Literary Rebels: Female Independence in Victorian Fiction
Challenging 19th-Century Female Roles
In the 19th century, women were expected to be quiet, obedient, and primarily focused on marriage and family. Literature from that era often depicted women as gentle, selfless, and emotional. However, some visionary writers also crafted female characters who defied these conventional gender roles, presenting a more complex view of womanhood. Two compelling examples are Estella from Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations and Catherine Earnshaw from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.
Both Estella and Catherine conspicuously deviate from the prescribed behaviors for women of their time. Estella is portrayed as cold and proud, deliberately refusing to reciprocate the affections of men around her. In contrast, Catherine is wild, passionate, and emotional, unwilling to conform to expectations of calmness or quietude. In these distinct ways, both characters actively subvert the ideal of the “perfect Victorian woman.” As depicted in their respective novels, their actions lead to significant consequences, yet they also powerfully assert their strength and independence. This analysis will argue that Estella and Catherine both challenge traditional female roles by acting with remarkable independence and rejecting society’s rigid expectations, even though their defiance ultimately results in various forms of punishment.
Estella’s Calculated Independence
Estella, like Catherine, demonstrates a profound desire to control her own life, even when it directly contradicts societal expectations for women. She is famously raised by Miss Havisham with the explicit purpose to “break men’s hearts.” Consequently, Estella consistently withholds affection from Pip, despite his deep devotion, maintaining a calm and distant demeanor (Dickens, 2008, p. 160). This portrayal starkly contrasts with the emotional and soft-hearted female characters typically found in Dickens’s novels. As Catherine J. Golden observes, Dickens frequently depicted women as “angels” – quiet, loving, and self-sacrificing – a mold that Estella emphatically refuses to fit (Golden, 2000, p. 6). Estella asserts her strength by refusing to be governed by her emotions and by rejecting the societal pressure to marry for love. Her actions directly challenge the prevailing notion that women should be inherently romantic and gentle.
Catherine’s Passionate Rebellion
Catherine Earnshaw, while expressing her emotions very differently from Estella, is equally defiant of societal norms. Catherine is characterized by her wild, loud, and passionate nature. Her iconic declaration, “I am Heathcliff,” powerfully conveys the depth of her love, yet she paradoxically chooses to marry Edgar Linton for his social status (Brontë, 2005, p. 86-87). Her behavior unequivocally rejects the expectation that women should be calm, polite, and submissive. Jamie S. Crouse notes that Wuthering Heights itself challenges conventional notions of female domesticity (Crouse, 2008, p. 185), a world that Catherine vehemently refuses to be trapped within. Thus, both Estella and Catherine assert their independence through distinct actions, despite their differing emotional expressions.
Consequences of Defiance: Punishment and Legacy
Despite their undeniable strength and independence, both Estella and Catherine ultimately suffer significant consequences for their choices. Estella endures an unhappy and abusive marriage to Bentley Drummle. Although she eventually softens in later life, she never truly finds lasting happiness. Her suffering is presented as a direct result of her failure to embody the “good” woman – her refusal to love or display kindness in the manner society prescribed. As Golden suggests, while such women are compelling, they are often not rewarded within the narrative framework (Golden, 2000, p. 17).
Catherine also faces severe repercussions for her decisions, as Crouse further elaborates (Crouse, 2008, p. 186). She succumbs to illness and dies young, consumed by sadness and anger (Brontë, 2005, p. 135). Her intense passion and steadfast refusal to act “properly” lead to immense emotional pain. While Estella suppresses her emotions, Catherine expresses hers fully, yet both are punished in distinct ways. The novels powerfully illustrate that when women transgress their expected roles, they often confront serious consequences. Nevertheless, both characters endure in literary memory as powerful and brave figures.
Enduring Legacy of Female Defiance
In conclusion, both Estella and Catherine Earnshaw stand as powerful literary figures who profoundly challenge the traditional roles assigned to women in the 19th century. They resolutely refuse to conform to the quiet, obedient, and emotionally constrained behaviors that society rigidly expected, leaving an indelible mark on Victorian literature and beyond.