Do we like them?

Do we like Catherine Earnshaw?

A character from Wuthering Heights (1847)

Our score: 3 out of 10. Magnetic and fiercely alive, but selfish and careless with the people who love her. We'd admire her spirit and still keep our distance.

Catherine grows up at Wuthering Heights, a remote farmhouse on the moors. She is spirited, stubborn and fond of running free. Her father brings home an orphan boy, Heathcliff, and the two become inseparable companions in a rough, loveless household.

Her chief flaw is that she wants everything at once. She wants the freedom and passion she shares with Heathcliff, and she also wants comfort, polish and a good name. Her pride and temper make her quick to use people and slow to see what it costs them. She is vivid and unforgettable, but she is not a friend you could rely on.

She chooses to marry the refined Edgar Linton, even though she says her heart belongs to Heathcliff. That choice drives the rest of the novel. Heathcliff is wounded, Edgar is caught in a divided marriage, and her own mind and health suffer for it. Her daughter, also named Cathy, shows more judgment than she did.