Even though Nelly and Edgar have different perceptions of Catherine’s ways, there may be some truth and valid points to each character’s opinions. Catherine, a defiant woman, has shown dominance for most part of the plot and gets her own way by displaying means of aggression and emotional breakdown. However, there comes a time when Catherine seizes her dominating ways and her mannerism changes and appears docile; which establishes her double standard nature.
By all means, the character of Edgar’s opinion can be justly supported by the writer of this paper. Edgar in his own rights may feel that Catherine uses her emotions to prove her point because he is her husband and he loves her. It is evident from the plot that he fears her, and readily
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Nelly opinions come from that of an outsider, whose strong personality did not fear Catherine, but easily called her out for her miserable nature. Nelly sees Catherine as a vindictive person who readily gets what she wants and does evil things to overpower people. Nelly has come to face Catherine’s wrath first hand; as evident by her pinches and the stinging blow she delivers to Nelly when she refuses to leave the room as Edgar visits, and Catherine wants to be alone with Edgar as he visits the Heights. In Nelly’s eyes, Catherine is spoiled, and she does not matter who gets hurt or betray in the process to accomplish her goals.
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
...other, or a matchmaker; she is all four at the same time. This multiplicity in roles, as well as her exertions to manipulate her fellow characters, implicates Nelly in the role of the author, who both occupies the role of all of her characters and manipulates those characters to act as she wishes them to. As a reader, it is easy to dismiss Nelly as merely being a means to an end. It is because of Nelly that we are allowed the opportunity to hear the story of Wuthering Heights, but the narrative certainly does not revolve around her, and nor should it. The author herself should never occupy more space than her story. Yet by performing a meta-analysis on Nelly’s role, we can see the importance of not simply dismissing such a character, because her presence says just as much about the turbulences of passion for love as it does about the passion for a writer’s art.
This quote explained Edgars opinion on Catherine because she is over exaggerating with her emotions. She talks about dying and love. She also knows this will get a rise out of Edgar. But she also uses her intelligence because she realizes that Heathcliff will never love or miss her. Catherine puts her thoughts into a reality
As said in the book, Catherine believed that "Edgar was ready to choke in her absence" (113).
Earnshaw’s death. Hindley was portrayed in the beginning of the novel as a strong-willed good Christian boy by Nelly. Nelly recognizes herself in Hindley, mainly due to their mutual hatred of their “gypsy-child” Heathcliff and in their mutual jealously- Hindley’s for Heathcliff and Nelly’s for Catherine. However, once Hindley marries, Nelly now sees him as just “another man,” or a weakling, ruled by his desires and addictions. Nelly turns against Hindley, especially when he orders her and Joseph, another servant, to move to “the back of the house” and shows her “her place” in the household. Nelly shows nothing but a strong disfavor toward Frances, Hindley’s wife, stating upon his and Frances’s return, “probably, she had neither money nor name to recommend her, or he would scarcely have kept the union from his father” (Brontë 45). This dislike towards Francis stems from the fact that not only has she married Hindley, someone who Nelly saw as an equal in hatred and jealously, but Francis also took a liking to Catherine, “She expressed pleasure too, at finding a sister among her new acquaintance, and she prattled to Catherine, and kissed her…” (Brontë 45), which once again pulled Catherine’s attention from Nelly. After Francis’s death due to “consumption,” Nelly feels no empathy for Hindley, but focuses on his faults, making clear his struggle
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
Furthermore, the love that Heathcliff’s young niece and nephew share is one that echoes that of what his and Catherine’s love could have been, which provides even more ground for the fiend to tyrannize the two. The semblence in their relationships can be seen in comparable scenes, the first of which recounts Catherine uttering, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now…” (74) Later, Heathcliff pronounces apropos of Cathy caring for Hareton, “Your love will make him an outcast, and a beggar.” (299) The similarities between their two relationships is therefore outlined in their alluded elements of shame and social degradation that can be found in both occasions , and this likeness further agitates the aching heart of Wuthering Height’s antagonist.
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 Nelly’s case, she thinks Catherine is more of a tantrum throwing and because of that, she is extremely used to it now. For example, Nelly confessed saying “I own I did not like her, after her infancy was past; and I vexed he frequently by trying to bring down her arrogance; she never took an aversion to me though” (Bronte 58). By Nelly saying this, she is implying that Catherine has always been extremely rude to her but she is used to it. Nelly explains how she has never taken orders from her without an attitude or a problem. For Edgar, he and Catherine have an intimate relationship in the story. Catherine surprisingly dominates the relationship and bosses Edgar around. Their relationship is mostly one sided and based off abuse. Edgar speaks to Catherine saying, “You’ve made me afraid and ashamed of you” (Bronte 53). Edgar saying this shows that he thinks Catherine does the things she does just to hurt him. Thus, making this the reason for him thinking Catherine is up to nothing but to manipulate others. By the way Nelly and Edgar think about Catherine are both different which is why they both hold different relationships with
When we first see Catherine enter Nelly’s story she selfishly wanted the gift that her father promised her despite the fact that her father had gone out of his was to help a little boy that was all alone in the world. This is the first view of the selfish little girl emotions that eventually make her seem as if she is a little girl trapped in a woman’s body. But of course in this scene she was a child so it is excused individually but as a whole when put together along with the rest of the proof that she was a childish woman it shows just the beginning of the downward spiral that was Catherine Linton’s life.
In this narration and as a narrator, Nelly subtle and blatantly gives her perspective and bias on Catherine and Heathcliff, which remains unchanged until adulthood. Despite Nelly’s young age, she shows the audience the understanding of social politics within the Earnshaw family and its effect on Catherine and Heathcliff. Due to this knowledge and Nelly’s position in the family, she demonstrates her negative view on the two said characters when Catherine returns from Thrushcross Grange:
As soon as Edgar is introduced into the novel, the two boys are set against each other not only in fighting for Catherine’s love, but also in taking separate sides of the underlying battle between civility and savagery. Throughout the novel, Edgar is presented with civil and reformed characteristics, while Heathcliff is often given the characteristics of savagery━rough, raw. and often animalistic. During times of heightened emotion, he is described as “not like a man, but like a savage beast” (Brontë 163). The night that Catherine gets into a fiery argument with Heathcliff and then becomes engaged to Edgar, there is a distinct moment that captures this stark difference, as Heathcliff is exiting the room, and Edgar is entering. Edgar is described with positive connotations, as a “beautiful fertile valley”, while Heathcliff is a “bleak, hilly, coal country” (Brontë 67). In this way, the narrator characterizes them from her perspective. Heathcliff represents the dark and coarse, while Edgar represents aesthetic
Cathy was a good child, but she was very spoiled and overprotected, since Edgar didn’t trust anyone with her. She wasn’t allowed to wander outside the house, unless she was going to the park nearby and was accompanied by either Nelly or Edgar himself. Before Isabella’s death, she wanted Edgar to visit her so that she could give Linton over to him. He goes on a trip to claim Linton for himself, so Nelly is instructed to take care of Cathy. While Edgar is away, Nelly takes Cathy to Wuthering Heights to meet her cousin, Hareton, which was strictly forbidden to her, especially because there was to be no communication between the houses. Edgar returns to the Grange with Linton; Catherine and Linton get along easily and become good friends almost immediately. That same night, Joseph comes to the Grange, demanding that Linton go to Wuthering Heights to be with his dad, Heathcliff. When they arrive at the Heights, Linton is appalled by the ugly outside appearance of his new home and becomes frightened of his father, screaming that he refuses to stay there. Cathy turns sixteen years old, sharing her birthday with the anniversary of her mother’s death. Edgar goes to visit Catherine’s grave, so Nelly takes Cathy out to play. They run into Heathcliff, and he tells Nelly that he wishes Cathy and Linton to marry each other. When Cathy learns that Linton is actually Heathcliff’s son, she returns home and blames Edgar for keeping her and Linton away from each other for so long. Catherine and Linton begin to write love letters to each other behind their parent’s backs. Nelly finds out about this, and threatens to tell Edgar about the letters unless Catherine lets her burn them all.
...he power to depart, as much as a cat possesses the power to leave a mouse half killed, or a bird half eaten” a window motif can be seen here, as Edgar has been pushed on the outside of Wuthering Heights while Cathy remains inside her home. A change is signalled in that Edgar is likely to ask Cathy to marry him, for her cannot take his eyes off her or leave her side for one second. The plosives ‘possessed…power’ emphasise the choice that Edgar has to go back to the Grange or stay with the girl he loves, and the simile ‘as much as a cat possesses the power to leave a mouse half killed’ shows Brontë making a comparison to emphasise that Edgar would rather stay with Cathy even though she has just hit him moments early in a flurry of passion, this also shows that Edgar is easily swayed to make decisions without much persistence or effort from anyone.
Catherine’s revenge does not make things better for her. Her revenge on Heathcliff by blaming him for her upcoming death does not meliorate her mind. Just before she dies, she ascribes Heathcliff for her “murder.” “You have killed me, and thriven on it, I think” (Bronte 158). Catherine resembles what Oliver Goldsmith said, “When lovely woman stoops to folly, and finds too late that men betray, what charm can soothe her melancholy?