Standing up for oneself

New blog post! So I'm continuing to read Wuthering Heights and things have really taken a turn for the worst. Little Cathy's father has just passed away and Heathcliff has forced a marriage between Cathy and Linton. Heathcliff is attempting to force Cathy to come live at the Heights. Catherine obliges, but not without a fight.

'Linton is all i have to love in the world, and though you have done what you could to make him hateful to me, and me to him, you cannot make us hate each other. And I defy you to hurt him when I am by, and I defy you to frighten me!' pg. 273

I love this little outburst from Cathy because it shows that she is finally standing up for herself. Throughout the book she has acted like a child, innocently stashing the love letters from Linton and succumbing to Heathcliff's scheming plot to marry her with Linton. Now that she is being kidnapped and starts to realize the injustice that is going on, she adopts a more mature persona and stands up for herself. This excerpt also shows the power that love has in Wuthering Heights. Even Heathcliff's evil schemes do not have the power to stop the love between the young Cathy and Linton.