The Fourth Image Of Woman

Wuthering Heights tells about a thrilling story revolving around the heroine— Catherine Earnshaw's short life span: her love affairs, her marriage, and finally her death. However, all that happens in her life does not seem to do without her constant love for Heathcliff directly or indirectly. Back into her childhood, Catherine is aware of what she is made of—the same materials as Heathcliff, and gradually fosters a deep love with him in allied confrontation with a ruthless patriarchal ruler—Hindley. But later when she is grown up, the man she chooses to marry is not her childhood lover, but an heir to Thrushcross Grange, a wealthy neighbor. Then with indignation and grief beyond measure, Heathcliff does not hesitate to depart from Wuthering Heights and returns three years later with a strong intention to capture Catherine's heart and soul again. His reappearance, contributing to their joyful reunion, to some extent, initiates Catherine's antagonism against her husband, which demonstrates her unremitting pursuit of her self-identity.The paper is devoted to the construction of the fourth image of woman, treating Catherine Earnshaw as the representative of the pioneering image. After introducing the attributes of the fourth woman in the first chapter, the paper gives an elaboration on these attributes chapter by chapter.The first chapter gives a brief review of the preexisting two stereotyped woman's images—'angel' and 'monster'— generated by male writers and critics, and an analysis of the third image proposed by Virginia Woolf—a woman who 'kills' both 'angel' and 'monster'. Then a definition summarizes the three attributes that differentiate the fourth woman from the previous three.The following three chapters, from the second to the fourth, explore in Catherine the three distinct attributes of the fourth image, that is, recalcitrance, docility and triumph in the end.Recalcitrance in Catherine's character, which is demonstrated in chapter two,finds its best expression in her resistance to patriarchy from three perspectives, that is, her self-awareness, her self-assertive love against the will of her father and her brother, and her denial of her husband. She defies phallocentric system through a chain of events; for one, Catherine in disfavor of the old master of Wuthering Heights.A seemingly contradictory attribute with recalcitrance, docility in her character, is expounded in chapter three, which mainly refers to her ostensible compliance with the patriarchy. A series of events are adopted to certify her disposition, namely, her marriage to Mr. Linton under the compulsion of her brother, her reliance on Linton, Catherine as a docile wife, and her repression of her desire to the point of nightmares and spiritual confusion.It is undeniable that the above two aspects fail to give a panorama of the fourth image without an explanation of her success in controlling patriarchy validated in the fourth chapter. Such an episode as Heathcliff opening Catherine's coffin and Heathcliff's illusion of ghost for 18 years testifies Catherine's haunting of him through life and death. Likewise, Linton's affection for Catherine can be found no less than Heathcliff. Therefore, she grips in her firm hand both Heathcliff and Linton, the former giving her natural and transcendental love, while the latter giving her earthly but distinguished love. What she intends to possess does not lie in exclusive love, but in complete and independent self-identity.The above analysis of Catherine's character naturally leads to the conclusion that Catherine Earnshaw, free from the restrictions imposed by patriarchy, adheres to her unique intractable character, thus gripping the whole patriarchal world in her hand. When enjoying natural love given by Heathcliff as well as civilized love given by Linton, she achieves preeminent success in asserting herself and establishing her self-identity.The above three chapters are devoted to the expatiation of Catherine's characteristics. But it is conceivable that under the domination of patriarchy where women's independent identity is denied, it is absolutely unethical that she refuses to sever with her lover, who gives her natural and transcendental love, while enjoying the civilized love given by her husband as a distinguished lady. But when confrontedto make a selection, she prefers to sacrifice her life rather than lose her natural love and her self-identity. Thus, she has no alternative but to choose another way to continue her ambitious dream, that is, she enjoys the transcendental and eternal love with Heathcliffas a ghost.