How can we interpret her? Reflections of the older generation?

How is Cathy presented? Young Catherine resembles her father in looks more than her mother. ‘the Linton’s fair skin and small features and yellow curing hair. However she inherited the Earnshaw’s eyes. ‘With the Earnshaw’s handsome dark eyes’. She doesn’t resemble her mother. ‘She could be soft and mild as a dove, and she had a gentle voice’. However she does have the same mischievous spirit as her mother and is adventurous, she disobeys Nelly and her father by going to Peniston Crag on her own. However when she leaves Thrushcross Grange to go to Wuthering Heights, she becomes miserable and in result she becomes distant and dismissive of everyone around her. ‘I don’t want your help, she snapped’.

What is the function/purpose of her character in Wuthering Heights? She shows the capacity to see past materialistic things to the nobility and beauty beneath, a trait her mother lacked -function in the novel is to show all the positive traits of her mother and to show that ultimately she leads the life her mother was too afraid to choose for herself. Another function for her character could be to torment Heathcliff. He saw Cathy as the cause of her mother’s death and she represented Catherine’s betrayal of their love.

She is used to show the contrast between herself and her mother, Catherine, especially when it came to love. Catherine and Heathcliff’s love was the most powerful force in the novel. Catherine didn’t want to marry Heathcliff because she felt it would degrade her. This displays Catherine’s pride and ego, which led to her choice of Edgar for a husband, who she loved for his name and status. Whereas Cathy was forced into marrying Linton by Heathcliff because he wanted the property and assets that she was heir to. Cathy eventually fell in love with Hareton, despite the fact that he was a dirty, illiterate farm labourer. Unlike her mother, Cathy wanted to marry for love, not money or power. Cathy has the happy ending that Catherine deprived herself and Heathcliff from.

Reader Reaction Positive reader reaction. Reader sympathises with her, especially when she promises to stay at Wuthering Heights if Heathcliff let her see Edgar before he died. Strong character-the fact that she marries out of love-reader respects her

Catherine’s Doppelganger? She can be seen as Catherine’s doppelganger, as they are physically similar – “handsome dark eyes”. They possess some of the same personality traits e.g. love of the outdoors – “Penistone Craggs particularly attracted her notice” and years earlier Catherine was described as “Queen of the countryside”. They are both rebellious – “H. and I are going to rebel” was written in Catherine’s old diary and Cathy is described as a “naughty thing” by Nelly after going out of the grounds to Wuthering Heights without permission. Both are described as “saucy” by Nelly – they are both mischevious and cheeky. Both also are torn between two different men, one upper-class (Edgar, Linton) and one lower-class (Heathcliff, Hareton).

Catherine’s Doppelganger? She is also unlike Catherine in many ways. “her spirit was high, but not rough”- she is not as dramatic or forceful as Catherine. “her anger was never furious, her love never fierce”- she is much gentler than Catherine but still emotionally strong. “I shall tell Papa”- she takes after the Linton’s in the way that she is spoiled and doted on much more than Catherine ever was as a child.

Supernatural being? When Cathy is forced to live at Wuthering Heights, she changes. She becomes unhappy for a long period of time and speaks with a “bitterness” – the Heights is literally a prison for her. The deaths of her father and Linton affect her greatly – “I feel and see only death!”. She is described by Lockwood as a “little witch” and is associated with the “Black Art” – for a time she is presented as supernatural and otherwordly with “beautiful eyes” that enchant Lockwood.

Quotations Appearance – “flaxen ringlets”, “beautiful eyes”, “sparkling with health”. Personality – “soft and mild as a dove”, “a heart sensitive”, “perverse will”, “perfect recluse”. Things she says – “he’s not my cousin, Ellen!” (about Hareton, she is a snob), “I feel and see only death!”, “You scandalous old hypocrite!” (to Joseph).

How does she fit into elements of the gothic, is she typical of gothic? Cathy is typical of the gothic as she is a naive heroine. When Edgar warns her not to approach Heathcliff, she does anyway as she doesn’t understand the danger and she is ignorant of the rest of the world as she is educated and brought up at Thrushcross Grange. “till she reached thirteen, she had not been beyond the range of the park” “Wuthering Heights and Mr. Heathcliff did not exist for her.” However, she is also brave. Although she is unaware and kept protected, she still has the courage to explore. Bronte shows there’s more to Cathy

She is kept in Wuthering Heights where she becomes exhausted, she is almost prisoner – gothic setting. But she does find happiness though and finds a way to settle in Wuthering Heights. She learns to be patient and understand Hareton. Her character brings a gothic atmosphere. Lockwood describes her as a “little witch” which is supernatural and surrounds her with mystery and so her character adds to the gothic elements.

Transgression of boundaries Young Cathy marries twice which could be transgressing the boundaries of the social norms in that time. She transgresses the boundaries of obedience by sneaking out a lot, crossing the boundaries of rules and of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. Transgresses boundaries of reality and the supernatural – witchery. Good vs evil: she is similar to her mother in that she is strong and rebellious but is more toned down. Her mother’s bad traits are her good ones? As “her anger was never furious, her love never fierce”