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19th-Century British Literature Videos 19 videos
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is about a young blacksmith boy (Pip) and his two dreams: becoming a gentleman and marrying the beautiful Est...
Trying to live up to expectations can be stressful. Watching someone else struggle with it, though? That's just fine.
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Wuthering Heights 62862 Views
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Description:
Check out this video to find out why Wuthering Heights should never be considered #relationshipgoals.
Transcript
- 00:07
Wuthering Heights a la Shmoop. Hope you're not afraid of heights. Wuthering...
- 00:11
or otherwise. When people don't get what they want . . .
- 00:15
. . . they don't always react in a positive manner.
- 00:19
But some people take disappointment to a whole other level.
- 00:24
Take Heathcliff . . . . . . a broody kind of guy who isn't exactly
Full Transcript
- 00:28
a model for gracious losers. He makes life difficult for pretty much everybody
- 00:33
he encounters. He ruins Hindley <<HINNED-lee>>. . .
- 00:36
. . . humiliates Isabella . . . . . . abuses Hareton <<HARE-tuhn>> . . .
- 00:40
and even torments the love of his life. Nice guy, huh?
- 00:46
So what exactly was behind all that need for vengeance?
- 00:50
Well, Heathcliff's "adopted" brother Hindley sure got the ball rolling.
- 00:55
He hated poor, orphaned Heathcliff from day one . . .
- 00:58
. . . and wasn't shy about showing it. Is it any wonder Heathcliff couldn't wait
- 01:04
to issue a little payback . . . . . . especially when his plan included that
- 01:07
extra bonus of inheriting Wuthering Heights? But Hindley certainly wasn't the only one
- 01:13
pushing Heathcliff's buttons. Edgar had stolen his girl . . .
- 01:19
. . . so marrying Edgar's sister must have sounded like pretty sweet revenge . . .
- 01:22
. . . even if Heathcliff couldn't stand the poor woman.
- 01:27
Then, of course, there was the love of his life -- Catherine.
- 01:32
After her betrayal, there was no way he was letting her off the hook.
- 01:36
Soul mate or not, she had married a bore like Edgar . . .
- 01:39
. . . and Heathcliff never stopped reminding her that she had ruined both their lives doing
- 01:44
so. So, who really was behind the brunt of all
- 01:47
that anger? Maybe he just wanted to make everyone who
- 01:51
had ever hurt him suffer . . . . . . maybe he was just trying to get his
- 01:55
hands on Wuthering Heights . . . . . . or maybe he was just a miserable human
- 02:00
being who liked making everyone else miserable, too.
- 02:02
You know, the kind of guy who isn't happy unless everyone else is unhappy too.
- 02:09
What's your call? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
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