ABSTRACT Published in 1847, Emily Brontë’s only novel, Wuthering Heights, is considered to be among the classics of English Literature and the novel includes the literary trends of both Romantic Movement and Victorian Period. The novel has a non-linear narration and it also includes two different narrators, which make the work innovative in respect to its period. The protagonists, Catherine and Heathcliff, have a passionate love but the social limitations and restrictions of the society do not allow their union. The novel also includes some gothic elements such as mysterious events at Wuthering Heights, located at the top of crags where the sound of the wind never ends, the description of dark and gloomy nature, appearance of Catherine’s ghost in the attic room, or abrupt deaths of many characters. Catherine Earnshaw dies near the middle of the novel but her death is in a way a chance for Heathcliff to re-unite with his lover, Catherine. For Catherine, death is an escape from the limitations and restrictions of the society as well as a chance for her to re-unite Heathcliff even in the form of a ghost. The ghost of Catherine, whom Mr. Lockwood comes across in the very beginning of the novel, can be associated with the image of ‘female vampire’ in literature. The aim of this study is to examine how Emily Brontë portrays Catherine Earnshaw as a ‘female vampire’ in literature in order to criticize the sexual politics and gender roles in Victorian Period.

Wuthering Heights, Catherine Earnshaw, female vampire, Gothic novel