Wuthering Heights9

A detailed Summary of Wuthering Heights9

In Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte, the characters are quite intricate and engaging. The story takes place in northern England in an isolated, rural area. The main characters involved are residents of two opposing households: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Wuthering Heights is a tale of a powerful love between two people, which transcends all boundaries, including that between life and death. The author, Emily Bronte, uses parallelism in this novel. Much of what happens in the first half of the story corresponds to events in the second half. This parallelism also extends to the characters; the first generation of characters is comparable to the second generation. Some might argue that these characters are duplicates of each other and that they share many traits. This is not the case for Catherine Earnshaw and Cathy Linton, a mother and her daughter. These two characters are different in numerous aspects of their personalities and lifestyles.

Catherine Earnshaw and Cathy Linton differ a great deal when it comes to their family life. Catherine’s father did not love her because she was forever misbehaving. He once told her, “[N]ay Cathy, I cannot love thee; thou’rt worse than thy brother.

Catherine was an intensely emotional character. From the time she was a child, she made choices based on her urges and feelings, and would become irritated if her will was not maintained. One time she became violently abusive when Nelly insisted on supervising her visit with Edgar. She pinched and slapped Nelly, shook Hareton when he began to cry, and then slapped Edgar when he attempted to intervene. This sort of unstable emotional state made Catherine very frail that she often became ill after an outburst. Following an argument she had with Heathcliff and Edgar, she became very ill and eventually died. It could be argued that her tendency for passionate outbursts drained the life from her. Catherine is a strong young woman and she is defiant of authority since young age. “She was never so happy as when we were all scolding, her at the same time, and she defying us with her bold, saucy look, and her ready words” (46). This, besides showing her as a mischievous child, shows a characteristic strongly underlined in her-- the need for attention. Catherine also treated her brother Hindley poorly. As a child, she neglected him in favour of Heathcliff. As an adult, Catherine made no effort to help Hindley with his drinking problem after Frances died, nor did she try and prevent Heathcliff from taking advantage of Hindley. Catherine's selfish character was depicted when she wanted both Edgar and Heathcliff at the same time. She wanted Edgar for his life and Heathcliff for his soul. She didn't want to choose between the two of them, and therefore she never did. Thus, she caused pain for Heathcliff and Edgar. With Catherine, her heart and mind are divided: she loves Heathcliff, but marries the more stable Edgar.

Cathy Linton, on the other hand, enjoys a very loving atmosphere at Thrushcross Grange. She is a fine, young lady. She loves her father and stays at his side constantly when he is ill. She even consents to marry Linton, so she can see her father. She and her father, Edgar, were very fond of each other. Edgar was anxious to protect her form the twisted world of Wuthering Heights. Cathy demonstrated her love for her father when she devoted herself to nursing him during his illness. Cathy never had any siblings, but she wished that she had one. She once said, “[P]retty Linton! I wish you were my brother” (219). The reader is certain that if Cathy had a brother they would have been very close. Her characteristic traits show the reader that she is a caring and loving woman. Cathy was much more sensible than her mother was. She was able to effectively control her emotions at all times, even during confrontations with her tormentor Heathcliff, and remained strong and grounded throughout the novel. At no point was she abusive, except perhaps in her initial treatment of Hareton.

The characters of Catherine Earnshaw and her daughter Cathy Linton are very different in numerous aspects of their personalities and lifestyles. They had very different family

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lockwood Nelly, Cathy Linton, Ellen Dean, Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff Edgar, Catherine Earnshaw, Heights Cathy, Heathcliff Cathy, Catherine Cathy, Emily Bronte, wuthering heights, cathy linton, catherine earnshaw, mother daughter, heathcliff edgar, catherine’s life, catherine cathy, heathcliff cathy, catherine heathcliff, catherine earnshaw daughter, catherine treated, world wuthering heights, aspects personalities lifestyles, earnshaw daughter cathy, earnshaw cathy linton,

Approximate Word count = 2036
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English