Catherine Linton
| Catherine (Cathy) Linton | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Cathy |
| Family |
Edgar Linton (father) Cathy Earnshaw (mother) |
| Spouse(s) | Linton Heathcliff Hareton Earnshaw |
Catherine Linton (also known as "Young Catherine" or Cathy Linton and later as Catherine Heathcliff then as Catherine Earnshaw) is a character in Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights. She is the daughter of Edgar Linton and Cathy Earnshaw, and, despite Heathcliff's attempts at exacting revenge on her for the indiscretions of her family, she eventually marries her true love, Hareton Earnshaw, re-establishing long-lost equilibrium in the story.
About eleven o'clock that night was born the Catherine you saw at Wuthering Heights: a puny, seven-months' child; and two hours after the mother died, having never recovered sufficient consciousness to miss Heathcliff, or know Edgar.
Cathy is the only child of Catherine and Edgar. Her mother dies a few hours after giving premature birth to her, about half-way through the novel. Her father, Edgar, calls her "Cathy" for the most part, while Heathcliff refers to her as "Catherine", because he called her mother "Cathy" as an expression of his immense affection and love for her.
Cathy is a very curious and mischievous girl, and, at thirteen years of age, she seeks out Wuthering Heights, the house to which she is not allowed to travel because Heathcliff, Edgar's enemy, resides there. On arrival she meets Hareton Earnshaw, the nephew of her mother. Nelly, who travels with her, insists that he is indeed her cousin, but Cathy, genuinely amazed at his coarse, uneducated language, his dirty clothes and his savage manner, insists that there is no way that it could be so.
On her second visit, which Nelly desperately tries to prevent, Heathcliff meets her for the first time, greeting her with a warm and kindly matter, although we know that he blames her for the death of his soul mate, her mother. He tells Nelly that he means no harm; he only wants Cathy and his own son, Linton, to fall in love and be married. As a result of his encouragement, Cathy and Linton grow close. When Nelly forbids Cathy from visiting Wuthering Heights and the bitter tyrant Heathcliff, they take to writing love letters to one another.
It soon becomes apparent that Heathcliff's plans for their marriage form part of his endeavour for revenge on Edgar and his daughter: Catherine will marry Linton, be it against her will or not. Nelly finds the childish love letters and burns them. Linton's letters, it is implied, are so beautiful that they were most likely written by Heathcliff as a means of drawing Cathy to the Heights.
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Wikipedia