In Her Mothers Image Essays - Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights

In Her Mother's Image At the beginning of Wuthering Heights Lockwoode makes a mistake in assuming that young Catherine II was Heathcliffe's wife. It is easy to see how he, a stranger unfamiliar with the Earnshaw-Linton family history could have made such a mistake. But, had Lockwoode known about the life of the woman Heathcliffe had always wanted to marry, Catherine I, and then have been able to compare it to life of her daughter, Catherine II, he would never have been able to make that mistake, for the lives of the mother and daughter were as different as night and day. To start, Heathcliffe, the current master of the house in which Lockwoode was staying, loved Catherine I more than anything in the world. They spent hours, even days at a time together, and almost always cherished each other's company. Their relationship, however, was not one of social equals. Through a series of events, Heathcliffe had become Catherine's servant, and it was for this reason that Catherine refused to marry the man she loved, feeling that it would ?degrade' her to do so. It is, among other things, because of this that Heathcliffe hates Catherine II with all his heart. To him, she is a symbol of the woman he could never have because of his lowly status. Through no fault of her own, she becomes the object of his hatred and is treated much worse than her mother ever was; Heathcliffe even makes her his servant. Her relationship with Heathcliffe is at the opposite end of the spectrum when comparing it to that of her mother. Heathcliffe loved Catherine I, but hates Catherine II. Heathcliffe was Catherine I's servant, but Catherine II has become Heathcliffe's servant. As far as married life goes, neither Catherine I nor Catherine II married who they truly loved, but nevertheless, Catherine I still managed to get along with her husband, Edgar Linton, and in exchange for the task of marrying this man whom she did not love, she received a boost in her social standing, and she secured for herself a life of comfort and finacial stability. Catherine II, on the other hand, is forced (by Heathcliffe) to marry Linton Heathcliffe, a man for whom she has no love