The Everlasting Child Wuthering Heights - 1832 Words

The Everlasting Child Wuthering Heights’s Catherine Earnshaw is infamous for her complex character, some arguing that she is manipulative, others sympathizing with the difficult choices she is faced with. However, there is no doubt that she is innately childish. As Catherine grows older, her character is not changed; she remains juvenile and selfish, making everything a game that revolves around her. In a sense, her mindset never progresses past one of a child. As Sigmund Freud wrote in The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, â€Å"What makes an infant characteristically different from every other stage of human life is that the child is polymorphously perverse†. Children are dominated by what Freud†¦show more content†¦Catherine s relationship with Nelly, her maid, fully demonstrates her childlike characteristics in that she is selfish, and will do anything to obtain what she wants, in addition to having no perception of othe r people s feelings - as Nelly observes and experiences. Having been a part of each stage of her life, Nelly watches Catherine grow up and sees the relationships she forms and how they develop. Therefore, Nelly is both a part of and a spectator of Catherine’s entire selfish life, in which we can clearly see Catherine’s lack of maturity and selfishly childish behavior. As a child, Catherine has an â€Å"inability to conceive any other viewpoints except her own† (Thromahlen, 5). According to Nelly, she has â€Å"never [been] so happy as when [authoritative figures] were all scolding her at once, and she defying [them] with her bold, saucy look, and her ready words†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Brontà « 43). She continues to harass her father and Nelly for no reason other than for personal pleasure - a selfish, childlike action. Furthermore, as she grows older her egocentric behavior towards everybody does not change. Mimicking a child, Catherine behaves spoiledly and irrationa lly when she is upset, embarrassed, or does not receive what she wants. When Nelly would not leave the room after