Catherine's marriage to Edgar

Catherine Earnshaw's marriage to Edgar Linton is the central, catastrophic choice of the novel, a decision that formalizes her internal division between the wild, moorland world of Wuthering Heights and the refined, orderly society of Thrushcross Grange. The marriage, which takes place three years after her father's death, is not a sudden event but the culmination of a long process of social aspiration and emotional conflict, and its consequences ripple through the lives of every major character for two decades.

Background and Motivation

Catherine's path to marriage is paved by her prolonged stay at Thrushcross Grange after being bitten by the Lintons' bulldog, an experience that transforms her from a "wild, hatless little savage" into a "very dignified person" with fine clothes and improved manners. This exposure to the Lintons' world awakens in her a powerful ambition: she is "full of ambition" and adopts a "double character," behaving with courtesy at the Grange while remaining unrestrained at home. Her decision to accept Edgar's proposal is driven by a complex and contradictory set of reasons she confesses to Nelly Dean: Edgar is handsome, young, cheerful, rich, and loves her. Yet she simultaneously admits that marrying Heathcliff "would degrade me now" and that her love for Edgar is like "the foliage in the woods," subject to change, while her love for Heathcliff "resembles the eternal rocks beneath." Her stated plan is to use Edgar's wealth to "aid Heathcliff to rise, and place him out of my brother's power," a scheme that reveals her fundamental inability to conceive of a life entirely separate from Heathcliff, even as she chooses another man.

The Marriage and Its Immediate Aftermath

The wedding itself is a subdued affair, conducted at Gimmerton Chapel. Nelly Dean, against her own inclination, is persuaded to leave Wuthering Heights and accompany Catherine to Thrushcross Grange as her housekeeper. The parting from the five-year-old Hareton Earnshaw is a sad one, but Catherine's tears prove more powerful than Nelly's objections. For the first half-year of the marriage, Catherine and Edgar appear to enjoy "deep and growing happiness." Edgar is deeply in love, and Catherine, for a time, behaves "infinitely better" than Nelly expected, showing affection even to Edgar's sister, Isabella. The household enjoys a period of calm, with Edgar carefully avoiding any confrontation with his wife's imperious nature. This fragile peace, however, is built on the unspoken premise that Heathcliff has vanished from their lives.

The Shattering of the Marriage

The marriage's fundamental instability is exposed the moment Heathcliff returns, transformed into a wealthy, educated man. Catherine's reaction is immediate and overwhelming: she flies to him, seizes his hands, and laughs "like one beside herself," a display of joy that makes Edgar grow "pale with pure annoyance." She insists that Edgar must accept Heathcliff as a friend, but her husband's jealousy and Heathcliff's calculated provocations quickly erode any possibility of coexistence. The marriage becomes a battleground. Edgar demands that Catherine choose between him and Heathcliff, a choice she finds impossible. Her refusal to renounce Heathcliff, combined with her fury at Edgar's ultimatum, triggers a catastrophic fit of passion that leads to her final illness. She locks herself in her room, refuses food, and descends into a brain fever from which she never fully recovers.

Consequences and Legacy

Catherine's marriage to Edgar directly causes her death. The emotional turmoil of being torn between the two men, culminating in her self-imposed starvation and delirium, proves fatal. She dies giving birth to her daughter, Catherine Linton, just two hours after the child's birth, having never regained full consciousness. The marriage thus leaves Edgar a widower and a single father, his life permanently shadowed by grief. More profoundly, the marriage sets the stage for the next generation's tragedy. Edgar's desperate attempt to protect his daughter from Heathcliff's influence by forbidding her from visiting Wuthering Heights only makes her more vulnerable to Heathcliff's machinations. The forced marriage of the younger Catherine to the sickly Linton Heathcliff is a direct consequence of the elder Catherine's original choice, as Heathcliff uses his son to gain control of both estates. The elder Catherine's marriage, intended to elevate her and help Heathcliff, instead becomes the engine of destruction for everyone she loved.

Thematic Significance

Catherine's marriage to Edgar embodies the novel's central conflict between nature and civilization, passion and convention. Her choice represents a betrayal of her own authentic self, which she famously declares is one with Heathcliff: "I am Heathcliff!" The marriage is an attempt to live a divided life, and the novel demonstrates that such a division is unsustainable. It is the original sin of the story, the event that transforms Heathcliff from a brooding but essentially reactive figure into an active agent of revenge. The marriage's legacy is the suffering of the next generation, and its ultimate resolution comes only when the younger Catherine and Hareton Earnshaw, the heirs of the two warring families, choose a union based on mutual respect and affection, finally breaking the cycle of destruction that Catherine Earnshaw's fatal choice began.