Okay, so I was reading Wuthering Heights several times years ago and I particularly remember this incident where Lockwood is introduced into one of the rooms in WH and finds that Catherine’s name scribbled somewhere. Catherine Earnshaw/Linton/Heathcliff and so on. Since the book is very much cryptic, I understand that it’s difficult to analysis, but do you think this name variations that were probably writtwn by Cathy has some significant meaning?
I was assuming that young Cathy was worried and confused about her future and contemplated each of her choice, but then she was too young when she wrote this, and this doesn’t explain ‘Catherine Earnshaw’.
Is this just some device into tricking readers with the complicated nature of mother and daugher Catherine’s constant name changes? What do you think?
by Victoria9273
1 Comment
Well, Catherine Earnshaw was her maiden name and, as you surmised, scratching Linton and Heathcliff were just variations, likely ‘trying them on’. I don’t see any reason why she wouldn’t have scratched all three names. Why do you think she would have been too young?
Alternatively, who’s to say that she scratched them in? Maybe Heathcliff scratched them in as he was pining after her. Maybe he was doing whatever he could to summon her ghost?