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Catherine character analysis in wuthering heights
Roles of Catherine in the novel Wuthering Heights by Bronte
Catherine character analysis in wuthering heights
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In Emily Bronte's gothic novel, Wuthering Heights, Catherine Linton's inability to take responsibility for her actions affects the lives of the people she loves the most, including herself. Edgar Linton was devastated by her indecisiveness to choose whom she loved, Heathcliff went mad for the same reason as well, and Catherine suffered mentally and physically due to her inability to decide. “My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods; time will change it… My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath... Nelly, I am Heathcliff!” This quote from Catherine explains her love for both men, even though one is stronger than the other. Her love for Edgar is superficial. Edgar Linton is made to feel helpless when Catherine falls into a catatonic depression, after she is alerted that Heathcliff and Isabella eloped. He was gullible to Catherine's love, even if it was not a full devotion to him. She needed to keep up her responsibility as Edgar's wife, and not let herself fall for Heathcliff. Similarly to what Eleanor Roosevelt said, “And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility” Initially, the young Catherine that was in love with Heathcliff would have done anything to be with him. When Mr. Earnshaw passed, Heathcliff's class was degraded as Hindley …show more content…
She betrayed her true feelings for her social ambition, which in the long run, ended up being a poor choice. Her choice affected not only those who she loved, but those she did not expect to hurt. “...and if the wicked man in there had not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldn't have thought of it. It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him…”, this quote from Catherine explains why she cannot marry Heathcliff, and how she tried to hide her feelings from him. Her attempt to hide them failed, so once she showed her true feelings, Edgar started to notice the reality of
To further contrast Edgar’s and Nelly’s opinion s of Catherine ways, Edgar sees Catherine as docile, calm, and loving. This side to Catherine can be attributed to when she stays at the Linton’s home. Catherine spends five with the Linton’s and while she is there she does not show her rough rude side in their company. As describe by the narrator, she took care not to act like a young ruffian and worse than a brute; comparing her to Heathcliff (her lover). While on the other hand, Nelly recognizes this calm behavior displays by Catherine as one of double standard; she being deceitful to get her own
At a young age, she defies her father and brother “with bold saucy looks,” and “ready words.” Throughout her life, they were the ones who tried to control her to be what they want her to be. She becomes friends with Heathcliff and they go out and do things that they want. Her brother was “entirely negligent how they behaved.” Her brother did not approve that Catherine and Heathcliff spent a lot of time together; so he arranged for Katherine to marry Edgar. Katherine, even when she is married, goes out and pursues her freedom. Heathcliff returns after a few years and wants to see Katherine. Edgar disapproves and wants Heathcliff out. Edgar walked out the room and Katherine “slammed the door and locked it.” Katherine was upset that Edgar talked to Heathcliff in the way that he did and that he wasn’t as happy as she was when Heathcliff showed up. A few chapters’ later, Catherine and Heathcliff ran away together. By doing so, Katherine escaped the wicked demands from a man she did not love and freed herself from the submission of a male with a higher status. After Catherine dies, another female is put in her same position. Isabella, Edgar’s sister, arrives back with Heathcliff and wants to see her brother. He disowns her and her now husband, Heathcliff, is not the man she imagined he was. Heathcliff is more violent and that no dangerous animal can “not rouse terror” in her like Heathcliff. Edgar’s daughter, Catherine, is the third female to witness his demanding behavior. She wants to visit her cousin and he denies her of that. Like her mother, Catherine goes against Edgar by writing letters to her cousin, Linton. Linton falls ill, and begs Catherine to visits him. While she’s there, he states that Catherine harmed him, and that he’s worse because of it. She’s upset and thinks it’s her fault, and Linton uses that to his advantages.
The intensity of feeling between Catherine and Heathclif defies family barriers imposed by Catherine's brother ,Hindley after their father's death. Heathcliff was ill-treated by Hindley after the death of the old Earnshaw: He drove him from their company to the servants, deprived him of the instructions of the curate … He bore his degradation pretty well at first, because Cathy taught him what she learnt, and work or play with him in the fields. They both promised fair to grow up as rude as savages, the young master being entirely negligent how they behave, and what they did, so they keep clear of him…… and the after punishment grew a mere thing to laugh at. The crute might set as many chapters as he pleased for Catherine to get by heart, and Joseph might thrash Heathcliff till his arm ached, they forget everything the minute they were together again. (Pg 44) Thus, it is clearly obvious that since childhood their feeling for each other defies all the family barriers imposed on them. No outside force would be strong enough to eclipse their emotions. Even when she grows old enough for the question of marriage to arise, Catherine's relationship with Heathcliff remains much as it was when they were children. The way the two spirit intertwined are clearly illustrated in Catherine's speech below: My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff"s miseries; my great thought in living is himself. If all else perish, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the Universe would turn to mighty stranger. I should not seem a part of it. My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees-my love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath-a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff-He's always in my mind-not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself-but, as my own being-so, don't talk of our separation again-it is impracticable…… Catherine loves both Heathcliff and Edger Linton on different basis-She loves Linton because he is handsome, and pleasant, and young, and cheerful, and rich, and loves her. Her love for Heathcliff is a must: it is the deepest impulse of her nature, it is "necessary". Through her feeling for Heathcliff, Catherine discovers her own identity, her place in the world-as he does through her.
Heathcliff's love for Catherine transcends the normal physical "true love" into spiritual love. He can withstand anything against him to be with her. After Hindley became the master of Wuthering Heights, he flogged Heathcliff like a slave. Although Heathcliff could have simply run away, his decision to endure the physical pains shows his unrelenting devotion to Catherine. Fortunately, Catherine feels as deeply for Heathcliff as he does for her, explaining to Nelly that "Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same…" Their love for each other is so passionate that they can not possibly live apart. At Catherine's death, Heathcliff hopes that she will not rest, but will haunt him until he dies. This absurdity contradicts the traditional norm that one should pray that the dead rest in peace. Near the end of the novel, we learn that Catherine has haunted Heathcliff, allowing him only fleeting glances of her. This shows that despite their physical separation, nothing can part them spiritually. When Heathcliff dies and unites with Catherine once again, the neighbors see them haunt the moors. We finally see the power of their love; Not only does this love transcend physical barriers, it transcends time as well...
The complicated nature surrounding Heathcliff’s motives again adds an additional degree of ambiguity to his character. This motivation is primarily driven by Catherine’s marriage to Edgar and past rejection of Heathcliff, since he was a servant whom Hindley disapproved of. Prior to storming out of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff overhears Catherine say, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now…” (Brontë 87). The obstacles that ultimately prevent Heathcliff from marrying Catherine provide insight into Heathcliff’s desire to bring harm to Edgar and Hindley. The two men play prominent roles in the debacle, Edgar as the new husband and Hindley as the head figure who refused Heathcliff access to Catherine. Following this incident, Catherine says, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same…” (Brontë 87). Catherine’s sentiment indicates she truly would rather be with Heathcliff, but the actions of others have influenced her monumental decision to marry Edgar. Furthermore, Heathcliff is motivated to not only ruin Edgar’s livelihood, but also gain ownership of his estate, Thrushcross Grange. This becomes clear when Heathcliff attempts to use Isabella
The situation is terrible: Catherine is married to a man she does not love and she is more than happy to fix the problem by cheating on her husband with Heathcliff. The situation worsens when she refuses to attempt to conceal this from her husband. As Edgar, her husband, is arriving and Heathcliff, her lover, is leaving, she tells Heathcliff “‘You must not go!” (Bronte 103). Then, acting as the voice of reason, Catherine’s servant asks Heathcliff: “‘Will you ruin her, because she has not wit to help herself?’” (Bronte 103). When Heathcliff stays, it shows a lack of empathy and just how blatantly they do not care about the effects of their immoral actions. This will irreparably “ruin” Catherine’s reputation, yet they do not have the foresight to cease or at least conceal their actions. Their blatant disregard for how their actions might affect the future and hurt Edgar is what makes Catherine and Heathcliff grossly
Isabella is the sister of Edgar Linton and, later on, the wife of Heathcliff. Isabella believed she was in love with Heathcliff before she actually knew him, and she didn’t listen to Catherine’s warnings because she thought she was jealous that she could love him and she couldn’t. Little did she know, Heathcliff did not love her, and only wants her to spite Catherine and so that he can be in the Linton family to take over the property when Edgar dies. Eventually they do marry, in secret against everyone 's wishes, and Isabella immediately regrets it. “promising that I should be Edgar’s proxy in suffering… I do hate him- I am wretched!” Bronte 151. This was after Heathcliff finds out about Catherine’s illness, and is livid at Edgar. So he decides to take all his anger out on Isabella. This shows how cruel and bitter Heathcliff is being to her, and he is just using Isabella. He does not love her at all, he only loved Catherine, And if he can’t have her, then he will be certain that everyone involved with her
Catherine Earnshaw appears to be a woman who is free spirited. However, Catherine is also quite self-centered. She clearly states that her love for Edgar Linton does not match how much she loves Heathcliff. She is saying that she does love both, and she is unwilling to give one up for the other; she wants “Heathcliff for her friend”. Catherine admits that her love for Linton is “like the foliage in the woods”; however, her love for Heathcliff “resembles the eternal rocks beneath”. She loves Heathcliff and yet she gives him up and marries Linton instead, Catherine believes that if she marries Heathcliff it would degrade and humiliate her socially.
In Emily Bronte’s novel “Wuthering Heights” the story is about Heathcliff and Catherine’s difficult love story. It’s also focuses on how Heathcliff is plotting out his revenge on everyone. Heathcliff and Catherine both exhibit madness and irrational behaviors. However, even though Catherine sticks out the most to me simply because of some of the choices she made in her life and then regretted Heathcliff also did some insane things.
In a failed attempt to discourage Isabella Linton’s budding desire for Heathcliff in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Nelly Dean does not hesitate in standing behind Catherine’s assertion that he would destroy Isabella if she were to pursue him romantically: “She is better acquainted with his heart than I, or any one besides,” Nelly warns, “and she would never represent him as worse than he is” (103). While Nelly’s plea falls upon deaf ears, her admission rings true—if there is anyone in Wuthering Heights with more insight on Heathcliff’s actions and motives, it is Catherine Earnshaw. Had Brontë aimed to interrogate Heathcliff’s individual growth and regression in Wuthering Heights, Catherine may have narrated the tale, but as the original
Of course Heathcliff would have gotten demented and frustrated from Catherine’s constant insults and contradictions. The only person he has ever truly loved has left him for another, the man who his antithesis and who he can never surpass. Catherine’s indifference to Heathcliff’s feelings when she confesses to Nelly that marrying him would degrade her is Heathcliff’s breaking point. He sees Edgar as the target for his revenge, when really Catherine is to blame. Edgar had no idea Heathcliff’s full affections for Catherine. He would not have been in his nature to purposely steal away Catherine from her at this initial stage. She is the culprit for prompting Heathcliff’s vengeful heart. In the words of Spacks,
Platonic love, as shown between Edgar and Isabella, leads to enough cruelty in its own. However, we first see this kind of cruel love between Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley, Catherine, and Heathcliff at the Earnshaw household. To better understand the intense rivalry between the Earnshaw family members, it is best to know that Mr. Earnshaw took in Heathcliff after finding him lost on the way home from a trip. Nelly, the household maid at the time, described his finding as, “…was a tale of his seeing it starving and homeless, and as good as dumb in the streets of Liverpool.” (36) Mr. Earnshaw then recognizes, as time goes on, that there is much more promise to Heathcliff than there is to his son, Hindley. Thereafter, he begins to treat Heathcliff with more love and attention than both of his own children. “He took to Heathcliff strangely, believing all he said… and petting him far above Cathy.” (37-38). This favoritism leads to Hindley and Catherine being physically abusive to Heathcliff, even more ...
Hindley, being the only biological son of Mr Earnshaw was envious of the relationship shared between Mr Earnshaw and Heathcliff and burned with fury. He made no effort to hide his resentment toward Heathcliff. Hindley despised Heathcliff to such an extent that when Mr Earnshaw died, he treated Heathcliff more like a servant and for bided him to talk to Catherine. Life then became miserable for Heathcliff and then became revenge driven. Hindley’s abusive and arrogant attitude toward Heathcliff, resulted in the chain of revengeful events that occurred in the novel. Hindley was instrumental in moulding Heathcliff into the destructive character he became.
but the strange thing when saying I am Heathcliff that means that even after marriage she still do have feeling for him and she never forget the love story of her life, they both acted like soul mates and the treated each other heavenly, the also grew up together and that bond was fed and grown by their childhood memories as they were living and growing up with each other in the same house wuthering heights. They really acted like 2 souls in one body and their love bond was very un-destroyable. But Catherine acted very selfish and she hurt herself and hurt everybody else to fulfill her desires toward the civilized and education life that she was willing to
The compassion that Heathcliff holds for Catherine remains steadfast even after she dies. Bronte illustrates Heathcliff’s enduring passion and love when he proclaims, “Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you-haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts wandered on earth. Be with me always-take any form-drive me mad!”