In 'How Do I Love Thee?' and 'Wuthering Heights' the characters are infactuated with their lovers, however despite the shared themes of love they are presented slightly differently therefore giving the reader a slightly different impression of the love that is shared.
The main themes in both 'How Do I Love Thee?' and the extract from 'Wuthering Heights' are love and romance with both the Browning and Catherine believe that their feelings towards their lover are all encompassing. The fact that love is shown as such as large part of the poets life is shown in the line when she states that she loves her husband to 'level of everyday's' suggests that her everyday life revolves around the love for her husband-she is dependent on the love they share. Browning also goes on to compare her love to the ' sun and candlelight'. The juxtaposition of sizes of light sources suggest eventhough their love can be shared and wtinessed by others (sun) their love can also be intimate and personal (candlelight). Browning loves her husband in a large number of ways and isnt limited by size. Similarily, in the 'Wuthering Heights' extract Catherine also compares her love to light stating her love for Linton is 'a source of visible light'. The metaphor 'visible light' suggests her love gives her guidances and almost a purpose as without him she cannot see. This emphasises the idea that Catherines love for Linton is all encompassing as without him she is lost. The love expressed towards their partners in the text is also compared using religious imagery. In 'How Do I Love Thee?' Browning refers to her love towards her husband as the 'ideal grace' and will love him with all her 'lost saints'. The use of religious figures suggest her love is comparable to the religious characters that are thought very highly of by many relgious people. Similarily, in the 'Wuthering Heights' Catherine also compares her love to religious imagery and repeatedly uses the words 'mighty' and 'eternal' all of which have connotations to God and religion. Through the use of religious imagery and verbs, it increases the significance and value of the love between the Browning and Catherine and their lovers.
Despite the similarites between the themes of love and the way the love ecompasses the writer, love is presented in different ways. The 'How Do I Love Thee?' is a Petrachan sonnet consisting of a regular rhyming structure and 10 syllables per line and is often traditionally associated with love poety. The fact that the poem follows the sonnet rules suggests that like the structure her relationship between herself and her husband is perfect and undamaged. It also suggests certaintly and that their relationship is structured. The only time the sonnet 10 syllable rule is broken is in the 5th line where she states 'I love thee to the level of everyday's' which expresses how long her love will last -only love breaks the rule of love. On the contary in the 'Wuthering Heights' extract Catherine has a lack of structure and does not have a regular way she expresses her love to Linton. Towards the end of the extract Catherine repeatedly uses dashes when speaking such as when she says ' I should not seem a part of it.-My love for Linton'. The use of dashes express her eagerness to express her love towards Linton, her love is shown as untamable. Although Catherines love towards Linton is not structured and predictable like Brownings in the poem she ends the extract with a declarative sentence 'It is impracticable.' This declarative sentence suggests certainness, an emotion that has not been seen previously in the extract. On the contary in 'How Do I Love Thee?' the poem ends using 'if God choose'. The conditional 'if' suggests uncertaintly over when talking about the topic of death nothing is certain.
Overall, both the extracts show that the love towards their lovers are encompassing this is shown through the light similies and religious imagery. Eventhough the structures of both the peom and the novel extract vary it doesnt mean the love shown in the texts are any less or more; it is just demonstrated in a different way.
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