Welcome to day six of Wuthering Heights Week here at White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings. Today’s post is also this week’s Femme Fatale Friday, so I have chosen to write about the two Catherines of Wuthering Heights and my Faery Changeling theory. I decided to do an updated and more fleshed-out post explaining this theory, which I have developed over many readings of the book. As stated, this theory is that Catherine Earnshaw may be a Faery Changeling and her daughter may have taken after her by practicing magick, as a witch or Priestess! There is even the possible reincarnation angle, but we will get there.
The Faery Changeling theory is one that began to solidify for me back in 2022, as during my re-read around my birthday that year, one of the things that most stood out to me was all of the references to faerylore within the novel. These references are particularly aimed at the two Catherines, both mother and daughter. Of course, I had always noticed these references, and even loved them as someone who absolutely adores faerylore, but it was in 2022 that I began to wonder if there was more to these references than mere hints at the belief in the Fae on the Moors in the period when the novel is set. This theory has not left me in the last three plus years, with each subsequent re-read of the novel serving to further solidify my belief that the theory, as odd as it is, has merit!
After all, Catherine Earnshaw is described as a high-spirited and wild child, with her early years seeming to be more at home when spent on the Moors than indoors. She and Heathcliff were known to sneak off to the Moors together, which is obviously a way to keep Heathcliff away from Hindley’s ire after Mr. Earnshaw died, but the sheer wildness that both of them are described as possessing is palatable. The very first time the reader encounters Catherine Earnshaw is when Mr. Lockwood sees her ghost, and he is frightened of her, calling her a Changeling. The wording feels very deliberate, as Emily Brontë did not choose her words lightly, with a hint that this may be more than mere superstition at play. In fact, the very idea that Catherine Earnshaw became a ghost is interesting, as there are many ties in old faerylore to the Fae also being spirits of the dead, or that some people can become Fae when they die. This is ever more true if the person had been a witch in life!
Which leads to the perfect segue into discussing Catherine’s daughter, whom I will refer to by her maiden name of Catherine Linton in this post to try to keep it less confusing. Early on in the novel, when Mr. Lockwood first encountered Catherine Linton, he witnessed an exchange between her and the servant Joseph. Joseph is a religious zealot, as is well attested to throughout the novel, and he had been scolding Catherine. This led to Catherine threatening to hex him, with many references to her being called a witch in these early moments, when the readers are introduced to the character.
Now, just like with Catherine Earnshaw being referred to as a Changeling, Catherine Linton being referred to as a witch could just be superstition and the dislike felt by the characters who call them as such. However, yet again, it feels like so much more than that to me. As I noted, Emily Brontë chose her wording carefully in this novel, and it is such a multi-layered and complex narrative that I cannot get it out of my head, which seems to be so much more than a simple word choice.
There is an obviously fantastic nature to the novel, what with the haunting of Catherine’s Ghost being a prime plot point, so I do not think that it is totally out of reason to theorize that the fantastic elements could be deeper! Catherine Earnshaw is often described as wild with a streak of cruelty, which definitely aligns with the idea that Faery Changelings were dangerous. So, beyond her love of being in nature, just like the Fae tend to love, we have an alignment with how Nelly described her character to how people describe Changelings in old folklore. Actually, this could have also been a very deliberate choice by Emily Brontë, done to speak to how women of the time were unfairly judged or misunderstood if they did not fit ideally with the norms of femininity for the era. So, that coupled with the very real belief in Changelings that was held both when the novel was set and when it was published, makes me think that Catherine Earnshaw being a Changeling is a poignant interpretation, which speaks to how difficult it is not to fit the norms of the time in which you live!
As for my thoughts that Catherine Linton may have been a witch, well, she certainly used the threat to scare Joseph, but if we think that her mother was a Changeling, she would have had magick in her blood. Beyond that, given how rough it was for her to live at Wuthering Heights, Catherine Linton very well could have taken up witchcraft to protect herself! Either way, her demeanor does seem very changed from the sweet girl described by Nelly to a woman who grew hard-edged to protect herself in an inhospitable home, which makes total sense.
Finally, I want to end by touching on the possible reincarnation angle. I do not necessarily subscribe to this theory, but it has occurred to me, and it does involve both Catherines, so I wanted to finish out this post touching on it. So, think of this as a little bonus extra theory! There is a chance that Catherine Earnshaw was reincarnated as Catherine Linton, the daughter whom she died giving birth to. As I said, I do not really love this theory, as I do the Faery Changeling one, but I wanted to briefly discuss it. Again, given the fantastical elements in the novel, reincarnation is not totally out of bounds to theorize about. However, you may wonder how Catherine’s Ghost would appear if she were reincarnated as her daughter. That can be explained by her daughter being a witch and actively using magick to make the ghost appear to frighten Lockwood. While it is a stretch, it does fit! Of course, at the end of the day, I much prefer to think of them as a mother who is a Faery Changeling and a daughter who took up witchcraft. But one thing is for certain, the two Catherines are linked more than most mothers and daughters, with history repeating itself in their lives, even though they never knew eachother!
I hope you have enjoyed this exploration of the two Catherines and my updated explanation of my Faery Changeling theory. What is your favorite theory about this novel that may sound a bit out there? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a book cover for the novel. I found the image on https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Wuthering-Heights/Emily-Bronte/Word-Cloud-Classics/9781787557871.
LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries
Further Reading
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
- https://whiteroseofavalon.life/2021/04/10/heathcliff-as-byronic-hero/
- https://whiteroseofavalon.life/2022/03/17/wuthering-heights-a-happy-ending/
- https://whiteroseofavalon.life/2022/09/26/catherine-earnshaw-a-faery-changeling/
- https://whiteroseofavalon.life/2024/11/29/the-two-catherines-of-wuthering-heights/
- https://whiteroseofavalon.life/2022/04/27/emily-brontes-impact-kate-bush-the-music-videos-and-the-unthanks/