Gender Representation in Emily Brontë's
Novel Wuthering Heights
Sona Ismailova 
Abstract. The article examines the problem of gender representation in Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights in the context of the Victorian era and its characteristic social and moral ideas about the situation of a man and a woman. Particular attention is paid to the images of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, their relationship and the contradiction between the personal desire for freedom and the requirements of public normativity. Analysis of Catherine's image reveals the duality of her position: the heroine both accepts and resists traditional ideas about the female role, demonstrating a desire for independence, emotional independence and the realization of her own self. Separately, the problem of marriage as a social institution that determines the position of a woman and limits her personal choice is considered. Heathcliff's image is analyzed in terms of his social rebelliousness and attitude towards a woman: opposing the social hierarchy, the hero simultaneously reproduces a patriarchal model of power based on control and the desire for possession. Heathcliff's juxtaposition with Edward Rochester reveals different patterns of male behavior. As a result, the novel appears as a complex study of gender roles, female subjectivity, power, dependence and the contradiction between individual freedom and social norms.
Keywords: Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, gender representation, Catherine Earnshaw, Heathcliff, the Victorian era, female subjectivity