Wuthering Heights

how does cathy behavior in chapter 12 mirror her earlier to get her way? whom is she trying too hurt her actions? why? how is edgars reaction to her behavior different this time than when they were younger? what makes his behavior this time ironic

How does Cathy behavior in chapter 12

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In her delirium, Catherine reveals that her true emotional identity has not altered since she was twelve, just before she stayed with the Lintons for some weeks. Everything that happened to her since then ceases to have any importance when she is irrational:

"...supposing at twelve years old, I had been wrenched from the Heights, and every early association, and my all in all, as Heathcliff was at that time, and been converted, at a stroke, into Mrs. Linton, the lady of Thrushcross Grange, and the wife of a stranger; an exile, and outcast, thenceforth, from what had been my world ­ You may fancy a glimpse at the abyss where I groveled!" (125)

Time is unimportant: it has no effect on the true, deep emotions in Brontë's world.

Edgar's coldness to Isabella seems to result from his sister deserting him for his greatest enemy. His willingness to abandon her because of hurt pride is perhaps his greatest moral flaw. The emphasis he places on personal dignity differentiates him from the other characters––who certainly have many faults, though not that one.

Source(s)

http://www.gradesaver.com/wuthering-heights/study-guide/section3/