Isabella
CHARACTER TRAITS:
Bronte characterises Isabella as being naïve and foolish, unable to comprehend the real world, stuck in a romanticised fantasy where Heathcliff is portrayed as a somewhat heroic figure.
These traits stem from her upbringing in the Linton household at Thrushcross Grange, where she is spoilt with the comparative grandeur and luxury that Bronte so despises, because to her, anyone who is not of good northern stock is weak and effete and therefore inferior. Therefore Bronte takes real relish in seeing Isabella maltreated by Heathcliff
However after her marriage to Heathcliff, Isabella’s character alters radically. Due to her contact with ‘real Yorkshire’ and her having to get more ‘hands on’ (“I’m not going to act lady among you for fear I would starve.”) she suddenly becomes a more defiant and respected character, standing her own against Heathcliff and eventually running away form his grasp.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
She is described as very similar to Edgar – fair, pale, wan and dainty. Bronte uses this to represent her opinion of people who aren’t from Yorkshire, i.e. people who are dark, rugged.
ACTIONS THEY TAKE/BEHAVIOUR:
Before the emergence of Heathcliff into Isabella’s life, Isabella is hardly mentioned as a character in her own right; her actions were irrelevant and unnoticed. But even when she does become properly part of the narrative, she is only used as a vice of other characters, still unable to fully detach her character from others. For example she is being used by Heathcliff to get back at Edgar, and is being used by Cathy to spite Heathcliff for not taking her when he was able.
Therefore Isabella is prominently passive, and arguably powerless, in the face of decision – by allowing Heathcliff to walk all over her e.g. when she accepts it when he hangs her puppy.
However after she has spent some time with Heathcliff at Wuthering Heights she turns into someone so completely removed from who she was before. When she comes to visit Nelly before running away, she is livid with anger and rage (“I’ll smash it…I’ll burn it!”) almost mad from her injuries (“Well don’t talk so fast, miss…and make the cut bleed again…and give over your laughing”) - showing she is hysterical and delirious, the complete polar opposite to the quiet and timid character she was before.
WHAT THEY SAY (OR DON’T):
Before the letter Isabella sends to Nelly, Isabella has next to no direct speech, emphasising her role as the vice for other characters endeavours. The letter she sends is the first indication of her possession of inner feelings, feelings that we had no evidence of before. Also the form, in which her feelings are conveyed, highlights her passivity as it is still not direct and perhaps foreshadows her fading presence in the narrative.
Bronte characterises Isabella as being naïve and foolish, unable to comprehend the real world, stuck in a romanticised fantasy where Heathcliff is portrayed as a somewhat heroic figure.
These traits stem from her upbringing in the Linton household at Thrushcross Grange, where she is spoilt with the comparative grandeur and luxury that Bronte so despises, because to her, anyone who is not of good northern stock is weak and effete and therefore inferior. Therefore Bronte takes real relish in seeing Isabella maltreated by Heathcliff
However after her marriage to Heathcliff, Isabella’s character alters radically. Due to her contact with ‘real Yorkshire’ and her having to get more ‘hands on’ (“I’m not going to act lady among you for fear I would starve.”) she suddenly becomes a more defiant and respected character, standing her own against Heathcliff and eventually running away form his grasp.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
She is described as very similar to Edgar – fair, pale, wan and dainty. Bronte uses this to represent her opinion of people who aren’t from Yorkshire, i.e. people who are dark, rugged.
ACTIONS THEY TAKE/BEHAVIOUR:
Before the emergence of Heathcliff into Isabella’s life, Isabella is hardly mentioned as a character in her own right; her actions were irrelevant and unnoticed. But even when she does become properly part of the narrative, she is only used as a vice of other characters, still unable to fully detach her character from others. For example she is being used by Heathcliff to get back at Edgar, and is being used by Cathy to spite Heathcliff for not taking her when he was able.
Therefore Isabella is prominently passive, and arguably powerless, in the face of decision – by allowing Heathcliff to walk all over her e.g. when she accepts it when he hangs her puppy.
However after she has spent some time with Heathcliff at Wuthering Heights she turns into someone so completely removed from who she was before. When she comes to visit Nelly before running away, she is livid with anger and rage (“I’ll smash it…I’ll burn it!”) almost mad from her injuries (“Well don’t talk so fast, miss…and make the cut bleed again…and give over your laughing”) - showing she is hysterical and delirious, the complete polar opposite to the quiet and timid character she was before.
WHAT THEY SAY (OR DON’T):
Before the letter Isabella sends to Nelly, Isabella has next to no direct speech, emphasising her role as the vice for other characters endeavours. The letter she sends is the first indication of her possession of inner feelings, feelings that we had no evidence of before. Also the form, in which her feelings are conveyed, highlights her passivity as it is still not direct and perhaps foreshadows her fading presence in the narrative.