An Analysis Of Catherine’s Psychology In Wuthering Heights Based On Carl Jung’s Archetypes Theory

Wuthering Heights is the only novel written by Emily Bronte in her short life.This article attempts to analyze the psychological characteristics of Catherine from the perspective of Carl Jung’s archetypes theory so as to explore the internal cause of her tragedy.This paper interprets the psyche of Catherine,the heroine of Wuthering Heights by applying Carl Jung’s archetypes theory,explores the reason of Catherine’s tragedy,the interaction of the three archetypes in her psyche — persona,animus,and shadow.The main body of the paper is divided into three parts.Each is analyzed from the three psychological archetypes respectively.Part one is about Catherine’s persona.Carl Jung thinks,the persona is a demonstration of archetype which plays a role in coordinating the relationship between an individual and the outside world to get social recognition and acceptance.This part analyzes how Catherine changed,in order to get accepted by Thrushcross Grange,a civilized society,from a pure,wild,free,and unrestrained girl to a timid lady who accepted,submitted to,and finally removed persona,ending up with tragedy.Part two analyzes Catherine’s animus.Jung believed maleness and femaleness existed in both sexes.If the personality is to be well adjusted and harmoniously balanced,the feminine side of a man’s personality and the masculine side of a woman’s personality must be allowed to express themselves in consciousness and behaviors.There is masculine side in Catherine but she in order to fit into the civilized society of Thrushcross Grange tried to hide her masculine side,wanting to be a woman in line with tradition;as a result,she was too involved in the feminine role,which makes her persona take precedence over and stifles her animus,leading her personality to fail to be well adjusted and harmoniously balanced.Part three mainly explores the shadow in Catherine’s psyche and its destructive forces that drive her to self-destruction.Carl Jung thinks,the shadow is hidden in the depths of human psyche which can be both constructive and destructive.Catherine’s dark sides in her psyche such as selfishness,greed,and cruelty make her life in a mess.Unfortunately,she is unable to be conscious of her own shadows and fails to correct them,not aware of the fact that she is the initiator of messing everything up.These shadows make Catherine unconsciously destroy all the normal relationships with the people around her and become an invisible avenger which leads to her suicidal death.Catherine’s death is also more of a means of revenge,quiet but radical,which is her final step towardself-destruction.This paper,by using Carl Jung’s archetypes theory,tries to provide a new perspective on the cause of Catherine’s tragedy.Man is a social being,and he needs persona.Because the persona can make people conform to social norms,play various social roles well so that they can harmoniously get along with others,and live a comfortable life.Each person is a member of society.The integrity and balance of one’s personality exerts strong influence on his or her choice and destiny.The archetype animus plays an important role in the formation of women’s integrity and balance of personality.The shadow is the dark side in everybody’s psyche;it is both creative and destructive.One should embody the shadow in consciousness and tackle it properly;make the shadow a dynamic and vibrant power in our psyche rather than a destructive force.We should fully understand the influence and the interaction of the three archetypes on our psyche.Only in this way,can we consciously adjust them to make them live in harmony with each other,so that each of us can achieve harmony and unity in our psyche,and thus lead a better and healthy life in the family and society.