Question- How does the novel give enough proof of the patriarchal society and how Catherine tries to oppose the malecentric norms set in ?

Answer -

The word "domestic is particularly significant when it comes to discussing women. The woman's role within the family has been traditionally perceived by patriarchal society as domestic. In Victorian society, where industry was dramatically atltering social relations, it became necessary to redefine the role of woman in society. Educated and trained human resource was required not only to meet the new demands of an industrializing society but also to run the affairs of the Empire and that led to an unprecedented spread of education in the Victorian Age. Education was a necessary prerequisite for upward social mobility in society where wealth was shifting away from the landowners to the 'captains of the industry'. The women got the opportunity for education and could now involve themselves in areas of social activity and literary pursuits. In the economics of supply and demand, wages were low in the labour market and that necessitated the woman to come out of the confines of her home in search of work. Even the educated Bronte sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne all worked as governesses during their life time.

The male centric Victorian society tried to balance the new roles of women with the traditionally defined role of her being essentially domestic, playing faithfully the part of the daughter, sister, wife and mother. There was also a well-defined role of the woman as a lover, and this covered a wide spectrum, one end of which was the demure, shy, evasive, beauty who was stunned by handsome men and on the other was the vivacious, seductive, alluring and aggressive beauty who stunned men. The literature of the time provides us with many of these well recognized stereotypes. As a compromise and ideally, the eligible, moneyed, Victorian bachelor would've been happy to look for a spouse who was educated and trained in the manners of high society (being a 'Lady') but was -subservient enough to look after the kitchen and children as a dutiful and excellent wife. One is not surprised to note that there were many schools for women where specialized training was imparted to young prospective brides in the manners and etiquette of high society. That this education was superficial and often just an imposition forced upon by the patriarchal society are issues that are voiced by most women writers of the age.

In the novel 'Wuthering Heights' it is evident that the controlling power rests with the patriarch of the home. Whether it is the Earnshaw's or the Linton's social power is in the hands of the head of the family which he imposes on the rest of family. Such a one way exercise of power is accepted as a legal and moral right of the patriarch to discipline the members of the household. Catherine's wildness, her refusal at being domesticated, is a rebellion against this authoritarian system. She does not rebel against her father or her husband openly, but her spirit refuses to accept the codes of discipline that are to be obeyed without question. Since Heathcliff is an outsider and no humanistic effort is made to 'domesticate' him his wildness cannot be equated with Catherine's. Catherine's 'wildness' has its genesis in the unbalanced sexual equation of society. The girl child is not objected to for being a 'tomboy' but as she grows up increasingly, her life is determined and controlled with greater authority as sanctioned by patriarchal society. The cause of Catherine's unmitigated affection for Heathcliff, even while she plays the role of a responsible woman and the wife of a gentlemen, can be attributed to the childhood sympathies and memories of the many escapades that she and Heathcliff planned and executed together. When Catherine says 'I am Heathcliff, it is not as if she has unsexed herself and become a man, nor should it be understood only in spiritual terms as the soul's unification. Rather it can be said that by that declaration Catherine displaces the power equation that puts the man in a superior position and asserts her equality.

The fact that being a lady' is clearly an economic status is recognised by Catherine, because by marrying Edgar she does become the "lady" of Thrushcross Grange Granch.

Catherine's love for Heathcliff is totally utopian or even fantastic and it transgresses the conventionality of its times. Though Catherine is conscious that she and Edgar are as different to each other as 'moon-beam from lightening or frost from fire she decides to marry Edgar because it is a realistic position to take. Such tragic but pragmatic choices must have been common in the age where marriage was often seen as an economic stepping - stone for the man's advancement in life and the wife as a presentable social acquisition. Catherine is the representative of the many women who were domesticated and played the role of a lady by the sheer force of realistic considerations in a bourgeois society. In contrast, Catherine's 'wildness' is 'the rejection of her gender identity as defined in a bourgeois society. If giving birth to children is an important aspect of this gender definition it is highly significant that Catherine dies at child birth, Catherine is destroyed; she cannot be accommodated in the patriarchal society because of her refusal to adhere to the codes femininity of which familial loyalty was paramount.

...Prev | Next...