Cathy Linton

"Till she reached the age of thirteen she had not once been beyond the range of the park by herself. Mr. Linton would take her with him a mile or so outside, on rare occasions; but he trusted her to no one else. Gimmerton was an unsubstantial name in her ears; the chapel, the only building she had approached or entered, except her own home. Wuthering Heights and Mr. Heathcliff did not exist for her: she was a perfect recluse; and, apparently, perfectly contented."

- Chapter 18

Catherine "Cathy" Linton is a major character in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. She is the daughter of Catherine Earnshaw and Edgar Linton, and cousin to Hareton Earnshaw and Linton Heathcliff.

Named after her mother, Heathcliff has passion on her by using her as his quest for his revenge and makes her one of his own. She was forced into a relationship to Linton and marries him for Heathcliff to claim inheritance of her home Thrushcross Grange, and ends up being among his servants.

Description
Cathy Linton is a young woman born and raised in a new generation already dominated by abuse and revenge. In addition, it was all caught up with her, as she changed from being a pretty girl to a selfish woman once she is held under Heathcliff's control. Her connection to her parents is reliving the past of what had went wrong.

It is also noted that being the daughter of an Earnshaw and a Linton, and becoming the last born member of the Linton family, Cathy would continue to carry on her surname but until she marries her cousin Hareton, she would become Cathy Earnshaw, or Catherine Earnshaw II, and the Linton family dynasty would end; given the fact that Edgar had wanted his only child to be a son and would be able to carry on his family name. This may be revealed why she was ignored and neglected at birth, mainly because she had no mother to care for her and that she turned out to be female instead.

It's revealed that she was the other characters in the novel who grew up motherless. Cathy's birth resulted in her mother's death and without her presence, she was forced to fend for herself, with only Nelly Dean being served as the mother-figure that she never had. She also had free roam of the property, wanting to explore new areas she has never been to before and even makes up fantasies when she is out adventuring. Her adventurous behaviour would result in her eventually discovering Wuthering Heights and its dark family history.

Early Years at Thrushcross Grange
Catherine Linton was born 7 months premature in March 1784 at Thrushcross Grange at around midnight. Her mother Catherine Earnshaw, died giving birth to her, and despite being born small, weak and originally ignored at birth, Cathy survives and was raised by her father Edgar Linton and servant Nelly Dean who was assigned to be her guardian and mother-figure.

Cathy grows up, and when she is 13 years old, she shares some similar traits like her late mother. She had spent the first years of her life at the Grange since her father forbid her from leaving the property and going near the troubled neighbouring house. Because of this, Cathy grew up without knowing about Wuthering Heights or its inhabitants. She becomes interested in the fairy caves at Penistone Crags which is near the Heights and begs Edgar to take her there, but he refuses.

After Edgar leaves to London to retrieve his nephew from his dying sister and Cathy's aunt Isabella, the girl took this opportunity to ask Nelly to offer her some food, as she was pretending to be a merchant travelling across the Arabian Desert (which is actually the moors). She mounts her pony, leaps over the bushes, and takes off towards the Penistone Crags accompanied by her dog. Along the way, she passes the Heights and spots a gruff, young man around her age. His name is Hareton, and she is immediately interested in him. She decides to spend the day with him instead.

Wuthering Heights
Cathy plays with Hareton at the Heights until Nelly finds her there. The young girl refuses to leave and wants to stay with him. She was informed by Nelly that Hareton is not the son of the Heights' owner, which makes her contemptuous of him. She mocks him at the idea of him being a servant, and he angrily curses at her. A servant tells her that Hareton is her cousin, and she begins to cry, denying that this was true and that her real cousin was in London where her father is picking up and returning home with. She is comforted and told by Nelly that everyone like her has more than one cousin.

Afterwards, Cathy and Nelly leave, and on the way back home, Cathy agrees that she will not reveal anything to Edgar about her trip to the Heights. When her cousin Linton Heathcliff arrives at the Grange with Edgar, she is excited to meet him and goes outside on the road to find her father and cousin; but is disappointed when she sees that Linton is a weak and whiny boy close to her age. She looks after and babies him by stroking his hair and kissing his forehead. Shortly after he arrives, Linton is taken to the Heights and Cathy misses him terribly, but forgets about him as time went by.

3 years later, on Cathy's 16th birthday, she goes bird-hunting in the moors with Nelly when she runs ahead of her and into Heathcliff and Hareton. She talks to them and asks Heathcliff is he is Hareton's father. He says he isn't but invites her over to the Heights to meet his actual son. She is intrigued to go, while Nelly decides to accompany her. The young girl is excited at the idea of these new relatives she had just met living close by the Grange.

At the Heights, Cathy reunites with her cousin again after 3 years. She also sees Heathcliff as her uncle and asks him if he has even been over to the Grange, if she can visit Linton often, or bring her father over the next time she comes over. She learns about the conflict that has happened between her father Mr. Linton and Heathcliff, but she thought it wrong and insists that her cousin Linton should come over to play instead.

After Linton explains that he is too weak to walk all the way to the other house, Hareton appears, and she questions Heathcliff if his servant really is her cousin, to which he replied. Cathy was offered a tour around the property by Hareton, but when they go outside, she teases him for his illiteracy. After staying until the afternoon, Cathy and Nelly walk back to the Grange, and she scolds her guardian for being like Edgar and not telling her about Linton living at the Heights. She asks her to keep it a secret about Heathcliff, but the next day, she confronts her father about him being enemies with Heathcliff who she had met the other day and had never told her about it. He explains everything about how the brooding man despises him and his desires for revenge.

After being told that she must not see Linton again, Cathy blames Mr. Linton for quarrelling with Heathcliff and wouldn't forgive her uncle for marrying her aunt Isabella. She also states that Mr. Heathcliff wants her and Linton to be friends. She learns about her aunt's troubles with Heathcliff and was told once again to never have any more contact with Heathcliff, Linton and the Heights. She seems to understand him as she kisses him and does her lessons for a couple of hours.

But when she gets ready for bed, she breaks down crying and worries what would Linton think when she doesn't show up to see him tomorrow. Nelly assures her that it isn't worth seeing someone she has barely known. Cathy asks if she can write him a little note saying why she couldn't come and send some of her books to him. Nelly scolds her not to and the girl barely says good-night to her. As soon as Nelly was out of the room, she gets out of bed and begins to write a letter at her table, that she had kept hidden away while her guardian was in the room. Nelly puts out the candle flame, leaving the girl angry without some light while writing. But she manages to finish the letter and has a milk-fetcher from a nearby village to deliver it.

She continues writing letters until she calls Nelly upstairs, knowing that she had just discovered a bundle of her letters, and begs her not to tell her father about it. She is scolded by Nelly about sending off secret letters to Linton and is about to show them to Mr. Linton when Cathy promises she won't write to Linton again and begs her to burn them. The letters were burned by Nelly, and when Cathy wanted to keep one or two, she again threatened to get her into trouble. She goes into her room and appears at teatime with her eyes red, possibly from crying. Her correspondence with Linton has now ended.

Throughout the autumn, Cathy would walk with her father among the harvesting fields. But as Edgar falls ill, Cathy feels dull when she couldn't spend enough time with him, and he wants her to read less and exercise more. She spends more time with Nelly instead.

In late October or early November, Nelly and Cathy go out for a walk on the moors. She was told by her guardian that Edgar may possibly be dying and she should be patient towards him. Cathy says that she loves her father and wouldn't say a word to annoy him. As they enter into the garden, Cathy climbs up on the wall to try to retrieve some fruit from a rose tree, but her hat falls off on the other side of the wall. She climbs over to find it, but is unable to get back up since the ground was low and the trees and bushes covered the wall. As Nelly tries to find a way to open the door, Cathy hears a man on horseback approach her from the other side. It was Heathcliff, and the girl says she cannot speak to him because of how wicked he is.

Cathy hears Heathcliff reprimanding her for ending her correspondence with Linton and he may be dying of a broken heart, as well as being suspected of playing mean tricks on him. He informs her that he will be away from the Heights for about a week and she must go see Linton frequently before he leaves. Once she is freed from the wall, Cathy and Nelly walk back home in the rain. When they return to the Grange, Cathy checks on her sleeping father, and has tea with Nelly in the library. Cathy sits on the rug very quiet, until she tells her companion about her guilt of not writing to Linton and she convinces Nelly to bring her to the Heights tomorrow.

Marriage to Linton
The next day on a rainy morning, Nelly and Cathy arrive at the Heights. They enter through the farmhouse, where Cathy warms herself by the fireplace and Nelly asks the servant Joseph where Linton is. They hear the boy's whiny, peevish voice calling for Joseph, and the two women enter the room where Linton is. Cathy is delighted to see him again, but Linton asks her not to kiss him because it would “take his breath away”. She asks him repeatedly if he is happy to see her again, but he first wondered why she stopped writing to him and he says 'yes' on being with his cousin again.

When Linton asks her if she could be his wife and to look after him, Cathy says that they should be brother and sister instead of being married, since husbands and wives sometimes hated each other. The two of them get into a heated argument about their fathers, with Cathy defending Edgar and Linton defending Heathcliff. She gets angry and pushes Linton's chair, causing him to fall to the floor and having a coughing and choking fit. She later tries to apologize to Linton, but he doesn't accept her apology, saying that being pushed to the floor is already having an effect on his frail health. As Cathy leaves, Linton starts writhing on the floor, making her feel bad for him and spends the next hour looking after him by propping him up with pillows and reading poetry with him. She agrees that she will still come to see him.

On their way back to the Grange, Cathy says to Nelly that she can easily leave the Grange to see Linton, and thinks he will recover faster the more she visits him. Nelly doubts he would live longer but the girl assures that he is improving since he arrived at Yorkshire. She also agrees on the idea whenever she would receive her father's permission to go to the Heights alone. When Nelly falls ill with a cold for three weeks, Cathy spends most of her time throughout the day nursing her father and Nelly. At the same time, she had managed to leave the Grange in the evening and goes to the Heights to visit Linton. She has one of the servants help her sneak out of the house in exchange for books.

After she was caught sneaking back into her room by Nelly after seeing Linton, Cathy becomes distressed from trying to lie and she tells her the truth of her secret visits to the Heights. She recalls one visit where Hareton tells her that he can read his name carved above the front door but she laughs at him when he can't read the numbers "1500". While she goes inside the house to be with Linton, Hareton barges in and throws Linton onto the floor. Cathy chases Hareton as he drags his cousin into the kitchen and bullies him. After Linton starts coughing up blood, Cathy rushes to get the servant Zillah and when they come back, Hareton was carrying his cousin upstairs. She ignores Joseph laughing at her as she mounts her pony and leaves afterwards. While riding out on the moors, Hareton tries to apologize to her, but she hits him with her whip and rides away. She even recalled the one time she and Linton had an argument over different versions of spending their day.

Cathy returns to the Heights 3 days later, but leaves immediately after Linton blames her for his humiliation. She returns 2 days later and tells Linton she will never visit him again, while he asks for forgiveness. After finishing her story, she begs Nelly to not tell her father of her secret. But after Nelly tells Edgar everything, Cathy is forbidden to go visit Linton, but that he can still see her at the Grange.

She obeys her father and doesn't go back to the Heights, although Linton is too weak to go to the Grange himself. About a year afterwards, Edgar's health declines and decides that Cathy would marry Linton if she wishes, and she would see him not at the Heights, but on the moors. Accompanied by Nelly, Cathy rides to the spot where Linton was to meet them; but they found him nearby the Heights instead at his designated spot. Cathy is concerned at how frail and weak he has become, and that he tells her to lie to Edgar about his condition, insisting that he is getting better. He is constantly afraid during the visit and tells her to stay with him for half an hour. She agrees to meet him again the following Thursday at the end of their visit, and after Linton falls asleep while berry-picking, she and Nelly leave.

As they return home, she and Nelly discuss about Linton's frail condition and they would have to wait until the next visit to see how sick he really is. At the Grange, she spends most of her time throughout the following week at her father's bedside, who is already dying. She doesn't want to leave him alone, but Edgar urges her to go see Linton on the day she was supposed to meet him. Cathy and Nelly ride across the moors to see Linton, and when they arrive, Linton is angry that she is late and questions her about her father's health. He's more nervous than the last visit and reveals that his father had been pressuring him to court his cousin.

As they talk, Heathcliff arrives, who is wanting to inherit the Grange and is worried Linton would die before Edgar. He asks Cathy and Nelly to come with him to the Heights, and while she is forbidden there, Cathy agrees to go mainly because Linton is too afraid to go back to the house without her. But when they went inside, Heathcliff locks both women in. Angry that she is locked up with her father on his deathbed, Cathy fights Heathcliff by attempting to wrestle him for the key and biting his hand, while he grabs her and hits her head. Afterwards, Linton explains to the women that his father is to hold them hostage until Cathy marries him. The girl begs Heathcliff to let her go home and see her father, so she can let him know she is safe but still agrees to marry Linton. Heathcliff refuses and locks the women in a bedroom that night. The next morning, Cathy is released.

Shortly afterwards, she marries Linton; but in addition, he takes all of her belongings and even her inheritance. At one point, while in imprisonment, she offers her everything she owned as a bribe to Linton so he would let her go and see her father before his death. She even offers him her locket with pictures of her parents in it, but Linton tears it from her neck. As Cathy cries out, Heathcliff arrives and breaks the locket by stomping on it. Cathy is hit across the mouth by Heathcliff until her mouth bleeds, while Linton looks on gleefully until she starts bleeding.

But with Linton's help, Cathy escapes from the Heights and goes back home to see Edgar one last time. She sits quietly next to her father until he died.

Life at Wuthering Heights
The day after her father's funeral, Heathcliff arrives at the Grange to bring Cathy back to the Heights. As Heathcliff mentions he punished his son for helping his wife escape, Cathy says that she and Linton love each other despite his temper, and that no matter how much Heathcliff makes them miserable, they shall have revenge of knowing that his cruelty was from his misery. She was also told to work as a servant in order to earn her keep.

Cathy packs her belongings and says goodbye to Nelly, even asking her if she could visit her at the Heights but Heathcliff refuses the offer. She and Heathcliff make their way to the Heights. After she arrives, she runs upstairs to check on her husband without saying hello to Zillah. She comes back downstairs and requests that Linton needs a doctor since he would soon die. Heathcliff tells her that nobody cares about him and she would either have to nurse him herself or leave him alone. She looks after Linton and she asks Zillah, Joseph and Hareton for help; but since they fear their master, they refuse to help her.

That night, Linton passes away while Cathy looks after him. She is quiet and exhausted from her difficult work, and Heathcliff asks her how she feels. She tells him that she had struggled to look after Linton on his deathbed that she sees and feels only death. Zillah gives her some wine and Heathcliff leaves her alone for awhile. When she comes out of her room, Cathy is angry at everyone for everything she had to go through. In the aftermath of her husband's death, she refuses to spend time with anyone, although she often has regular arguments with Hareton.

Around the same time, a gentleman from London named Mr. Lockwood arrives as a tenant from the Grange. Cathy and the others are rude towards their guest when he visits the Heights, and even has a strange dinner, where Cathy threatens to use witchcraft on Joseph. She is seen by Lockwood arguing with Heathcliff the next day.

Romance with Hareton
Cathy was cooking in the kitchen when Mr. Lockwood comes in to end his tenancy after hearing Heathcliff's whole story, and while she hardly looked at him, Lockwood saw how miserable she was the last time he was there. Later, in the parlour with Hareton, Lockwood drops a note he had for Cathy onto her lap. She is curious about the letter and he explains that it is from Nelly. She ignores him but asks him if Nelly likes him and he replies yes. She reminds him that she will write to her caregiver but she doesn't have any paper or books to write. This leads an argument between Hareton and Cathy, with her teasing him about the way he tries to read aloud. She accuses him of stealing her books, even though Heathcliff confiscated all of them from her, and refuses to have them back.

Cathy goes into the kitchen and later joins Heathcliff and the others for dinner. Two weeks after Lockwood ends his tenancy, Zillah resigns her position and Nelly arrives to take her place, while Cathy admits to her guardian she is ashamed of the way she mocked Hareton. A few months later, her cousin injures himself while working, and Cathy has to look after him. They originally had frequent arguments but before long, Cathy and Hareton lighten up and get along with each other. She gives him a book and promises she will teach him how to read and not mock his illiteracy. They both fall in love afterwards.

The next day, the two cousins plant a flower garden but they dig up Joseph’s plants. The old servant is annoyed and when Heathcliff scolds her of messing with his property, she accuses him of stealing their inheritance. She even believes that Hareton would defend her from her master’s actions. Heathcliff gets angry and he grabs Cathy‘s hair, but when he looks into her eyes he immediately lets her go. To her master, she deeply resembles a lot like her deceased mother and following a quiet dinner, Cathy is seen with Hareton. Heathcliff, while disgusted to see them together, no longer has revenge plans on them.

After the death of Heathcliff, Cathy and Hareton arrange to be married on New Year’s Day and start their life together at the Grange, ending the cycle of revenge and bringing peace back to both houses.

Personality/Appearance
Cathy Linton shares some personality traits like her mother Catherine Earnshaw. She is beautiful and lively, as well as being stubborn and daring. She constantly wants adventure and have fun outside of the Grange. She would make up her own fantasies when she is playing or exploring, including the time she imagines being a merchant riding across the Arabian Desert, which is her imagining of the moors. She is stubborn when she either has to listen to what her father or guardian tell her to do or they stop her from doing something, like the time when she secretly corresponded Linton but was forced to give it up by Nelly. Cathy is curious about the inhabitants at Wuthering Heights and is wanting to learn more about their background, which includes the time she learns about Heathcliff’s troubled relationship with Isabella from Edgar. She is usually loyal and obedient to her father and to Nelly, but is mostly faithful to Nelly for her guardian’s wisdom and care.

Following her experience at the Heights, Cathy starts behaving more cold and selfish. She gets into arguments with those she knew closely such as Heathcliff, Hareton and even Linton. She would tease Hareton for his illiteracy and being a poor servant, and another time, got into a fight with Linton about their fathers when he brings up about marrying her. When Mr. Lockwood stays at the Heights, she is rude towards him and would ignore him when he tries to talk to her. This is mainly due to the fact that Heathcliff is willing for her to have similar traits like his allies and be colder towards others. She can also lose her temper when being angered such as when she pushed Linton to the floor during her argument.

Despite her bad side, Cathy is mostly a kind, sympathetic young woman who feels pain and pity to the residents at the Heights. After meeting her sickly, weak cousin Linton, she looks after him and maybe evening spoiling him such as kissing and stroking him. As such, she acts as a mother-figure to him who nurses and treats him whenever she sees him. She would find this job difficult, but still managed to make them better. She became more caring towards Hareton as she looked after him after his accidental injury, and finally being more understanding to his lack of education, she teaches him how to read.

Cathy is described as having blonde curly hair and blue eyes.

Relationships
Edgar Linton- Cathy’s father. She was raised by him at the Grange and is a dutiful daughter to him. She would be confronted and scolded by him whenever she is at the Heights or interacts with anyone living there, but is still caring to him. She accepts his offer to finally marry her cousin if she wishes, and after she is held hostage by Heathcliff, she is worried of her dying father, but was able to escape and see him one more time, as well as letting him know she is safe and alright.

Catherine Earnshaw- Cathy’s mother. She died after her birth and named after her. While Cathy never met her mother, she does share some traits from her and even has a strong resemblance of her towards Heathcliff.

Nelly Dean- Cathy's guardian and mother-figure. She was also raised by her alongside Edgar, and she often looks up to her like a parent, although she sometimes doesn't listen to her rules and guidance and can be frustrated when reprimanded by Nelly and being like Edgar. In addition, Cathy is close to her and after she prepares to move in the Heights, she wants her caregiver to live with her but was on her own for awhile until Nelly takes a servant's place. She would confess her problems to Nelly, such as her secret visits to Linton and her regretting teasing Hareton.

Heathcliff- Cathy's uncle, father-in-law and master. Originally fascinated by him and his home, she later sees him as a cruel man when she learns the way he treats his son and ends up falling underneath his shadow after she marries Linton and being his servant. She would later stand up to her master for the way he treated her and going after her inheritance and home.

Linton Heathcliff- Cathy's cousin and husband. She was caring and loving towards her sickly cousin but would have arguments with him. After he was taken into his father's custody, Cathy started a secret correspondence with him through letters. Despite being a caregiver to him, she nearly had no idea he was being manipulated by Heathcliff to court and marry her. Her marriage to Linton was quickly short-lived after he died from his failing health.

Hareton Earnshaw- Cathy's cousin and later her future husband. She meets him for the first time when she was 13 years old and develops an interest in him. Throughout some of the story, she makes fun of Hareton's illiteracy and would have constant arguments with him. But later on, she makes up with him and forms a romantic bond. After Heathcliff is laid to rest, Cathy and Hareton arrange plans to be married and live their new life at the Grange.