I am a huge fan of Emily Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights written in 1847. Bronte’s novel tells the tale of a woman, Catherine Earnshaw, who is in love with a man of lower social status named Heathcliff. As all women of her time, she must eventually choose a husband and instead of choosing the one she loves, she opts for the richer man named Edgar. “I shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighborhood, and I shall be proud of having such a husband,” says Catherine.

As the tale progresses, however, we soon see how Catherine suffers for not having chosen the man she loved. She falls ill of a strange disease, and when Heathcliff returns to her after a three year absence, he coldly tells her, “Why did you betray your heart, Cathy? I have not one word of comfort- you deserve this. You have killed yourself.” Shortly after, Catherine dies and leaves a tormented Heathcliff to face the world alone.

Bronte’s brilliant novel is a brutal reminder of how one must always follow one’s heart when choosing the right person to settle down with. Although it would be nice to have a rich soul mate, most of the time soul mates don’t come with the latest Porsche or the million-dollar house in Beverly Hills. Sometimes our soul mate doesn’t look like the one we had in our head, and sometimes they don’t even speak the same language as us.

Wuthering Heights is timeless in the sense that we are still being faced with the same decisions people were faced with centuries ago, whether to marry for status and money, or for true love. When the time comes to say yes, let us recall the Beatles’ famous song and sing along, “Can’t buy me love” extra loud.