Narcissistic Personality Disorder, By Emily Bronte

Emily Bronte uses effects of the characters’ actions to show that individuals who exhibit narcissistic personality disorder cannot participate in a functional, fulfilling relationship. Her ideas gain clarity when looking at each relationship involving a narcissist individually. Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw’s ties, central to the novel’s plot, encounter numerous and nasty obstacles as a result of their unending love - for themselves. Despite claiming to love each other unconditionally, to the point where Cathy claims â€Å"I am Heathcliff† (Bronte ), they consistently act on their own urges with no concern for the other. Hence, their feelings never actually come to fruition before Catherine dies. Nevertheless, the mutual burning passion between the two not only results in love, but a fair amount of hatred. When Catherine’s illness leads her to her deathbed, instead of comforting her, Heathcliff berates her for causing him pain, going so far as t o say she’s â€Å"possessed with a devil† (Bronte ) for the way she acts toward him. Before her death, many other issues were at hand. Another one of the faults in their â€Å"love† is their need to make each other jealous. Cathy marries Edgar for the wealth and honor (Bronte ch. 9) and Heathcliff marries Isabella to make Edgar angry (Bronte ch. 11) according to each of the star-crossed lovers. However, their ulterior motives are clear: to make the other want themselves more through jealousy. The resulting relationships are quite damaged as