Wuthering Heights- Heroes

Question #4

The book contains two “heroes.” Both have the same name, which is Catherine. Catherine Earnshaw and Catherine Linton have very much the same personality- they are creatures with good hearts and fiery dispositions. Both Catherines save a loved one from neglect and ignorance, which makes them the heroes of the book. In many books the hero is the male who comes in to rescue the damsel in distress from any harm that might befall her. However, Wuthering Heights demonstrates the power of the female capacity for love. Both of the Catherine’s love for their man saves the man from an unhappy future.

For example, Catherine Earnshaw saves Heathcliff from Hindley’s oppression. Her love for Heathcliff inspires him to become a better person. Catherine Linton, on the other hand, continues her mother’s legacy when she apologizes for her unkind and demeaning words towards her friend, Hareton. Sorry for the mistreatment that he has suffered at her hands, she learns to love him and she teaches him to read and write. Miss Linton comes to love him just as much as her mother loved Heathcliff. (page 2258) These “rescues” from the clutches of an unhappy future make both of the Catherines the heroes for the book. Mother and daughter both represent the quality of goodness and love- the goodness of a woman’s heart, and its ability to change a man for the better.

Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New York: Random House, 1943. Print.