Cathy and Isabella - on learning about Isabella's feelings for Heathcliff Cathy provokes Isabella
"Ah! There's the tigress." - Isabella does not entirely conform to standards of feminity, much like Catherine when she was younger - is trying to make Isabella seem unappealing through the expectations of a patriarchal society.
"How foolish to show your tallons to him." - women usually had to uphold a standard of femininity which Isabella does not do
"I love him more than you ever loved Edgar, and he might love me, if you would let him!"
Isabella is embracing the romantic period and stresses strong emotion whilst going against social conventions - she is marrying below her class without worrying of it "degrading" her.
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COMPETITION
Mariam and Laila: Mariam feels Laila is intruding on her and Rashee'ds marriage no matter how unpleasent it is
Arguing about the lost spoon
"I have kept that spoon in this drawer since you were ******** your diapers."
The spoon is symbolic of Mariam's control in the setting, and her seniority in their marriage
The spoon is also symbolic of Mariam being displaced in her marriage by Laila
Belittling - Mariam is old enough to be Laila's mother which is perhaps why the maternal aspect of their relationship thrives later on
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ABSENT MOTHERS
Mariam and Nana:
emotionally abused and neglected
"this is the reward for everything I have endured. An heriloom-breaking, clumsy little harami."
Nana does not feel maternal attachment to Mariam - illegitimate child emotionally and socially
Symbol of broken heirloom - family and love ends with Mariam, foreshadows Mariam's inability to have children
Laila and Fariba
"She would never leave a mark on Mammy's heart the way her brothers had, because Mammy's heart was like a pallid beach where Laila's footprints would forever wash away beneath the waves of sorrow."
SIMILE
All of Fariba's love is invested in her sons, so Laila experiences the absence of a mother's love
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ABSENT MOTHERS
Cathy and Catherine
Nelly describes her as "a feeble orphan"
"A moaning doll of a child."
Edgar does not call Cathy 'Catherine' because it is a reminder of her mother whom he lost - "it formed to him a distinction from the mother"
Inability for her father to speak of Catherine draws the boundary between Cathy and Catherine even deeper for she is unable to learn about her
Bronte has done this due to her own absent mother who died
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TRANSGRESSION OF BOUNDARIES
Laila and Mariam run away
"I don't think I could do this alone."
Reflects how under the Mujahadeen women are weak when "alone" but powerful when together
Reflects why Rasheed is threatened by the two and separates them "nailing boards across the window"
The window as a symbol of hope - women need other women to survive
Laila and Mariam as a family
"two new flowers had unexpectedly sprouted in her life" that before she would have "uprooted" for hope was a "treacherous illusion"
Mariam has transgressed the boundary of an illegitimate child with no claim to love and family, to an adopted mother and grandmother of Laila and Aziza
Natural imagery - flowers are a symbol of hope throughout the novel, shows how Mariam no longer believes hope is unreliable or a false belief
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TRANSGRESSION OF BOUNDARIES
Nelly and Cathy
Moors is a physical boundary between The Heights and The Grange which mirrors the metaphorical boundary of a 'free' society and a patriarchal society
"It is something to see you so near to my house, Nelly."
satrical and surprised tone
passing between the two buildings is a rare occurence
Cathy, like Laila, cannot transgress a boundary alone due to authoritarian control of Edgar, a respected magistrate who upholds a patriarchal wall around Cathy
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