Catherine in the Mirror

When I first started reading these essays I wasn't sure what I would write this blog about. The more I read, the more I found things that I had not realized. On page 468 Lyn Pykett brings up the variations of Catherine on the ledge where Lockwood is sleeping, or at least trying to. On the next page, "Catherine begins her life as Catherine Earnshaw and ends it as Catherine Linton. Catherine Heathcliff remains an unfulfilled possibility, a route not taken, although some would argue that this unoccupied term in fact names Catherine's true identity."(469) This being read made me think about the fact that Catherine even stated that "Heathcliff is 'more myself than I am.'"(86) Even though Catherine was married to Heathcliff, she still saw herself as his.

In connection to Catherine is Cathy. My blog title is not meaning that Cathy is a mirror image of Catherine, as the essay and novel clearly tell us, but that Cathy's life or actions were a mirror image to Catherine's. On page 474 Pykeet points out that Catherine's puberty is reached when she goes to Thrushcross Grange. Becoming more civilized, in some ways, than when she was young at Wuthering Heights. Cathy on the other hand mirrors her mother and goes from the Grange and her civilized life, to Wuthering Heights and a more savage lifestyle.

Another point that I saw was the fact that where Catherine was unable to complete the cycle of Earnshaw to Linton to Heathcliff. Cathy was able to complete this cycle. She started as a Linton then married Linton and became a Heathcliff. After Linton dies Cathy marries Hareton and becomes an Earnshaw. This of course is in a mirrored way to Catherine's life. Where she went from Earnshaw to wanting to be with Heathcliff, but ended up a Linton, Cathy just went through them all in the opposite order.

I hadn't thought about the two Catherines as mirror images (in life choices) of each other, but now that I see it things seem a lot more interesting.

On your left you see Communism... We will be arriving at Wuthering Heights shortly...

     So I have to say that at first I was really confused about why we were reading about Communism. Well that was the first thing that pooped into my mind when I say Marx. After reading more about I found that the Marxist criticism was an easy way to look at Wuthering Heights. Plus the fact that one of the back stories that jumps out in Wuthering Heights of the "power struggle" between the characters, is like that of the "power struggle" in Communism, where each is pushing their idea as the correct one and fighting others' ideas down at the same time. 

      

     I can not say, or at least will not say that there was much that struck me about the reading itself other than the breakdown of Wuthering Heights. In all truth after reading the essays I was brought back to page 382 again and again just to re-read where Marx and Engels argue that economics provides the "'base' or 'infrastructure' of society." This one passage made me think of where each character is placed in the hierarchy that is touched on paged 398. Heathcliff is said to be a gypsy, but he is the only one in the character that seems to make a complete round about with his monetary situation. He comes into the Earnshaw house hold poor, leaves, and comes back as rich as can be. 

     

     Another passage on the 382 stuck with me as well. 

          "Marx later admitted that the relationship between base and superstructure may be

            indirect and fluid: every change in economics may not be reflected by an immediate 

            change in ethics or literature."

When I read this I was trying to place this in a fitting context within Wuthering Heights, but I was at a loss. I kept reading and when I read the definition of "homology" it hit me. This fits Heathcliff perfectly. Heathcliff is "sometimes unbalanced, often delayed, and always loose correspondence between base and superstructure. After everything that Heathcliff is forced to put up with from Hindley, he leaves. Coming back he is a changed man, his revenge plot is delayed by three years, and more so with the time for everything to proceed as planned. He is unbalanced in the way he acts, especially toward many of the characters. More so Catherine, who is treated with love one moment and contempt the next. Going back up to the quote above I want to point out that my observation does have its' flaws. Where it says that "economics may not be reflected by an immediate change in ethics or literature," fits Heathcliff as well. Though it is a more immediate change he has his moments where his "savagery" come out. Heathcliff was unruly as a child and did what he pleased most of the time, but when he comes back after those three years he is a different person. It is as if the fact he has money has changed him. I guess it does not completely change him since he does act unruly in some instances, but I will back those moment up with the "fluid[ity]" of the relationship between base and superstructure.   

Revenge, Incest, and all the ghosts you could neede

     I have to say that while reading Wuthering Heights I found that it was easy to get lost. Switching from the Nelly's story to the present, made me feel like I was wondering around the Moors myself. More like lost within them anyway. By the time I got done reading I was glad it was over, but at the same timed I wanted to start over and read it again just to understand more about it.
  
     Looking at the revenge plot that Heathcliff had put together boggled my mind. I mean I understand that he was treated like nothing as a child and then some how made tons of money, but how did he put such an extensive plot together? I wouldn't be able to do it. I would have started then got confused by my own revenge scheme and gave up. Of course Heathcliff somehow plotted what he would do, acted on his plot as soon as he returned, but then succeeds. The only fall back was he didn't cover his back and send Hareton away. If he had done that his plan would have been complete. I guess, in the end, Heathcliff got his last wish and was burried next to Catherine. In fact, it seems Heathcliff got his wish to be with Catherine. Even if they are both ghosts running around the moor, Wuthering Heights, and the churchyard.

     I've came up with a reason to why everyone is on the verge of insanity. I'm pretty sure that most of the characters are related in some form or fashion, well except Heathcliff. Looking at their family tree would be like looking at a braided rope. Ends meeting up with other ends, those ends meeting up farther down on other ends (I'm pretty sure there would be a knot somewhere in there.). So, Catherine and Edgar, Heathcliff and Isabella, Hindly and Frances. Catherine and Edgar have little Catherine. Heathcliff and Isabella have Linton. Hindley and Frances have Hareton. Linton marries little Catherine, then later little Catherine marries Hareton. Incest!?! I think so. Why should everyone not be crazy when they marry their cousins, and seem happy about it.

Just another episode of dysfunctional people and their issues.

     Was it just me, or did this seem to be like a show of "Jerry Springer" or "Dr. Phil?" I just kept seeing these kids fighting with each other, plotting the demise of another, and getting what they want no matter what. All I could think was that the young Catherine, Hindley, and Heathcliff are just plain Brats. (putting it nicely) I mean Hindley and Cathy didn't seem to care at all about the young boy their father had just brought home or that their father had been nearly killed (Bronte, 51), but listened quietly waiting until everything was done. Only to go search "their father's pockets for the presents he had promised."(52) Then on page 53 Heathcliff blackmails Hindley into giving him his colt when his turns lame. This is just what I saw. Mr. Earnshaw was no better. He played favorites it seemed, but when his health started to fail he went on to play the children. He would praise Hindley, then turn around and say "Hindly was naught, and would never thrive as where he wandered."(55) With Heathcliff, Mr. Earnshaw stopped to playing favorites as he did when Heathcliff was young, and would "grumble out a long string of tales against Heathcliff and Catherine."(55)

      On top of everything else Hindley, taking his role as Mr. Earnshaw was not any better. Treating Heathcliff as a servant instead of part of the family, as his father had done. Then I guess it was a way of revenge. So now this "wonderful" family is added to by the Linton family, and we are given more issues. (At this point I'm sure Dr. Phil would have given up.) We have a drunken and crazed Mr. Hindley Earnshaw. The two-faced Catherine, playing the spoiled Edgar Linton and the field boy Heathcliff. Then of course there is Joseph. (I'm not even sure what to say about him. I really need subtitles or a translator for him.) The only one who seems in their right mind is Ellen Dean, aka Nelly, who seems to be rational and tries to keep everyone from going completely insane.

     The fact that everyone introduced, so far, seems to be disturbed or dysfunctional, especially the Earnshaw family, is not what hit me the hardest. What I kept looking at was how each character behaved ans what they were called. Mr Earnshaw went from being a caring man and turned into a grumpy man. Hindley started out as a hate-filled boy, growing into a even more hate-filled young man, except for his love of his wife Frances. Then later Hindley turns for the worse and becomes a drunk and goes mad after Frances dies. Forcing those around him to avoid him as much as they can. Edgar changes very little and only wants to make Catherine happy, even if it makes him unhappy. Isabella seems jealous of Catherine when Heathcliff returns. Just because she has "fallen in love" with Heathcliff and the only person Heathcliff shows interest is Catherine. With Catherine it seems that she doesn't really change, but just puts up a false image of herself. Though she matures, she still seems to be that opinionated little girl from the beginning. Of course the "Catherine" she decides to be depends on who is around her. She is two-faced in her love for Edgar and her love for Heathcliff, and has no issue putting either of them down to prove a point. It's the fact that she sees herself doing the right thing and stating on page 102 "I'm an angel," when we clearly know that she definitely is not. More so, I would categorize her as the opposite.
    
     Heathcliff seems to be the most challenging. He doesn't really change through out the story except his appearance and the fact that he gets money from some where. We meet him as a "gypsy" child, left out by himself starving to death, but soon he is part of this dysfunctional family. He was called : "dog" by Hindley (52), "little Lascar, or an American or Spanish castaway" by Mr. Linton (62), "vagabond" by Hindley, after his fathers death (68), and then in Nelly's description on page 99 he has "a half-civilized ferocity... and eyes of black fire." All of these seem to be negative, and they are, but Heathcliff seems to live up to them in a way. No one knows of where he got his money or where he has been. He looks as if he was in the army from his "upright carriage." (99) He keeps being described as an animal or some unwanted wanderer, at least by most of the characters. Even being described as an animal that would "absolutely seize and devour [Isabella] up" if they were allowed to be together. (108) The main connection to Heathcliff being an animal comes from Nelly herself. In her history/story to Mr. Lockwood, Nelly says, "I felt that God had forsaken the stray sheep there to its own wicked wanderings, and an evil beast prowled between it and the fold, waiting his time to spring and destroy."(108) I took this again as Heathcliff being an animal, more precisely the "evil beast" spoke of. Who the sheep is, I am not sure, but from the reading I can tell that he is still  planning his revenge against Hindley Earnshaw.

     Like I said above this is like something that would be seen on "Jerry Springer" or "Dr. Phil." Such a dysfunctional family trying to destroy each other. A young lady in love with two men. One of those men planning the down fall of the love interests older brother. Then to add to it all the young ladies sister-in-law falling in love with one of the men. Of course I have to throw the crazed Joseph in there somewhere, and the servant, Nelly, so that she could explain everything. All in all that would be an interesting episode. Either that or both Jerry and Dr. Phil would leave the stage and give up on them completely.