How Is Heathcliff Presented In The Androgynous Woman

The Androgynous Woman Wuthering Heights is a fairly peculiar book which explores the complex notions of what it means to be feminine and/or masculine, written in 1847 by an English woman, Emily Brontë. This novel is a dramatic love story between passionate Catherine Earnshaw and the strange, unconventional Heathcliff. Heathcliff, a nameless “gypsy”, abruptly becomes a part of the prominent Earnshaw family after the master brings him into Wuthering Heights, their home. After a childhood spent together, Heathcliff and Catherine’s love essentially unites and binds them together, forming one complete whole unable to function separately. Catherine and Heathcliff both bring something important to the relationship. The latter supplies a form of power

At first, however, Catherine does not love Heathcliff at all, in fact she “showed her humour by grinning and spitting at the stupid little thing”, because she didn't receive her whip (or did she), which she asked her father for (Wutehring Heights, 37). The whip acts a powerful metaphor for power. Catherine’s wish for this “whip” is, without a doubt, a “powerless younger daughter’s yearning for power” (Looking Oppositely, 264). Therefore, Catherine Earnshaw did receive her whip “in the form of a gypsy brat” (Looking Oppositely, 264). Heathcliff, without a doubt, functions as Catherine’s power, simply because of his masculine physical characteristics. On the other hand, Catherine provides Heathcliff, the “ragged, black-haired child”, with her own soul (Wuthering Heights, 36). Her involuntary decision to give her spirit away has deep roots in the death of her oldest brother, also named Heathcliff. This extremely significant point, about Heathcliff being named after the dead Earnshaw boy, is only seen in one sentence: “‘Heathcliff’; it was the name of a son who died in childhood” (Wuthering Heights, 38). Thus, Catherine feels compelled to hand over her soul to Heathcliff, in order to symbolically honor her dead brother. The almost incestuous connection between the two lovers, in the form of sharing a soul, is critical

Simply by being a man, that is having certain genitalia, one has the upper hand in life. Men are always supposed to be dominant over females, and women are always expected to be subordinate to men. Interestingly enough, where would an androgynous female fall in the social order, during the 1800s? Wuthering Heights takes a shot at the answer, because after all this book is a story about “culture” (Looking Oppositely, 257). Heathcliff, on the exterior, seems to be the definition of male, according to cultural assumptions: “tall, athletic, well-formed” (Wuthering Heights, 96). But on the flip side, Heathcliff seems to fit Milton’s definition of female all too well to be considered male. Heathcliff is utterly subversive, causing mayhem and undermining the authority and order of Wuthering Heights clearly displayed by the inscription “Hareton Earnshaw, 1500” above ancient home. Heathcliff also displays fits of undeniable passion throughout the novel. His outbreaks of passion are usually brutally cruel and violent. Wandering is also not foreign to the Miltonic female, Heathcliff. After hearing Catherine talk negatively about him to Nelly, Heathcliff decided to “hear no father” (Wuthering Heights, 81). He ran away from his home, or more accurately, wandered away. It is impossible to deny that Heathcliff possesses Eve-like