Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is a singular novel. Especially within a Victorian literary context, the heroine Catherine Earnshaw is a singular woman. Passionate, haughty and violent, even as she succumbs to Victorian strictures governing femininity and relationships and eventually dies, she forever sticks in my mind.
Though she is decidedly unlike most other Victorian heroines, I wonder if more recent literature has created characters in which she is reflected? Does Catherine live on in other literary figures? Whom most resembles her?
My first thought is Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind. She's very strong and passionate and does what she thinks is best, often hurting those who love her. There could certainly be a comparison between the two! – tclaytor7 years ago
Will confess that I haven't yet read Gone with the Wind... it's on the list! – Sarah Pearce7 years ago
Excellent book, though long! I love Victorian lit though. It might be interesting to compare Catherine to some of the heroines from that time as well, especially since she was different. I watched a documentary on the Bronte sisters and how shocked everyone was that Emily, a daughter of a parson and fairly sheltered, could write this novel. – tclaytor6 years ago
tclaytor - Lots have people have already commented on how different Catherine is from other C19 heroines (I just finished a PhD on Catherine, Jane Eyre and Lucy Snowe) , and there's a lot of good work out there on the topic. I guess I was interested in how she perhaps transcends time, or whether her legacy has been passed on... does her ghost enliven current novels etc? – Sarah Pearce6 years ago
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