A bit on the short side, soz Mr.Reeves, i'll add to it.

How are strong emotions presented in Wuthering Heights and Phaedra’s love?

Using extracts:  WH - PG 104-106 & PL - PG 7-11

Strong emotions are presented as a cause of conflict and suffering in both texts. Both Kane and Bronte use emotive language to portray the character’s thoughts and feelings. For example, Bronte uses the phrase ‘I broke my heart with weeping’ to demonstrate the inner pain which Cathy is experiencing, although what she is describing is merely a dream, Bronte may be using her dreams to represent Cathy’s dreams represent her subconscious desires and conflicts. The use of the word ‘broke’ is very effective in delivering a conventional, yet powerful perspective of the effects of love. It is symbolic of the physical pain that one can experience as well as the metaphorical and spiritual breaking of one’s happiness and wellbeing. The hyperbolic use of the word ‘weeping’ shows the reader that the strong emotions felt through love does not have the power to just upset you, but to cause immense suffering. This type of strong language is also used in Phaedra’s Love. Phaedra asks her Daughter, Strophe, if she has ever wished ‘ you could cut open your chest tear it out to stop the pain?’, using violent and dramatic language, Kane presents strong emotions as destructive and domineering. These texts were written over 100 years apart, yet the feelings expressed and the way that strong emotions are presented are very similar, suggesting that the effects of love is timeless.

In Phaedra’s love, there is a repetitive metaphorical use of the word ‘burning’ to present Phaedra’s emotions and desires. Using fire to present strong emotions, Kane suggest that it  is something which is uncontrollable and raging. ‘Burns’ leave behind scars therefore the effects of love never really leave us. It becomes part of us. However in Wuthering Heights, Bronte presents Cathy’s love to be so strong that her and Heathcliff unite spiritually ‘I am Heathcliff’ shows us that emotion can over take us and we no longer are ourselves. Strong emotions in both texts are portrayed as something which has supreme power over us and humans.

However, the power of social status appears to be more important. For example, in Wuthering Heights, Cathy is torn between her strong emotions and her social desirability’s as although she claims to love Heathcliff, she knows that she would be ‘degraded’ to marry him. Thus pushes her strong emotions to the side and decides to marry Edgar Linton.  ‘degraded’ is a harsh and insensitive word to describe a commitment to the person you love. The reader may now question how true or rational Cathy’s strong emotions are as somebody who is truly in love with somebody would be proud to marry them. Opposing this, besides a potentially incestual relationship, Phaedra experiences no shame or concern for society. When Strophe warns her mother that if anybody where to find out about her sexual and emotional desires for her step son, she replies ‘I know, I know’ which is a cliché teenager response suggesting she does not really care. The role reversal here of a daughter being the voice of reason is also evident in Wuthering Heights, as Nelly dean, a woman who is merely a made is acting as a voice of reason for Cathy. She questions her decision making ‘Have you considered how you’ll bare the separation?’. This shows that she is thinking carefully about the consequences, however Cathy is so blinded and conflicted by her strong emotions that she can only think and act irrationally.