Wuthering Heights

Catherine Earnshaw - wonderful woman, but cannot marry Heathcliff because of his low status.  She marries Linton, though she does not love him.  Seems to place herself on a higher platform/pedestal than the other characters.

Catherine Linton - Victim of revenge, but maintains her spirit.  Very much like her mother (Catherine Earnshaw), but diluted by her father's personality (Linton).

Nelly Dean - mother figure.  Knows everything that has happened and seems to know the inner workings of the characters.
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“Catherine Earnshaw…Catherine Heathcliff…Catherine Linton…a glare of white letters started from the dark, as vivid as spectres – the air swarmed with Catherines”

When she said this, Catherine was unsure of her identity or personality. Each of the men in her life made her a different person. She wasn’t sure who she was or even who she wanted to be. Even to her death, she was not a whole person. Who she was and how she acted depended on which man she was with (in whose house she lived). I don’t think anyone really knew who she really was or allowed her to be herself at all.  Because there was so much tension between classes and feminine responsibilities, women were often torn between what their role was.  Many were expected to sit and be admired, while others were forced to work or lead in business endeavors.
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“he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same”

This just further illustrates how confused Catherine is. Though she has just accepted Edgar’s proposal and confessed her love to him, she still lingers with Heathcliff. Is it the wealth and power of Edgar, as opposed to the love and companionship with Heathcliff? It seems as though Heathcliff’s demeanor is a reflection of what Catherine would like to show the world; who she really is inside, but because of the oppressive attitude of her brother, she cannot show that and so must remain silent and allow Heathcliff to act out her feelings. Just like women of the time were forced to hide their knowledge, their personalities, and their being in order to allow her husband total control. Yet, when she’s alone with another woman, Nelly, she tells her that she would never marry Heathcliff because he is a nothing.  In the Victorian time-period, women were expected to give everything up to the men in their lives.  They could not inherit land or money from their father when he died, and any acquired wealth was absorbed into that of her husband, upon marriage.  Catherine's statement that Heathcliff is more herself than she is shows to me her longing for freedom.  Heathcliff, being a man, dictates his own future.  He can come and go as he pleases, something she desires.