Contents

1.0  Introduction. 1

2.0    Emily Bronte and Wuthering Heights. 2

2.1  About Emily Bronte. 2

2.2  About Wuthering Heights. 4

3.0  Catherine’s Dual Personality. 5

3.1  Catherine’s Primitive Nature. 5

3.1.1  Simple, Pure and Innocent 5

3.1.2  Free, Wild and Passionate. 6

3.1.3  Obstinate, Rebellious and Tameless. 7

3.2  Catherine’s Material Desire. 7

4.0  Causes of Catherine’s Dual Personality. 9

4.1  Internal Factor 9

4.2  External Factors. 11

4.2.1  Natural Environment 11

4.2.2  Society. 12

4.2.3  Men. 13

5.0  Conclusion. 14

References. 16

1.0  Introduction

As a unique literary piece, Wuthering Heights occupies a prominent place in the history of English literature and has attracted considerable critical attention. Since the earliest publication in 1847, it was misunderstood for almost half a century and not accepted by the literary world for a long time. Initial criticism was overwhelmingly derogatory and negative. Emily Bronte’s sharp viewpoint on human nature was hard to be accepted by her contemporaries. The critics thought that the story was full of brutality and violence of the characters. H. F. Chorley even dismissed the work as a “disagreeable story”, appearing at a time when England needed “sunshine more than ever.” (Allott, 1992: 47) Even Emily’s sister, Charlotte Bronte couldn’t understand her ideas, “Wuthering Heights was hewn in a wild workshop, with simple tools, out of homely material.” (James, 1979: 11) Charlotte Bronte doubted “Whether it is right or advisable to create beings like Heathcliff.” (James, 1979: 11)

^{In the late 19th century and early 20th century, scholars produced a number of source studies that sought to discover the persons and places used as models for the novel. The greatness of the novel was not properly recognized until the beginning of the 20th century. As time has passed, Emily Bronte’s genius in dealing with words has begun to be appreciated by writers and critics. As the twentieth century approached, her reputation as an artist was firmly established and the interest in her work began to grow.}

In China, researchers on Wuthering Heights have progressed fast in recent years. Some scholars think that Wuthering Heights focuses on class struggle in critical realism, some put stress on its complicated narrative structure, some try to explore its love theme and romanticism, some attach importance to humanity and symbolism, some discuss the Gothic style, and others explore the realistic and modernistic issues in the novel. According to Chinese scholar, Fang Ping, “Wuthering Heights is different from literary works of its time because it has a complicated narrative system.” He analyses its multiple narrative structure and regards the novel as “a classic written in modern artistic technique.” (Fang Ping, 1987: 9)

For many years, Wuthering Heights has attracted millions of readers by its mysterious and bold glamour, the tinges of moorland and thunderous love and hatred. Many critics hold that this novel is developed through Heathcliff’s love, hatred, revenge and recovery of humanity. While there are many comments on the male protagonist, the heroine, Catherine seldom receives special review. In fact, the conception about Catherine Earnshaw in this novel is “extremely refreshing and particularly natural, seeming to come from other planets.” (Yang Jingyuan, 1983: 191) She is not only the crux of the whole novel, but also has connection with Heathcliff. To some extent, she even outshines Heathcliff. Heathcliff’s dual personality is caused by Catherine, and his love, hatred, revenge and recovery of humanity are all influenced by Catherine. This thesis aims to analyze Catherine’s dual personality and tries to explore the causes of it.