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Wuthering heights nelly character essay
Character of Catherine in Wuthering Heights
Wuthering heights nelly character essay
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As said in the book, Catherine believed that "Edgar was ready to choke in her absence" (113). After the conflict, Catherine is never able to fully recover from the incident, instead, she falls ill and mentally unstable. This is dangerous since she has a baby on the way. Catherine is described by Nelly as "all nerves" and that "She couldn't bear the surprise " of a visit from even Heathcliff (125).
In what is for Jane Austen an uncharacteristically direct intervention, the narrator of Northanger Abbey remarks near the end: "The anxiety, which in the state of their attachment must be the portion of Henry and Catherine, and of all who loved either, as to its final event, can hardly extend, I fear, to the bosom of my readers, who will see in the tell-tale compression of the pages before them, that we are all hastening together to perfect felicity."
Catherine manipulates,her own self even. Who does she really love,and want to be with? “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, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.” Cathy is also referring to herself as Heathcliff,basically stating that she knows him and loves him as well as she does herself. Catherine may have been in love with Linton but she feels like that's going to change. Her love for Heathcliff maybe too strong and she does want to be with Linton. He has only manipulated herself. Yes, as such wondrous creatures, women even manipulate themselves
As the protagonist in the novel, Catherine is also the dynamic character because of the changes she undergoes too change her perspective and personality. Early in the book Catherine reveals herself as a stubborn character. This is inferred from the fact that her father attempts to force her into marriage with a suitor yet she refuses to do so. She continuously does whatever she can to get rid off the suitors that her father brings. For example, “I thought he spoke in some foreign tongue or cipher designed to conceal a secret message, but it seems only that his nose was plugged. And it stayed plugged throughout his entire visit, while he breathed and chewed and chattered through his open mouth. Corpus Bones! He troubled my stomach no little
Cathy contains power in death. In a criticism by Daniel Burt, he notes that Cathy in a way shows dominance over Heathcliff in her death. Instead of Heathcliff’s love for Cathy eventually diminishing, he yearns for her even more. He completely loses himself growing unbelievably mad in love he holds for the lady. For instance, one night Heathcliff wanders over to Cathy’s place to visit her once more. The typical meeting morphed into a horrific night. Nelly passes a message Heathcliff never expected to hear. She explains to him that the love his life Cathy passed away from the sickness she drove herself into. Heathcliff cries in a vicious roar, “Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living! You said I killed you-haunt me, then!” (Bronte 87). He permits her to taunt and torture him after Cathy’s death. This opens the door for Cathy to continue her reign over Heathcliff. He does not care on any level about the consequences of his wish or actions may bring. Heathcliff ultimately allowed the woman to drive him to the grave to rest and be with her for eternity; the love he grows for Cathy allows her to control man and even more so in her death. In short, the death Cathy entitles on herself only furthers her power and control over Heathcliff as he breaths on
Catherine first becomes exposed to the opposing forces as she experiments with her desires for love and a better quality of life. *6* Because she constantly shifts priorities from one man to the other, her love for Heathcliff and Edgar results in a destructive disequilibrium. *1*In the novel, Cathy is portrayed as a lady with untamable emotions. *7* In her childhood she learns to l...
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
Munchausen syndrome is a psychological disorder developed from severe emotional difficulties. This disorder arises in Catherine when she is upset because she is not getting her way. Rather than crying, Catherine develops illnesses and stops eating. She will “stretch herself out stiff, and… [assume] the aspect of death (Brontë 104).” Cathy goes as far to say that she “will die since no one cares anything about [her] (Brontë 106)”. Cathy used illness, self-harm and the threat of death in order to cope with not getting her way. She also used them if anyone contradicted her opinion on Heathcliff. Her temper tantrums were so extreme they would make her bedridden. Nelly describe these fits as “enough to try the temper of a saint” (Brontë 104). Her fits develop the symptoms of anorexia. Anorexia is an eating disorder characterized by low body weight and lack of eating. By depriving herself of food, she would become ill. Gaining attention from those around her in order to make sure she was ok. In these episodes, it was Heathcliff whose attention she wished for most. In Chapter 12, Catherine is in a delirium from the lack of food she has eaten. However, in this fit, she randomly tells a story of Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights where Heathcliff resides. Although random, in this delirium it is Heathcliff who she thinks about.
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 initial downward spiral of Heathcliff’s life was predominantly caused by harsh influences in the environment in which he was raised. Heathcliff, an adopted child, grew up in Wuthering Heights, a desolate and dystopian estate when compared to the beauty of the neighboring Thrushcross Grange. In childhood, Heathcliff displayed evidence of a sympathetic personality through his emotional attachment to Catherine and kind attitude towards Nelly. At the time of Mr. Earnshaw’s death, Nelly describes a scene where, “Miss Cathy had been sick, and that made her still; she
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
Her selfishness lies within the reality that she married Linton for the things he could have provided for her. Nothing parted Catherine and Heathcliff. Not God, nor Satan, it was Catherine herself – Catherine was the cause of her broken heart. Along with breaking her heart, she also broke Heathcliff’s, which led him to loathe and yearn for vengeance against what Heathcliff thought was the cause of Catherine’s death – her daughter.
Catherine is free-spirited, wild, impetuous, and arrogant as a child, she grows up getting everything she wants as Nelly describes in chapter 5, ‘A wild, wicked slip she was’. She is given to fits of temper, and she is torn between her wild passion for Heathcliff and her social ambition. She brings misery to both of the men who love her, ultimately; Catherine’s selfishness ends up hurting everyone she loves, including herself.
On the face of it, it would seem that the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff is self-destructive to an extreme. Due to the lovers’ precarious circumstances, passionate personalities and class divisions, it seems that fate transpires to keep them apart and therefore the hopelessness of their situation drives them to self destruction. However, although the relationship is undeniably self-destructive, there are elements within it that suggest the pain Heathcliff and Catherine put each other through is atoned for to an extent when they share their brief moments of harmony.
Heathcliff and Catherine have loved each other since their childhood. Initially, Catherine scorned the little gypsy boy; she showed her distaste by “spitting” at him (Brontë 27). However, it was not long before Heathcliff and Catherine became “very think” (Brontë 27). They became very close friends; they were practically brother and sister (Mitchell 122). Heathcliff is intent upon pleasing Catherine. He would “do her bidding in anything” (Brontë 30). He is afraid of “grieving” her (Brontë 40). Heathcliff finds solace and comfort in Catherine’s company. When Catherine is compelled to stay at Thrushcross Grange to recover from her injury, she returns as “a very dignified person” (Brontë 37). Her association with the gente...
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?