An ill-fated, consuming love begun in childhood friendship; a tortured hero and the love who haunts him all his life: Byronic scholar Atara Stein described Catherine and Heathcliff as "larger than life; their love cannot endure in a real world where... social considerations of necessity must preempt romantic love." Such could also be said of Anakin and Padmé. In both stories, social considerations block their happiness together, the impacts of their struggle felt all around them. Both heroines die halfway through the main tale, just after childbirth - though in each case her loss is felt through the remainder of the tale, especially through the impact on her love. Repeated allusions are made in the text to Heathcliff and Catherine believing they are two halves of one being; several scenes in Revenge of the Sith imply a similar connection between Anakin and Padmé.

Though they love each other, Catherine believes it impossible for her and Heathcliff to marry, and that he must not know how she feels about him. Heathcliff, having been cast so low by her brother, is well below her social station and they would live in impoverished misery for the rest of their days. Heathcliff overhears this declaration and angrily leaves Wuthering Heights, not hearing the rest of Catherine's words: that she and Heathcliff are soulmates, that their souls are made of the same thing (a sentiment that Heathcliff later unwittingly echoes). Catherine spends hours out in the rain calling fruitlessly for Heathcliff's return, and catches ill. Edgar Linton, her childhood suitor and whom Heathcliff has long despised, nurses her back to health and eventually marries her.

After several years Heathcliff suddenly returns, having come across an unknown source of wealth and prestige, and bent on revenge against all who tormented him. He loans money to Catherine's drunken brother, ensuring he remains eternally in debt to Heathcliff. He seduces Edgar's adoring younger sister into marriage and fathers a child with her to secure the Lintons' estate once Edgar dies, but treats her and the boy cruelly. The stress of Heathcliff's presence, his manipulations, and increasing unhappiness in her own marriage steadily push Catherine into madness, and her health declines. On her deathbed, she and Heathcliff passionately declare the depths of their feelings for one another. Catherine believes Heathcliff (and Edgar) responsible for her dying - essentially having broken her heart and spirit, though she cannot bear the thought of dying while Heathcliff lives. He counters that it is she who has broken his heart, and her own as well.

Catherine dies later that night, having slipped into a coma shortly after giving birth to hers and Edgar's daughter (also named Catherine, or Cathy). Heathcliff is angered by the seeming peace with which Catherine died, and declares that she will not rest as long as he lives. He begs her to haunt him, because he cannot live without his "soul." As with Anakin, the death of his love seals his lifelong rage. Heathcliff eventually seizes control of Wuthering Heights and the Lintons' estate and becomes even more bitter and vengeful to its inhabitants, including Cathy. The one person who he seems to share some affinity for is Catherine's nephew Hareton, who strongly resembles her, and who Heathcliff raises up almost like a - however dysfunctional - son.