As characters of the first generation in Wuthering Heights marry and bear children, the focus shifts to the younger generation. However, the second generation is under a huge influence of the elders. Cathy (for clarity's sake, I address the daughter of Catherine as Cathy in this essay), Hareton and Linton Heathcliff are not solely influenced by Heathcliff's brutal force. Their personalities greatly exhibit unique combinations of the first generation. Therefore, both similarities and disparities exist between two generations and I will examine them with eyes on younger characters, one by one, in this essay.
Cathy resembles her mother Catherine in a saucy, headstrong and passionate way, but she, tempered by her father Edgar, who has raised her since Catherine died when giving birth to her, is more compassionate and gentle than Catherine. The author Emily Bronte shows Cathy's combined personality using her mingled appearance of her parents: Cathy has "Earnshaws' handsome dark eyes, but the Lintons' fair skin" and "yellow curling hair"(189).
Described as an "indulged" child by Nelly, Cathy is saucy because when she is vexed by a servant, she will say, "'I shall tell papa!'"(189) She has a similarly peevish nature with Catherine's haughty one shown in the confrontations with Nelly. After Edgar forbade Cathy's connection with Linton Heathcliff, Cathy still furtively writes letters to Linton Heathcliff. Catherine chooses to marry Edgar out of her own will; Cathy is also headstrong and determinant. Moreover, her interest in Penistone Craggs reveals her wild energy and passions that are also possessed by Catherine. However, Cathy is a lot more compassionate, for she patiently takes care of Linton Edgar. Her love is softer rather than intense when she expresses it through correspondence. Growing up in Thrush Cross Grange, an educated environment, she becomes civil and caring, like Edgar.
Contrary to Cathy,