You had a temper
Like my jealousy
Too hot, too greedy
OK, here we go again. At no point in the novel does
Catherine Earnshaw display any proclivity to jealousy whatsoever. On the
contrary, when Heathcliff announces that he is to marry Edgar Linton’s sister
Isabella, Cathy’s only concern is for her sister-in-law. She knows what a
terrible life poor Bella is making for herself by consenting to a match with such
a monstrous brute as Mr H, who is about as monstrous and brutish as a man can
be. (Remember that as she lies dying, Cathy tells Nellie Dean that she would
never have married Heathcliff even if she hadn’t married Edgar, because
Heathcliff is an utter swine and she doesn’t like him one bit! Forget the
romantic stuff; there is none in the book.)
As for too hot, too
greedy, no. Catherine is a high spirited and wilful woman, but she’s fully
in control of both her mind and her emotions. There’s nothing hot – in that
sense – about her. And later in the song there’s another line in which she calls
Heathcliff ‘my only master.’ Never in a million years. Equal maybe, but throughout
the book – even when Cathy is dead and come to ghostliness – it is she who
holds the predominant position.
There are a couple of interesting parallels between Kate
Bush and Emily Brontë; they’re both half Irish and they have the same birthday.
But I assume that Kate must have based her song on the well known film version,
not an open minded reading of Emily’s words.
So what, you might ask, is this missionary zeal I seem to exhibit
over the matter of Wuthering Heights?
I’m not sure, but I suppose it’s the fact that I want Emily to be understood.
Dear Emily matters to me, you know? She does. And you know how it is with
missionaries – they just go on and on until somebody boils them in a big pot
and has them for dinner.
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