Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

When does a positive personality trait become a tragic flaw? This fatal turning point in a person's life can be applied to several characters in Wuthering Heights: Heathcliff, Catherine, and young Cathy.

Throughout the novel, I found it quite hard to discern any redeeming quality in Heathcliff, however, a different perspective brought me to the word Determined. Since Heathcliff's beginning at Wuthering Heights, he knew what he wanted. He wanted to be the favorite son of Mr. Earnshaw and the apple of Catherine's eye. Even when Catherine left for Thrushcross Grange, he knew that he truly wanted her. When she married Edgar, Heathcliff saw now that what he wanted was revenge on Edgar. And when Heathcliff left as only a teenager to obtain wealth, he came back with what seemed to be the sole purpose of getting Wuthering Heights under his control. This rock solid determination began as a positive personality trait; Heathcliff wanted to gain certain things and started to do so by bettering himself through gaining wealth and putting meaning into his name. However, Heathcliff's determination turned into a tragic flaw when he started using alternative methods to get what he wanted: marrying for status then treating his wife like dirt, physically and verbally abusing most everyone around him, treating his own son like he doesn't exist, trying to play puppet master by forcing love, and imprisoning two women in his home. His determination to achieve his desires spiraled from the idea of wanting to better himself to the idea of bringing others down to give the illusion that he his lifting himself up.


Catherine Linton (Formerly known as Catherine Earnshaw) possesses the ability to love, and to love most everything. As a child, Catherine obviously loves her family and her home, but when a strange new member of the family (Heathcliff) suddenly enters her life, she doesn't shun him, she loves him. Catherine simply has a personality that could love anything: from her own two feet to the rolling moors of the land of Wuthering Heights. But her love soon sends her down a dark path. When, Catherine encounters her neighbors, Edgar and Isabella, she, of course, loves them both. But her love for Edgar turns into something more than her usual love of life, it turns into real, let's-get-married love. This causes conflict. Catherine also loves Heathcliff in that same way and both Heathcliff and Edgar love her. So when Catherine is forced to choose between her love for Heathcliff and her love for Edgar, she just cannot handle it anymore. Catherine ultimately forces her head and heart to love Edgar more and more, and so they wed. However, in pushing herself toward Edgar, she didn't realize that she was also being pushed to Heathcliff as well. As she fell further and further in love with Edgar, she fell the same way for Heathcliff because her love is a one way drop. This inner conflict of love pushed Catherine towards mental instability and eventually true insanity. So Catherine's love of everything turned into too deep a love to handle, turning it into a tragic flaw.


Catherine's daughter, Cathy Linton, has also faced the trauma of a positive personality trait becoming a tragic flaw. Cathy desires to be independent. This bodes well for her in the beginning; she wants to read and learn and explore for herself simply so she can be independent and thrive on her own. This passion for independence also allows her to come to peace with her Father's death because she knows that she is strong and can stand on her own. However, this independence eventually drives her from her home; Cathy wants to explore further into the moors away from her dear home at Thrushcross Grange toward Wuthering Heights. There, she meets Heathcliff who is ready to pounce on Cathy due to his determination to destroy her life since she destroyed the life of his true love. However, Cathy thinks she can handle these controlling signs and pursues a relationship within that household. Eventually, her believed independence brought her too close to Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights and caused her imprisonment there. Cathy's positive personality trait of independence turned into a tragic flaw when she pushed herself past her limits and frame of knowledge.

All of these characters clearly experienced some event or strong emotion that caused a shift from a positive personality trait to a tragic flaw. So what caused these shifts? What do they have in common? Heathcliff's determination shifts when it changes from being about bettering himself to tearing down others; this shift occurs when his heart is broken and he is challenged by his "superiors." Catherine's love shifts when she is forced to choose between her love for Edgar and her love for Heathcliff. And Cathy's independence shifts when she bites off more than she can chew out of ignorance. All of these shifts occur when the character faces an inner conflict: whether it be self doubt, inner arguments, or overestimation of your capabilities. Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights supports the idea that a traumatic inner conflict causes a positive personality trait to become a tragic flaw.

"Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles

Oedipus has copious positive personality traits that serve him well throughout his life: intelligence, bravery, curiosity, and a desire for knowledge. However, Oedipus's desire for knowledge turned into a tragic flaw when it pushed him past his limits.

Oedipus was always very intelligent and constantly thirsted for more and more knowledge. This lead Oedipus through the domination of the Sphinx and onto leading a town as a King. However, his desire for knowledge eventually became too much for him to handle as he acquired too much knowledge on some difficult topics. Oedipus soon learned the horrors of his life as he had murdered his father and married his mother. This crushing blow of terrible news sent Oedipus into a state of absolute horror, leading to the event of blinding himself.

 

But when did this positive personality trait of a desire for knowledge become a tragic flaw? Oedipus's desire for knowledge usually came from a place inside of him that truly thirsted for knowledge for the sake of knowledge. However, his desire for knowledge suffered a shift from "for the good of intelligence," to his own personal gain. He suddenly wanted to know everything about himself and his past. That was the point when his positive personality trait became a tragic flaw. It changed from the good of knowledge to the good of himself, and that selfish aspect became the driving force behind the flaw in it. It encompassed every aspect of his being and pushed his desire for knowledge away from its previous positive notion, to a negative flaw in his personality.