be proud of having such a husband” (Bronte 40). In this quote, Catherine reveals the Victorian desire for social status and male dependency. While Catherine does not reveal her Victorian ways until after she returns from the Grange, Cathy’s Victorian traits are revealed as she grows up at the Grange. Until the age of thirteen, Cathy was confined to the property of Thrushcross Grange. Due to her confinement, she was described as, “a perfect recluse; and, apparently, perfectly contented” (Bronte 96). Her captivity represents how women of the Victorian period were bound to their duties at home and were supposed to be content with their lackluster lives. Cathy also demonstrates the Victorian values concerning social classes when she meets Hareton for the first time. When she finds out that she has mistaken the servant boy for the owner of Wuthering Heights, she immediately begins ordering him around. When Nelly explains to Cathy that the servant is actually her cousin, Cathy degrades Hareton with disbelief saying, “’Oh, Ellen! don’t let them say such things… my cousin is a gentleman’s son” (Bronte 99). During their interaction, Cathy exudes a common Victorian belief of degradation towards the lower class.

The intertwining love triangles of Wuthering Heights also represent both the Romantic and Victorian periods. The first love triangle in the novel between Catherine Earnshaw Linton, Heathcliff, and Edgar Linton represents the Romantic period, while the second love triangle between Catherine Linton Heathcliff, Linton Heathcliff, and Hareton Earnshaw represents the Victorian period (Landers 1). In the first love triangle, Catherine is hopelessly in love with Heathcliff, but marries Edgar for her own benefit. This triangle can be seen as Romantic due to her natural attraction for Heathcliff, as well as her selfish decision to marry Edgar (Landers 5). Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship does not work out, despite their strong love for one another, because they would be poor and live an unsuccessful life together. Edgar and Catherine’s relationship ends with her death because she was not truly happy, despite their financial stability (“The Romantic Novel, Romanticism, and Wuthering Heights” 3). In the second triangle, Cathy is forced to marry Linton, but eventually marries Hareton after Linton’s death. Cathy and Linton’s relationship can be seen as Victorian because, although Cathy was emotionally invested in the relationship, Linton was not. Their marriage did not succeed due to their lack of a true connection. Feminist writer, Mona Caird, described the perfect marriage as, “…an association that could and ought to be reinvented to promote freedom and equality for both partners” (Caird qtd. in Greenblatt 1582). In this quote, Caird states that marriage should benefit both the husband and wife. Cathy and Hareton’s relationship is considered Victorian because it exemplifies the value of women in marriage. Through Cathy’s tutoring, Hareton is able to become a more civilized person. Their relationship is successful because they both love each other and work together towards the same goal of happiness. In chapter thirty-two, their relationship is defined as beneficial to both parties, “Earnshaw was not to be civilized with a wish; and my young lady was no philosopher, and no paragon of patience; but both their minds tending to the same point—one loving and desiring to esteem, and the other loving and desiring to be esteemed—they contrived in the end to reach it” (Bronte 158). In this quote, the central goal of love in Cathy and Hareton’s relationship is made known. Cathy and Hareton’s relationship depicts the equality in marriages that Victorian feminists were working towards.