How Does Catherine Change Throughout The Play

Catherine’s emotions are as vivid and wild as her beauty. The theme of external looks and internal character is explored through Catherine’s emotional tantrums and the other characters who witness her tantrums. Catherine is intelligent, but she is also impetuous. Because Edgar loves Catherine, he has not seen her for her faults. He sees Catherine through rose colored spectacles, and he thinks she is perfect. It is not until their love is challenged by Catherine’s love for Heathcliff, that Edgar sees Catherine’s more volatile nature. Nelly, however, is not alarmed by the emotional tides of Catherine. She is used to the way that Catherine behaves, and the drama does not affect her in the same way that it affects Edgar.

When Catherine is young, she and Heathcliff would go playing on the moor at night. They would romp like kids. Catherine and Heathcliff were having an affair that no one would approve of. Catherine is like a tomboy at this point, she even spits like a boy. Catherine does not realize how to behave like a lady until something

She learned manners from his family, so she starts to lead a dual life. She is a lady around the Linton family, and she is wild around Heathcliff and the Earnshaw family. This causes Catherine to mislead Edgar into perceiving her as a complacent creature, when in fact she is anything but complacent. Edgar believes that Catherine is an intellectual creature, not an emotional creature. However, Nelly recognizes that Catherine is an emotionally shallow, non-intellectual person. When Catherine chooses Edgar over Heathcliff, she confides to Nelly that marrying Heathcliff would destroy her social status. Therefore, Nelly knows that Catherine is truly in love with Heathcliff, even though she chooses to marry Edgar. Edgar, of course does not know this fact, but he suspects