Catherine_Earnshaw__A_Feminist_Role_Model

Catherine Earnshaw: A Feminist Role Model Catherine Earnshaw: A Feminist Role Model In Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Catherine Earnshaw is unaware of her proper gender role as a child. Her free spirit and carefree attitude allow her independence from conventional girlish norms. She is not concerned with fancy dresses or curls in her hair; instead, she prefers running barefoot through the moors and frolicking recklessly with Heathcliff. However, for Catherine, change is inevitable. In order for her to become a suitable wife and mother, she will have to transform from "a wild, hatless little savage" to a dignified female (63). Catherine is forced to abandon her fantasy childhood and outdoor adventures in order to accomplish her goals and unconsciously "turn the table" on an overbearing patriarchal system. Catherine is content with her life at Wuthering Heights until she sees the beauty and sophistication within the walls of Thrushcross Grange. After returning from Thrushcross Grange without Catherine, Heathcliff describes what he saw: "ah!--it was beautiful -- a splendid place carpeted with crimson, and crimson-covered chairs and tables, and a pure white ceiling bordered by gold" (60). Catherine is awestruck by the house's elegance and beauty, but more importantly she is catherine, role, heathcliff, catherine's, edgar, patriarchal, beauty, feminine, wuthering, women, without, time, thrushcross, status, society, social, power, now, nelly, marry, hindley, herself, heights, grange, female, worlds, upon, traditionally, through, system, struggling, self-determination, running, returning, qualities, place, order, nineteenth, moors, model, men, male, life, lady, instead, independence, however, gender, free, feminist