Wuthering Heights
Literature Project
Catherine Earnshaw
Linton
CONFLICTS
With self - Internal conflict
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Catherine’s major conflict with her self is evident when
she is confused about marrying Edgar as she loves
Heathcliff. “In whichever place the soul lives-in my soul,
and in my heart, I’m convinced I’m wrong!”
She knows that she and Heathcliff are the same self
(“he’s more myself than I am”) and yet she feels that “It
would degrade me to marry Heathcliff”.
“I want to cheat my uncomfortable conscience”
“My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods…My
love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneatha source of little visible delight, but necessary...Nelly, I
am Heathcliff”
“Every Linton on the face of the earth might melt into
nothing, before I could consent to forsake Heathcliff!”
During her delirious state, Catherine is unable to
recognize herself in a mirror.
With self – Values
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When Heathcliff returns after an absence of 3
years, Catherine tends to ignore her Victorian
values and keeps up an association with him,
even though Edgar dislikes this and this makes
him ask “Do you love that wretch Heath-” but
she tells him to be silent.
“I’d rather see Edgar at bay than you” (to
Heathcliff)
During her illness, she tells Edgar that she does
not need him
“Well might Catherine deem that heaven would
be land of exile to her, unless, with her mortal
body, she cast away her mortal character also”
With self- Motivations
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Catherine tries to be on good terms with Heathcliff due to her old
friendship with him but she wants to make a good impression on
Linton “for when Heathcliff expressed contempt of Linton, in her
presence, she could not half coincide, as she did in his absence; and
when Linton evinced disgust and antipathy to Heathcliff, she dared
not treat his sentiments with indifference, as if depreciation of her
old playmate were of scarcely any consequence to her”
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Catherine’s motivations for marrying Edgar are to gain a higher
status in society even though her heart is against marrying Edgar.
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According to Nelly, “You love Mr. Edgar because he is handsome,
and young, and cheerful, and rich, and loves you.”
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“…did it never strike you that, if Heathcliff and I were married, we
should be beggars? Whereas, if I marry Linton, I can aid Heathcliff
to rise , and place him out of my brother’s power” and according to
Nelly this is the “worst motive” that Catherine has given for
marrying Edgar.
With self – Desires
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At first, Catherine desires to achieve a high social
standing by marrying Edgar
At the time of her illness, Catherine’s ultimate desire is
to be reunited with Heathcliff and for this she forsakes
Edgar and all her previous wishes to have a higher social
standing .
“Heathcliff..they may bury me twelve feet deep, and
throw the church over me; but I wont rest till you ae
with me…I never will!”
Catherine badly wants to escape this world during her
illness:
- “I’m wearying to escape into that glorious world, and to
be always there…really with it and in it”
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Others- Heathcliff (ally)
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Catherine’s conflict with Heathcliff is on a social scale
and the first signs of this conflict appear when Catherine
returns after her transformation, from Thrushcross
Grange after a stay of 5 weeks.
“He might well sulk behind the settle on beholding such
a bright, graceful damsel enter the house, instead of a
rough-headed counterpart to himself as he expected”
The physical manifestation of this conflict is when in
chapter 8, Heathcliff tells her that she prefers the
Lintons over him and they quarrel. She says to him “You
might be dumb or a baby for anything you say to amuse
me, or for anything you do, either!”
“You and Edgar have broken my heart, Heathcliff!”
With othersIsabella:
Catherine’s conflict with Isabella is a minor one as
Isabella appears as a rival to her when it comes
to their affections for Heathcliff. Catherine’s
discomfort is obvious when Heathcliff thinks
about marrying Isabella and he tells her this:
“ I’m not your husband, you needn’t be jealous of
me!”
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With the environment
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When Catherine returns transformed after a stay of 5
weeks at Thrushcross Grange, her new dressing and
style is at conflict with the environment of Wuthering
Heights. Her arrogance is disliked by the servants.
When Catherine moves to Thrushcross Grange, her
rebellious spirit is not in tune with the calm and peaceful
atmosphere of Thrushcross Grange.
“I wish I were out of doors – I wish I were a girl again,
half savage, hardy and free…Why am I so changed?
Why does my blood rush into a hell of tumult at a few
words?”
With Destiny - Purpose
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At first Catherine’s apparent purpose is to be on good
terms with the Lintons and to marry Edgar and marry
Edgar gain a better social standing and for this she
decides to give up marrying Heathcliff even though she
loves him.
Later Catherine’s apparent purpose is to be reunited with
Heathcliff and for this she consents to forsake her
relationship with Edgar and puts up a conflict against her
married life.
“They were too much absorbed in their mutual joy to
suffer embarrassment; not so Mr Edgar; he grew pale
with pure annoyance…”
“Well, if I cannot keep Heathcliff for my friend – if Edgar
will be mean and jealous, I’ll try to break their hearts by
breaking my own.”
Destiny - Aspirations
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Catherine’s aspirations are to marry Edgar to gain a
higher social standing.
Catherine wants to be (with) Heathcliff forever:
- “I only wish us never to be parted”
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Catherine wants escape from this world because she
says that in the next one she would be “incomparably
beyond” and “above” everyone else.
With destiny - Transcendence
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Catherine’s transforms into a much more “dignified” girl
when she returns from a stay of 5 weeks at Thrushcross
Grange. This shows that she has foregone her previous
wild spirit.
Nelly describes her during her illness as “there seemed
unearthly beauty in her change. The flash of her eyes
had been succeeded by a dreamy and melancholy
softness: they no longer gave the impression of looking
at the objects around here; they appeared always to
gaze beyond, and far beyond – you would have said out
of this world…stamped her as one doomed to decay.
Even though Catherine’s doom is obvious, in this state
she feels that she is as close to achieving her final
destination that she actually mocks Nelly with the
following words “I shall be sorry for you. I shall be
incomparably beyond you and above you all.”
With destiny – Self actualization
In chapter 9, Catherine looks at her love for Edgar and
Heathcliff with a wider perception:
 “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the
same, and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from
lightning, or frost from fire.”
 “My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff’s
miseries, and I watched and felt each from the
beginning; my great thought in living is himself. If all
else perished and he remained, I should still continue to
be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated,
the universe would turn to a mighty stranger. I should
not seem part of it. My love for Linton is like a foliage in
the woods. Time will change it...My love for Heathcliff
resembles the eternal rocks beneath – a source of little
visible delight but necessary. Nelly I am Heathcliff ”
CHANGE
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When Catherine is given “fine clothes” and “flattery” she
“readily” submits to the change and transforms into a
much more “graceful” girl without any hesitation
When Catherine’s inner conflict arises when Edgar asks
her to marry her, her love for Heathcliff comes in the
way, but she submits to her aspirations for a higher
social standing and marries Edgar.
Concerning Heathcliff’s absence, when he returns
Catherine says: “The event of this evening has
reconciled me to God and humanity. I had risen in angry
rebellion against Providence”
However, when Heathcliff returns, she rebels against
Edgar’s dislike for him and continues to keep up an
association with him. On this starts a moral conflict with
Edgar
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When Heathcliff returns, and Edgar does not approve of
him coming to Thrushcross Grange, Catherine rebels
against this and goes into wild states of rage and
delirium and decides to shut herself up in her room:
“Well, if I cannot keep Heathcliff for my friend – if Edgar
will be mean and jealous, I’ll try to break their hearts by
breaking my own.”
“I’m in danger of being seriously ill…I want to frighten
him”
“your veins are full of ice-water, but mine are boiling,
and the sight of such chilliness makes them dance.”
- “I don’t want you Edgar; I’m past wanting you…”
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Heathcliff tells her that she “betrayed her own heart”
“I have not broken your heart …You have broken it, and
in breaking it, you have broken mine”
“…you loved me - then what right had you to leave
me?.. - for the poor fancy you felt for Linton”
Contradictions:
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Catherine’s transformation into a graceful girl after her
stay at Thrushcross Grange is a contradiction against her
wild spirit and nature.
Catherine tells Nelly that she and Heathcliff are
“inseparable” and yet she feels that it would “degrade”
her to marry Heathcliff
Even though Catherine says that she loves Edgar, her
actions during her married life, contradict her.
Catherine is unable to recognize her own self in a mirror
and she appears very “weak” as she herself confesses, in
her delirium, and this is a contradiction against her
previous strong character.
Catherine blames Heathcliff and other factors for their
separation but actually it is she herself who is
responsible for it “Because misery, or degradation, and
death, and nothing that God or satan inflicted, could
have parted us, you, of your own will did it”
Narrator’s Attitude:
Nelly’s
Attitude/tone towards
Catherine Earnshaw Linton
When they are both children, Nelly perceives Catherine
to be too wild and high spirited and rebellious:
- “…Cathy, who was too mischievous and wayward for a
favourite.”
- “…she put all of us past our patience fifty times and
oftener in a day...her spirits were always at high-water
mark…wild, wick slip she was…she meant no harm…”
- “…she was defying us with her bold, saucy look, and
her ready words…”
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Nelly’s tone towards Catherine becomes negative when
Catherine returns changed, from Thrushcross Grange
after a stay of 5 weeks.
- “she dare hardly touch them lest they should fawn her
splendid garments”
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- “having a world of things to order for her new friends;
she
came into the kitchen, once, to speak to her old one,…and
she only stayed to ask what was the matter with him”
- “pained to behold Catherine, with dry eyes and an
indifferent air…”
- “how lightly she dismisses her old playmate’s troubles.
I could not have imagined her to be so selfish.”
- “I did not call her unfeeling for long…”
Nelly seems impressed by Catherine’s nature and yet she
does not like the way Catherine turns out to be as they
grow older:
- “and she did turn out to be a haughty, headstrong
creature. I own I did not like her…and I vexed her
frequently by trying to bring down her arrogance”
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- “her ingenious cordiality…”
- “for she was full of ambition – and led her to adopt a
double character without exactly intending to deceive
anyone”
- “for when Linton expressed disgust and antipathy to
Heathcliff, she dared not treat his sentiments with
indifference as if depreciation of her playmate were
of scarcely any consequence to her”
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Nelly adopts a counsellor’s (when she tells her confusion
about marrying Edgar) attitude towards Catherine even
though she thinks her arrogance should be brought
down.
“I’ve had many a laugh at her perplexities and untold
troubles, which she vainly strove to hide from my
mockery…but she was so proud, it became really
impossible to pity her distress…There was not a soul else
that she might fashion into an advisor”
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“I’ve said I did not love her, and rather relished
mortifying her vanity”
“No, she felt small trouble regarding any subject, save
her own concerns.”
“I was out of patience with her folly!”
“it only goes to convince me that you are either
ignorant of the duties you undertake in marrying; or
else that you are a wicked, unprincipled girl.”
“saucier, and more passionate than ever before…she
ceased to hold any communication with me, save in the
relation of a mere servant…she might trample us like
slaves for all he cared!”
After Catherine becomes Mrs.Linton, Nelly still does not
like her at all, and feels annoyed at and sick of
Catherine:
- Nelly feels that Edgar and Isabella humour her wishes
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“she could not be called the opposite (of Edgar), yet
she seemed to allow herself such wide latitude, that
I had little faith in her principles, and still less
sympathy for her feelings”
- “I did not wish to ‘frighten’ her husband, as she did, and
multiply his annoyances for the purpose of serving her
selfishness”
“She rung the bell till it broke with a twang: I entered
leisurely. It was enough to try the temper of a saint,
such senseless, wicked rages!” (Nelly does not
relaize the seriousness of the situation and adopts a
mocking tone towards Catherine)
Nelly thinks that Catherine is making up her illness and
uses this as an opportunity to get back at Catherine.
She taunts her
Eg. that Edgar is absorbed in his books while she is ill.
Eg. “Who is coward now?”
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- “…our fiery Catherine was no better than a wailing
child!”
- “Long enough to live on nothing but cold water and illtemper”
 Nelly’s attitude to Catherine during her illness is reflected
in Edgar’s words to her:
“You knew your mistress’s nature and you encouraged me
to harrass her…It was heartless! Months of sickness
could not cause such a change”
Just before the time of Catherine’s death, Nelly feels that
Catherine is doomed and her tone is not so harsh
towards her at this time:
- “I know, and to any person who saw her…stamped her as
one doomed to decay”
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“Well might Catherine deem that heaven would be land
of exile to her, unless, with her mortal body, she cast
away her mortal character also”
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Nelly is not an omniscient narrator. She reports
Catherine’s interior life only because Catherine confides a
lot of her feelings to Nelly as she has no one else to
confide in. As Nelly has grown up with Catherine, she
has an idea of her nature and how Catherine responds
to different situations and considering Catherine’s
environment, Nelly makes speculations about Catherine’s
feelings and presents her human-like judgement about
her.
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Nelly’s attitude towards Catherine remains majorly
negative throughout Catherine’s life.
The narrator considers Catherine to be more of a fool
who is doomed and she also thinks that Catherine’s lack
of moral values make her unfit for heaven.
Nelly is not a completely reliable narrator because her
judgement is based on what she perceives, and since
her attitude towards Catherine is rather biased, we
cannot trust her judgements as they do not always
reflect what goes on in Catherine’s life.
She does not really understand Catherine’s feelings for
Heathcliff properly or cannot empathize with her at this
and this is why her comments about Catherine have a
large amount of mockery and satire in them.
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It is ironic that when Catherine feels so strongly about
her confusion to marry Edgar and her love for Heathcliff
“I was only going to say that heaven did not seem to be
my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come
back to earth ; and the angels were so angry that they
flung me out, into the middle of the heath on the top of
Wuthering Heights where I woke, sobbing for joy...Nelly,
I see now you think me a selfish wretch…”, Nelly is
unable to empathize with her and considers her feelings
“nonsense”
The irony here is that Nelly does not understand the
complexity of her delirium. Catherine herself says during
her illness: I had no command of tongue, or tongue, or
brain…You may as well fancy an abyss where I
grovelled…you have helped to unsettle me!” while Nelly
takes all this non seriously and thinks Catherine is mad:
“Perceiving it vain to argue against her insanity…
“she has been talking nonsense the whole evening”