The Suffering of Catherine Linton in Wuthering Heights

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Natasha Valdez J. Gardner AP English Literature 22 October 2013 The Suffering of Catherine Linton in Wuthering Heights “I never saw Heathcliff last night,” answered Catherine, beginning to sob bitterly: “and if you do turn him out of doors, I’ll go with him. But, perhaps, you’ll never have an opportunity: perhaps, he’s gone.” Here she burst into uncontrollable grief and the remainder of her words were inarticulate” (Brontë, 76). Catherine Linton will be miserable without the presence of Heathcliff. The thought of them being separated rips her heart apart. She grew up with this adopted poor boy and at first despised him but learned to admire him as a best friend as a brother and even loved him more than her own sibling, Hindley, who has the same blood. Her suffering is shown in many ways and in different actions. However, what makes a remembrance that is very significant is the gothic aspect of her ghost sobbing. From Page 72 through page 78 in Wuthering Heights, Catherine conveys her suffering when Heathcliff runs away. This all begins when Heathcliff over hears Catherine telling Nelly Dean that Edgar Linton proposed to her. However, Catherine then asserts that she loves Edgar but it doesn’t feel right. She tells Dean that Heathcliff and she are very similar but if she marries him it would degrade her as a lady. “My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I’m well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He’s always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being. So don’t talk of our separation again: it is impracticable. (Brontë, 71).” Catherine’s life would have been better and a lot different if Heathcliff would have just stayed a little

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