Catherine as 'consumptive chic': The Victorian aesthetics of 'withering away' in 'Wuthering Heights'

The recent obsession with Wuthering Heights, following the release of the 2026 adaptation starring Margot Robbins and Jacob Elordi, has sparked discussions about the nature of love depicted in Emily Brontë’s Gothic novel, originally published in 1847. Perhaps the reason why the novel resonates with us even today is because of its unflinching portrayal of the most degraded form of romantic and sexual obsession – something uncannily recognisable to anyone – and its underlying proposition, which is disturbing to us: that love, in its most extreme form, can drive individuals into ghastly acts of vengeance and self-destruction.

Those who are familiar with the narrative would know that both Heathcliff and Catherine suffer greatly, though the nature of their suffering differs in distinctive ways: Heathcliff’s suffering acquires a sinister proportion as he externalises his grief and trauma by victimising others, while Catherine’s tragedy is more inward and registers as psychosomatic manifestation of her trauma and guilt, eventually culminating into her premature death. What binds them is their self-annihilating, obsessive attachments, as well as the very human flaw of an inability to relinquish the past.

In contemporary popular discourse, Heathcliff and Catherine’s relationship is viewed as toxic and codependent, but deeper psychoanalytic interpretations of their behaviour become critical...