Thursday, March 15, 2007
Wuthering Heights Question #8
Are you sympathetic with Cathy in her struggle between the two men? Nelly discounts Cathy's reasons of loving Edgar (that he is handsome, rich and he loves her); how about you? When Cathy then said to her, "Nelly, I am Heathcliff" (70), Nelly thinks that Cathy is foolish, and you?
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On this one, again, I fell back and forth between deciding whether or not I sympathized with Catherine.
At first, I completely sympathized with her. I kind of can relate to being torn between to equally appealing situation. Each man had his strong point and Catherine recognized that. However, I am still young and immature I suppose and I think that love is more important than anything else in a relationship. If Catherine truly loved Edgar more, fine then she should have chosen him. But I got the impression that she was more in love with Heathcliff at the time that she chose Edgar. And I believe that she chose Edgar solely for the reason that he helped her gain a higher social status. So in a way, I was mad that Catherine chose Edgar over Heathcliff.
What kept me going back and forth was the actions of the men. Edgar, it seemed, treated Catherine better than Heathcliff would have. The way Heathcliff treated Isabella was flat out awful. Although he did not love Isabella like he loved Catherine, there is no way to know that he would have treated Catherine any better had they married. Heathcliff was also a very selfish man in that his sole focus in life became to get revenge on those who had hurt him. Not even just those who had hurt him, but also everyone connected to them. Heathcliff's evilness really becomes more apparent by the end of the novel. Granted, he did have a very rough upbringing and I think that is what contributed to the way he acts later as an adult, but there was definitely a better way to deal with things than the way he chose.
So overall, I suppose I do not sympathize with Catherine because she had a choice before her and she made it. It was completely in her hands and nobody else's. And plus, it could have been a lot worse than having two men in love with her.
I DO NOT SYMPATHIZE WITH CATHERINE AT ALL. First of all, Catherine made a pretty dumb decision. And yes, I must admit it was probably a decision that women a lot back then, and a decision that women sometimes even make today. However, none of those circumstances make it right. Heathcliff was there from the very beginning. They were together at WH when her father was alive, and they were good friends and did everything together. If it had not have been for that stupid dog biting her, maybe things would have been different. But after returning fom TG, Catherine was a different person. And the new Catherine was a person who picked money and status over love. Okay perhaps Edgar was good looking, rich, and he did love her...that doesn't change the fact that she didn't truly love him. And furthermore besides the fact that she actually loved Heathcliff, he ended up acquiring money and when he returned after she married Edgar he was good looking. So who's to say that if she hadn't have been a silly little girl, she couldn't have gotten all those things, and the man that she loved? I think that the reason Heathcliff treated his wife Isabella like dirt is because he never had the women that he really wanted. Pretty much every mean thing, and evil action he did was because he was so hurt. He was hurt because Hindley was a jerk to him, Edgar stole the woman of his dreams, and the woman of his dreams just so happen to pick another man over him. (anyone would be a little angry about that) I think if by some chance that dog had not have bit Catherine, she would've married the right person. And even if, by some chance of fate she had of married Heathcliff, he would have treated her better than Isabella and all would have been well. But OF COURSE, this is a novel and that didn't happen. So instead we have a man tormented by the ghost of his lover, and a women who in my opinion was never truly happy, because she could not be with the one she loved.
Hey Mrs. Dorwart, I'm exhausted and I can't keep my eyes open..so I'll finish 9 and 10 first thing tomorrow.
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