In Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Catherine’s love for Heathcliff is much more passionate and stronger than her love for Edgar. She feels that she can relate to Heathcliff and be Heathcliff. She uses her love for Edgar to cover her true feelings of Heathcliff, “like the foliage in the woods,” the foliage resembles the shrubberies that “cover up” the woods. In the woods, the leaves from the trees are constantly changing colors due to the seasons, just like Catherine feeling towards Edgar; her feelings are shaky and insecure. While her love for Heathcliff is something much more deep and bottomless like “the eternal rocks beneath.” She knows that after her death, she will continue to love Heathcliff “eternally” because she considers herself to be Heathcliff. Catherine and Heathcliff’s love is sturdy, strong, and unbreakable like “rocks.” Nothing will separate her love for Heathcliff because it’s something that will keep getting stronger.
In the first volume of Wuthering Heights, it is clear that Catherine marries Edgar Linton because of his social status, “whereas, if I marry Linton, I can aid Heathcliff to rise, and place him out of my brother’s power… he will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighborhood” (69, 72). She knows that Edgar is wealthy, so she wants to take advantage of that to help Heathcliff become successful and be part of the upper-class men. She really doesn’t have feelings for Edgar because all of her feelings belong to Heathcliff. The reason that Catherine doesn’t marry Heathcliff is because Hindley debased him, “and if the wicked man in there had not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldn’t have thought of it. It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff… he shall never know how I love him; but because he’s more myself than I am” (71). For Catherine, it wouldn’t have mattered Heathcliff’s status, but because of Hindley’s appalling references, she was easily manipulated into believing him. In a way, I believe that she...