Saying that the relationship between the two is based upon love is actually
an inaccurate statement: in fact, the sum of their actions and inner thoughts
is, at first glance, far different from the common concept of the feeling
- what binds them together ranges from deep heatred to frustration, from longing
to pure wickedness, yet it can be considered as an undoubtely romantic interest.
Catherine 'Cathy' Earnshaw is a young upperclass
woman living among the Yorkshire moors during the late XIX century. Regardlessly
of her fairly high social status, she's a wild and hot-tempered spirit, whose
inclination to violence is common to the whole Earnshaw family. Heathcliff
is her stepbrother, a gypsy orphan her father found on his way back home during
a travel to Liverpool and came to live to Wuthering Heights,
dwelling of the Earnshaws, despite the frank dislike of everyone except Cathy,
with whom he shares an incredible amount of violent and impulsive character,
which leads him to grow a mutual affection towards her. However, Cathy has
a different plan for her life to follow. Her ambition for a solid wealth in
order to live like a lady brings her to marry the rich friend Edgar
Linton, since marrying Heathcliff would just lower her condition. In
search for revenge, Heathcliff runs away from home just to come back three
years later, after accumulating a considerable fortune. Cathy is now married,
and Heathcliff will upset her false tranquillity using everything in his power
to ruin her family, to get all of her possession by marrying Linton's sister
and to wake up a feeling Catherine never got rid of. Eventually, the torment
coming with all this, along with the vehement fights opposing the two men
of her life will be fatal to her - after falling seriously ill, she has a
last encounter with Heathcliff, confessing both her love and hatred, and dies
next morning, after giving birth to Linton's child, who will be called Catherine
as well, and will become the target Heathcliff will turn his thirst for revenge
to. It's only when he finds out she fell in love with her maternal cousin
Hareton, that Heathcliff will die, carried away by older Catherine's ghosts,
after almost twenty years of inhuman struggle.
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Wuthering Heights, Catherine and Heathcliff © Emily Brontë; layout and contents © Juuhachi Go since April, 28th, 2008; image scans and screenshots by Juuhachi Go (human shapes only, © Paramount Pictures); brushes and patterns © 77words. Part of here and here. No copyright infringement intended. Don't steal.