Catherine possesses a wild, passionate nature which is initially presented when she spits on Heathcliff. She does so when she discovers that he was the reason for her father losing the whip she was to get. Further evidence of Catherine's wildness can be seen from the pledge she and Heathcliff make—they promise “fair to grow up as rude as savages" in response to …show more content…
Her passion, described as "gunpowder which lay[s] as harmless as sand because no fire [comes] near to explode it", is subdued as the materialistic side to her personality begins to assert itself. For example, Catherine aspires to be “the greatest lady in the neighbourhood.” For the first time in the novel, Catherine worries about how others see her and confesses to Nelly that it would degrade her to marry Heathcliff. The duality of Catherine's character is thus a result of a crisis point in her marriage to Edgar. She not only physically removes herself from her soulmate, Heathcliff, but she also emotionally removes herself from the wildness and freedom of the Heights and the crags. This choice made by Catherine favours wealth, civilization and social position over her natural affinity with the untamed, and uncivilized world represented by