Gender Studies in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Genre played an important role in the style of writing known as "gothic." Traditional stereotypes have often been broken. Men were not always presented as dominant, strong, rational or masculine. Likewise, women were not always presented as weak, submissive, irrational, or feminine. This essay will look at the relationship between Catherine and Edgar Linton in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brönte. We'll look at how their characters are portrayed, how this affected their marriage, and how each character retained some of the traits assigned to their gender. The character of Catherine will be examined first, since she is one of the main characters in the book. . Catherine was not an angelic, sweet and caring little girl. Ellen describes her saying, “His spirits were always high, his tongue was always singing and laughing and tormenting anyone who would not do the same. She was a wild and wicked slip..." (p. 32), and: "In the game, she extremely loved playing the role of the little mistress, using her hands freely and commanding her companions: she did it to me, but I didn't couldn't stand slapping and ordering; so I let him know. " (p.33). From these two descriptions of Catherine, it seems that she was always testing her limits, not at all submissive. Even as a child, she had a strong spirit that was not easily swayed. It is evident that Catherine was dominant and even domineering, an example of this would be the way she continually ordered her playmates around and used physical violence to get them to do what she wanted them to do. Later in the book, Catherine. describes herself as a child, saying she was "half wild, robust and free" (p.97 Edgar's chi...... middle of paper ......ar). gave up his judicial duties, stopped going to church and didn't go anywhere anymore. So he took on the role of wife by staying at home and raising his child, and that was the last demonstration. of Catherine's domination. Edgar and Catherine had a complex relationship Each married for different reasons Edgar thought he loved her but only loved an idealized version of her, and Catherine married him. to help the man she truly loved, Heathcliff. He thought she was perfect, she thought he was weak and easy to control. Eventually, these idealizations faded. Throughout their relationship, Catherine and Edgar switched roles. Even though they changed roles, each managed to retain the traits assigned to their own gender at that time. Works Cited: Berg, Maggie. Wuthering Heights: writings on the margins. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996.