Wuthering Heights

            The novel Wuthering Heights has a very complex storyline and the characters involved are also quite intricate. The story takes place in northern England in an isolated, rural area. The main characters involved are residents of two opposing households: Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. It is a tale of a powerful love between two people, which transcends all boundaries, including that between life and death. The author, Emily Bronte, used parallelism in this novel. Much of what happens in the first half of the story corresponds to events in the second half. This parallelism extends also to the characters; the first generation of characters is comparable to the second generation. Some might argue that these characters are duplicates of each other and that they share many traits. This is not the case for Catherine Earnshaw and Cathy Linton, a mother and her daughter. These two characters are different in numerous aspects of their personalities and lifestyles. Catherine Earnshaw and Cathy Linton differ a great deal when it comes to their family life. Catherine's father did not love her because she was forever misbehaving. He once told her "Nay Cathy, I cannot love thee; thou"rt worse than thy brother. Go, say thy prayers, child, and ask god's pardon. I doubt thy mother and I must rue the day we ever reared thee!" (1) In relating the tale to Lockwood, Nelly noted that young Catherine was such a "wild, wicked slip" (Bronte, pg. 37) that she never seemed as content as when she was being scolded. Catherine also treated her brother Hindley poorly. As a child, she neglected him in favour of Heathcliff. As an adult, Catherine made no effort to help Hindley with his drinking problem after Frances died, nor did she try and prevent Heathcliff from taking advantage of Hindley. Cathy Linton, on the other hand, enjoyed a very loving atmosphere at Thrushcross Grange. She and her father, Edgar, were very fond of each other.