The Presentation of the First Catherine in Wuthering Heights

Abstract A perusal of scholarship on Wuthering Heights (1847) published in the past hundred years or so reveals the extraordinary extent to which the first Catherine has been loved and admired by Brontë scholars. This may, however, seem rather surprising inasmuch as a detailed examination of her presentation makes abundantly clear that Catherine evinces severe moral and mental limitations for much of her short life. That the author nevertheless intends Catherine to be ultimately considered something of a heroine is evident from the favourable comments made about her after her death, especially those concerning the posthumous power she exerts both psychologically and physiognomically over other characters in the novel.