictive solution.
The second stage is about Heathcliff’s adulthood. Based on the previous experiences， the character of adults is evolved between psychic structure and environment.
They have to humiliate of defeat their rivals. They retaliate when injured by hurting their enemies more than they have been hurt. Ruthless and cynical in their relationships， arrogant-vindictive people seek to exploit and outsmart others. They trust no one and are out to get others before they get them. （Paris 194）. From this quotation， people can see that when arrogant-vindictive people get hurt， he will become cynical and ruthless. What’s more， he will retaliate and exploit others. In Wuthering Heights， after the tragic childhood， Heathcliff also withstands bitter adulthood. He loves Catherine so deeply， but out of vanity， Catherine leaves him and marries Linton. The loss of love from Catherine gives him a big blow. In addition to the torture in childhood and bad treatment from Hindley， the loss of love from Catherine makes him almost mad. He has no way to release his repression but to revenge. He deliberately tortures Linton’s sister and the little Catherine and even his own son.
The third stage is before his death. According to Paris， that “Arrogant-vindictive people fear the emergence of their compliant trends because this would make them vulnerable in an evil world， would cause them to feel like fool”（Paris 195）. That means that arrogant-vindictive people feel that if his predominant solution collapses， he will look like a fool. After Linton’s death， Heathcliff completes his revenge and gets everything， but he still behaves strangely and tortures Catherine and Hareton and even himself. He is not afraid of death and hopes the miserable condition can be over soon. He tortures himself in his own chamber， as if he had locked himself in hell， without eating or drinking.
In conclusion， this paper analyzes the neurotic personality of Heathcliff in light of Karen Horney’s Mature Theory and mainly analyzes Heathcliff’s Arrogant-Vindictive defense strategy on different three stages. Through this analysis， readers can better understand the characters of Heathcliff as well as the author， Emily Bronte.
References：
[1]Horney，Karen.Neurosis and Human Growth.New York：W.W.Norton.1950.
[2]Horney，Karen.Our Inner Conflicts.New York：W.W.Norton. 1945.
[3]Paris.J.Bernard.Karen Horney：A Psychoanalyst’s Search for Self-Understanding.New Haven，CT：Yale UP.1994.
Karan Horney is a famous German psychoanalyst. In the 1940s， she develops mature theory. According to Horney， “people have a real self that requires favorable conditions to be actualized”（Horney 12）. If the real self can’t develop well in childhood， the child develops a feeling of basic anxiety that “prevents him from relating himself to others with the spontaneity of his real feelings and forces him to develop defensive strategies” （Horney 18）. As for the defensive strategies， Horney divides it into two kinds：one is interpersonal strategy and the other is intrapsychic strategy. The interpersonal strategy includes the compliant solution and expansive solutions.
This paper will mainly analyze the Hithcliff’s Arrogant-Vindictive defense strategy on three different stages.
The first stage is about Heathcliff’s miserable childhood. The reasons of Hithcliff’s Arrogant-Vindictive defense strategy have a close relationship in this stage. Horney emphases that pathogenic conditions in the family make children feel unsafe， unloved， and unvalued. In order to reduce the misery， the child adopts such strategies of defense. In this novel， Heathcliff is brought to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw. As Gypsy orphan， he is subject to much discrimination and bad treatment especially from Hindley. Besides， he has been constantly threatened and marginalized and he can’t get sense of belonging. Living in this abnormal environment， Heathcliff has no possibility getting normal love from his parents like other children， which makes him feel inferior to other people. Feeling lonely and helpless in this “basic anxiety”， he can’t get along with others sincerely but by various hostile ways. According to Horney， “Arrogant-vindictive people were harshly treated in childhood and have a need to retaliate for the injuries they have suffered” （Paris 14）. Therefore， after all these miseries he suffers， he has to choose the Arrogant-vindictive solution.
The second stage is about Heathcliff’s adulthood. Based on the previous experiences， the character of adults is evolved between psychic structure and environment.
They have to humiliate of defeat their rivals. They retaliate when injured by hurting their enemies more than they have been hurt. Ruthless and cynical in their relationships， arrogant-vindictive people seek to exploit and outsmart others. They trust no one and are out to get others before they get them. （Paris 194）. From this quotation， people can see that when arrogant-vindictive people get hurt， he will become cynical and ruthless. What’s more， he will retaliate and exploit others. In Wuthering Heights， after the tragic childhood， Heathcliff also withstands bitter adulthood. He loves Catherine so deeply， but out of vanity， Catherine leaves him and marries Linton. The loss of love from Catherine gives him a big blow. In addition to the torture in childhood and bad treatment from Hindley， the loss of love from Catherine makes him almost mad. He has no way to release his repression but to revenge. He deliberately tortures Linton’s sister and the little Catherine and even his own son.
The third stage is before his death. According to Paris， that “Arrogant-vindictive people fear the emergence of their compliant trends because this would make them vulnerable in an evil world， would cause them to feel like fool”（Paris 195）. That means that arrogant-vindictive people feel that if his predominant solution collapses， he will look like a fool. After Linton’s death， Heathcliff completes his revenge and gets everything， but he still behaves strangely and tortures Catherine and Hareton and even himself. He is not afraid of death and hopes the miserable condition can be over soon. He tortures himself in his own chamber， as if he had locked himself in hell， without eating or drinking.
In conclusion， this paper analyzes the neurotic personality of Heathcliff in light of Karen Horney’s Mature Theory and mainly analyzes Heathcliff’s Arrogant-Vindictive defense strategy on different three stages. Through this analysis， readers can better understand the characters of Heathcliff as well as the author， Emily Bronte.
References：
[1]Horney，Karen.Neurosis and Human Growth.New York：W.W.Norton.1950.
[2]Horney，Karen.Our Inner Conflicts.New York：W.W.Norton. 1945.
[3]Paris.J.Bernard.Karen Horney：A Psychoanalyst’s Search for Self-Understanding.New Haven，CT：Yale UP.1994.