A continuation of my project to draw Wuthering Heights characters (as animals) in different outfits to illustrate how they change over the course of the book. I’ve had a lot of fun crafting designs for Cathy (Jr.), Linton, and Hareton that reflect their complex mirroring of characters from their parents’ generation. Heathcliff's and Edgar's outfits have also been updated to Regency styles.



**1797**

The year when the three members of the younger generation come together for the first time. For her time living with Edgar at Thrushcross Grange, I’ve dressed Cathy in pink; she has her mother’s energy and strong will, but can be mild and gentle like her father, so she wears a more desaturated color than the older Cathy’s fiery red—but still somewhat reminiscent of it. I imagine that Edgar has dressed his daughter as such in remembrance of his parted wife, for whom he named her, but also in the hopes that she will stay his little girl forever. In a way, the pink is to red as what the diminutive “Cathy” is to “Catherine,” the name he used for his wife. The yellow in Cathy’s hat also ties in with the color scheme of her father’s outfit, since the two are extremely close. 

Linton also wears yellow, but a very desaturated tone, and in addition to the blue which I’ve used as his family’s color prior to Edgar and Isabella’s separation. Whereas I’ve had Edgar abandon the blue, I imagine that Isabella still wore it and dressed her son in it, given the fact that she named him for her family. It very much matches his big blue eyes. When Linton first moves to northern England and encounters the other characters, he’s described as wearing a fur-lined cloak even in the prime of summer, so he’s dressed as such here. Yes, he’s a rabbit wearing fur, but this reflects the inherent irony of his existence, as “Linton Heathcliff.” There’s also the grim sense of his being regarded as simply bound for death, and his being prevented from ever developing into a true independent self. 

Linton is soon to meet a decidedly dissimilar housemate, whose attire is much rougher and accustomed to work. I imagine that Hareton’s clothing doesn’t change much throughout his time at Wuthering Heights (except at the very end), as Heathcliff is determined to prevent any development on his part. Hareton’s state of “degradation,” however, is one in which Heathcliff himself recalls living as a youth, and he claims to know exactly how the kid is feeling, for which reason I’ve dressed Hareton in the same patchy clothing [which Heathcliff used to wear](https://www.reddit.com/r/brontesisters/comments/1rtvvbw/wuthering_heights_outfit_designs_1780/). Red, as the Earnshaw color in my outfit scheme, also augments Hareton’s identification with his aunt Cathy, which later begins to disturb Heathcliff.

  


**1801**

The year where Cathy’s life is turned upside down, as Heathcliff forces her to marry Linton and then inherits Edgar’s house. She’s still wearing the outfit she came in from the Grange (I am mixing and matching times a little bit here, as Heathcliff carries off the portrait at a different date—but the event seems symbolic of what he’s doing to Cathy here), so the pink has taken on a definite irony at this point, with the perversion of its typical symbolism—the grotesque falsity of her romance and the ending of her youthful innocence. But some shadow of her mother’s red remains; in the face of adversity, Cathy shows her predecessor’s fiery rebelliousness, even threatening to burn the house down. For Heathcliff, though, she's still nothing to the original Cathy, and he’s beaten her for her defiance, continuing my design theme of ripped left ears. This indicates her situation’s close parallel to Isabella's, whose defiance also brought her injury from Heathcliff. I also depict Heathcliff with a torn left ear (presumably a result of his time as a homeless orphan (stray cat) and of Hindley’s abuse), so his inflicting the same on Isabella and Cathy shows how he passes on his trauma to others. 

Hareton, meanwhile, is depicted with a ripped ear which I imagine is the fault of Hindley. It wouldn't have been as deliberate as his abuse of Heathcliff, but Hindley was always drunkenly carrying around his knife and gun, so accidents were liable to happen, especially after Heathcliff and Nelly left the Heights and there was no one around to rescue Hareton. Hindley did literally threaten to cut off his baby son’s ears at one point, so I've partially actualized that. This adds to Hareton’s rough appearance, though I have him trying around this time to dress a little nicer so that Cathy will stop looking down on him. He’s brushed his fur out of his eyes and swapped out his trousers for breeches, but he’s still not very fancy. 

Fanciness is reserved for Linton, whom Heathcliff has treated oppositely to Hareton and shaped by now into a parodic sort of head of household. Linton’s change from a gender-ambiguous cloak to a three-piece suit also marks how Heathcliff has transformed him from effeminate "lass" into mock-patriarch, bringing him to believe that he has control over his wife. Heathcliff’s influence has been strong, but Linton is overall an incongruous sort of hybrid of his father and Edgar’s family. He’s lost any hint of blue, which is the color I’ve used for his mother and for the Lintons in general before the siblings’ separation. But some of Edgar’s attributes are still evident in Linton’s outfit, his bow-tied cravat and big shiny buttons. In contrast, the large lapels and incongruously long tailcoat—more appropriate for a cat than a short-tailed rabbit—match with Heathcliff’s attire. 

  


**Early 1802**

The final year of Heathcliff’s life; he’s getting pretty haunted here. Linton is dead, and Cathy and Hareton are at a decidedly low point in their relationship. As Lockwood described her, Cathy is wearing a black dress, being still in mourning. Of course, black is also the color I use for Heathcliff’s usual attire, showing how Cathy’s trauma and confinement at Wuthering Heights are bringing her temperament closer to Heathcliff's, embittered and disdainful of her company. She’s Cathy Heathcliff now, after all. Hareton is also confined to the house at this point, after busting up his arm in a hunting accident—a self-caused injury for once, but with the bandaged arm, I did want to suggest resemblance to Hindley in 1784, who also lost a lot of blood in his arm after Heathcliff broke in through his window and beat him up. Having given up on cultivating friendly relations with Cathy, he’s stopped caring about looking nice, returning to his tattered trousers and unkempt hair. His waistcoat is buttoned this time to suggest a closing off.

  


**Later 1802 / 1803**

This is the period post-Heathcliff’s death, when Hareton and Cathy have decided to live together at the Grange. By this point, Hareton is learning to read and has adopted more gentlemanly clothing—here, a fine dress coat and cravat. Cathy, her time of mourning over, has shed the black dress and returned to a brighter color—not her original pink, as things have changed too much for her to be Edgar’s little girl again, but a vibrant green; Wuthering Heights has finally opened up its doors and she’s able to roam around outside. Hareton, for his part, has lost the Earnshaw red he’s worn for most of his life, coming to match with Cathy instead, as he’s leaving his ancestral home to live with her at Thrushcross Grange. Apart from reading, Cathy and Hareton bond by planting flowers in the garden (much to Joseph’s anguish), so I’ve drawn them here with primroses, which Cathy sneaks into Hareton’s porridge while dining with Heathcliff. It’s a fitting choice of flower, signalling the onset of spring, as things begin to look up from Cathy and Hareton’s bleak winter at Wuthering Heights. And while they settle down at the Grange, their parallel predecessors will be enjoying their own unconventional happy (not so happy for the terrified moor residents) ending by haunting the Heights.



No Joseph or Nelly here, but artwork featuring them will be coming soon.

Wuthering Heights Character Designs: 1797-1802