A Not So Gentlewoman (1970) Throughout history, social issues have come and gone, but some issues are constant. Issues such as love, sin, and peer pressure are timeless. Many women often feel pressure from society to act and appear a certain way in order to be accepted and “fit in”. Generally, women have two options when confronting peer pressure: succumb to the expectations of society or fight to be their unique individual. In Emily Brontë’s, Wuthering Heights, the dynamic character Catherine both fights and succumbs to the pressures of societal norm, and as a result, she experiences changes in her behavior, as well as experiences internal conflict. Although Brontë’s story is fictional, the society in which Catherine lives in…show more content…
The events in a child’s life mold who he or she will one day become; for Catherine this was the day she and Heathcliff snuck out to the Thurshcross Grange and she injured her ankle. During her early years, Catherine was free spirited and was unable to understand or relate to her father’s serious attitude. In attempt to provoke her father Catherine, … was never so happy as when we were all scolding her at once, and she defying us with her bold, saucy look, and her ready words; turning Joseph’s religious curses into ridicule, baiting me [Nelly Dean] , and doing just what her father hated most, showing how her pretended insolence, which he thought real, had more power over Heathcliff than his kindness… ( Brontë 43). Catherine loved to push the boundaries and see how far she could go without getting in trouble, and as a part of her “fun”, she began to develop a close relationship with Heathcliff. The relationship did not benefit Catherine’s status as a gentlewoman because of Heathcliff’s relations with gypsies. Heathcliff encouraged behavior that was anything but acceptable for a young lady during this time period, which ultimately leads Catherine down a long path of internal conflict. One night, while spying on the Linton’s home, Catherine is attacked by a dog and suffers an injury to her ankle. After being discovered, Catherine spends five weeks recovering at the Linton
The events in a child’s life mold who he or she will one day become; for Catherine this was the day she and Heathcliff snuck out to the Thurshcross Grange and she injured her ankle. During her early years, Catherine was free spirited and was unable to understand or relate to her father’s serious attitude. In attempt to provoke her father Catherine, … was never so happy as when we were all scolding her at once, and she defying us with her bold, saucy look, and her ready words; turning Joseph’s religious curses into ridicule, baiting me [Nelly Dean] , and doing just what her father hated most, showing how her pretended insolence, which he thought real, had more power over Heathcliff than his kindness… ( Brontë 43). Catherine loved to push the boundaries and see how far she could go without getting in trouble, and as a part of her “fun”, she began to develop a close relationship with Heathcliff. The relationship did not benefit Catherine’s status as a gentlewoman because of Heathcliff’s relations with gypsies. Heathcliff encouraged behavior that was anything but acceptable for a young lady during this time period, which ultimately leads Catherine down a long path of internal conflict. One night, while spying on the Linton’s home, Catherine is attacked by a dog and suffers an injury to her ankle. After being discovered, Catherine spends five weeks recovering at the Linton
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