WHAT Exactly Did Cathy Die From, At The Sad Ending?
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bill3-1 — 15 years ago(February 14, 2011 01:42 PM)
I was under the impression that after the night she spent in the rain and got sick , her immune system became very weak and left her in a general state of poor health. The stress from Heathcliff having married Isabella was enough to weaken her further. But the doctor did say that she lost the will to live and wanted to die.
Except you can't/don't get sick from being cold and wet, except if you're a female in a Hollywood movie, and only in movies can you die from "losing your will to live, and inviting death", maybe there should be a technical medical term for it like "Hollywood Ingnue Ingenuine Syndrome"? -
jschillig — 15 years ago(April 03, 2011 09:43 PM)
The earlier posts are right in a wayin the novel, it was indeed childbirth that killed Cathy, combined with general ill health from her stress over the situation with Heathcliff. (In the book, she has a gigantic argument with Edgar over Heathcliff, during which Edgar clobbers Heathcliff; he runs off with Isabella the next day and Cathy spends the next few days starving herself. All of which contributes to her run-down state of health.)
The child she gives birth to, also named Catherine, becomes a central character in the book's second half.
But since this version cut that second half out, Cathy's death is palmed off on "fever and inflammation of the lungsand the will to die," as Dr. Kenneth puts it. In short, a catch-all Victorian Novel Disease.
(Symptoms of Victorian Novel Disease: a slow and graceful wasting away with plenty of time for tear-jerking deathbed speeches. Does not in any way affect the patient's appearance; rather, patient tends to look more beautiful the worse s/he gets. Also knows as Old Movie Disease. Subset: Italian Opera Disease, related to tuberculosis except with surprisingly little blood or other unpleasant symptoms. Despite being a disease of the lungs, has no effect on patient's ability to belt out a deathbed aria.) -
Delainadee — 14 years ago(April 08, 2011 08:24 PM)
(Symptoms of Victorian Novel Disease: a slow and graceful wasting away with plenty of time for tear-jerking deathbed speeches. Does not in any way affect the patient's appearance; rather, patient tends to look more beautiful the worse s/he gets. Also knows as Old Movie Disease. Subset: Italian Opera Disease, related to tuberculosis except with surprisingly little blood or other unpleasant symptoms. Despite being a disease of the lungs, has no effect on patient's ability to belt out a deathbed aria.)
Simply fabulous. And so true!! -
bootblack987 — 12 years ago(August 26, 2013 01:25 PM)
I was under the impression that after the night she spent in the rain and got sick , her immune system became very weak and left her in a general state of poor health.
Yes, maybe she suffered from hypothermia or something similar?