Wuthering Heights

In Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Catherine and Heathcliff never enjoy happiness in each other’s arms because she refuses to marry a lowly gypsy. Her aristocratic views on marriage would not allow her to wed someone below her social status. Her decision was to marry Edgar Linton who is the ideal husband: the rich, noble, light hair, fair skinned, privileged gentleman. Catherine dies regretting forsaking Heathcliff’s passionate love for her. She cannot repent …

…marry Heathcliff because he is not of noble birth, educated or wealthy. Cathy marries Hareton, but she is not condescending her own status by marrying him since she has no title to degrade. Hareton, though initially dirty and vulgar, becomes the owner of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange before the two even wed. Though Brontë’s novel sets up a brilliant attack on aristocratic arrogance, but her desire for a romantic ending mars her argument.