Catherine Earnshaw

From the beginning, Catherine is surrounded by mystery. We only first see her through a brief glimpse at the pages of her diary - 'detached sentences (...) scrawled in an unformed, childish hand.' The readers never meet her; she dies long before the story begins.

As a child, Catherine behaves spontaneously and naturally. She is selfish and believes she may act autonomously. Nelly Dean describes Catherine as 'mischievous and wayward'. Through the course of the novel, we come to know Catherine as an unruly and adventurous rebel, and the only Earnshaw besides her father who cares about Heathcliff. But she is not simply the nature-loving wild child Lockwood reads about; Catherine is also a status-consious social climber whose marriage destroys Heathcliff.

She is Catherine Earnshaw- Catherine Linton- Catherine Heathcliff; three identities that reveal the fragmentation in her character and her life. Catherine Earnshaw is Heathcliff's Catherine and Catherine Linton is Edgar's. But even when Catherine Earnshaw becomes Catherine Linton, she still maintains traces of her former self. This device, Catherine's diary, is very powerful in invoking the reader's sympathy and understanding for the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff.

During her weeks of recovery at Thrushcross Grange, Catherine is made into a groomed and civilized young lady. This is the future Catherine Linton: a privileged and indulged lady of the house.

She chooses between Edgar and Heathcliff and this is essentially a choice between a life of passion and self-fulfillment and a life adhering to social convention and morality. However, it is in keeping with her character, that Catherine believes she can continue her relationship with Heathcliff alongside her marriage. Catherine chooses culture (Edgar) over nature (Heathcliff) and the resulting conflict asserts the error of this decision.

Everything changes when Catherine marries Edgar: not only does she commit romantically to another man; she also leaves Wuthering Heights and raises her social status far beyond Heathcliff's reach. Catherine believes that with Edgar's money she can help Heathcliff get out from under Hindley.

Though Catherine is important to the story, she is only around for about half of the novel. She is more of a ghost, a fixation, and a memory than a character we get to know well. Buried between Edgar and Heathcliff, Catherine is in death, as she was in life, stuck between two lovers.