‘Through the characters of Catherine and Cathy, Brontë is able to explore the complexity of Victorian femininity.’ Explore with detailed reference to the text including 10 close references to extracts.
In Wuthering Heights, Brontë uses the characters of Catherine and Cathy to explore the complexity of Victorian femininity; showing ways in which they conform to society and how they reject its normalcy. Cathy (young) ultimately sets a sense of the female psyche in the novel right from the start – portrayed through her conversing with Lockwood in Chapter Two, where Lockwood first speaks to a female. Catherine (older) consistently rebels against society’s traditions, through her adoration for exploring the moors and her undeniable love for Heathcliff, who is supposedly a ‘gypsy.’ Her conformist self is expressed very little throughout the novel, but Brontë has done this to emphasise her wild nature and to establish Catherine’s dominance.
At the start of the novel, Brontë has used Cathy to create a backdrop of the female tone in the novel for the reader. When Cathy speaks to Lockwood, Brontë writes that she ‘snapped’ and ‘demanded,’ and the imperative ‘demanded’ portrays her dominance over the male and already separates her from a ‘typical Victorian woman’ status. Lockwood tries to be a charming man by beginning the conversation based on animals, something a female should love. However, Cathy replies ‘more repelling than Heathcliff himself could have replied’ and Brontë has done this to show that women are not always what they seem. On the outside, they appear to be generic, Victorian woman, but mentally, they are possible of opposing society and its patriarchal traditions. The use of a Darwinian style experiment to start this conversation sets an animalistic wildness to its tone, but Brontë has challenged this theory – giving Cathy the social dominance over Lockwood. By the end of the novel, Cathy is the individual to refine her relationship with Hareton and to ‘superintend his studies’ and this represents Brontë’s hope for the future generation. Her hope is that women can express their intellectual selves and are not oppressed by civilization and its male dominant values. She uses Cathy to do this through her teaching Hareton and also, this symbolises Brontë’s utopian style ideal – potentially relating to her fictional fantasy world of ‘Gondal.’
The character of Catherine (older) is significant in conveying the complexity of Victorian femininity as well as Cathy (young.) Catherine dominates the whole text, even though she is in the ‘grave,’ through her writing in her diary. Brontë is using this to comment on the need for women to write to keep themselves remembered and to remain in existence, rather than simply passing away and being forgotten in history. Catherine’s rebellious side is shown, again through Lockwood at the beginning of the novel. When he arrives at Wuthering Heights, his window ‘ledge’ was ‘covered with writing scratched into the paint.’ The verb ‘scratched’ is quite an aggressive action and as she has ‘scratched’ the names ‘Catherine Linton... Catherine Earnshaw… and Catherine Heathcliff’ into the paint, it’s as if this is an indirect expression of the frustration she feels. Also, Catherine ‘scratching’ this into the wall could be a way of her trying to permanently keep the residents of Wuthering Heights reminded of her presence and trying to keep herself tied to the house. This changing of her surname presents her reliance on a dominant male identity to construct a sense of belonging. Furthermore, her rebellious side is shown in her increasing close bond with Heathcliff after he arrives at Wuthering Heights. Both she and Heathcliff snuck out to Thrushcross Grange and her wildness is displayed here, where she was ‘beaten in the race’ there due to her being ‘barefoot.’ Brontë uses Catherine here to demonstrate the complexity of the female race because it is transgressive of Victorian society – her wild nature is completely out of the ordinary for a Victorian female and this is emphasised through Nelly Dean’s narration.
On the other hand, Catherine does not always rebel against the society that she, most of the time fails to fit into. After she gets bitten by the dog, she is taken in at Thrushcross Grange, where she stays for ‘five weeks’ and ends up marrying Edgar Linton. Brontë is presenting here that no matter how much she is portrayed as subordinate in society, there are still aspects in her life which she cannot help but conform to; such as marriage and having a child. Also, Catherine dies from childbirth, which was a very common within this period and Brontë has possibly used this common passing to get Catherine accepted into heaven. Catherine is ‘wearying to escape into that glorious world, and to be always there…’ and it’s as if she is imagining a perfect, peaceful utopia, where she can finally be free from an oppressive society and its rules.
