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Gail Wynand
Catherine Halsey is Peter Keating’s longtime girlfriend. Though she is not as good-looking or popular as the girls he is used to dating, Keating feels a connection with her that is deep and genuine. Catherine, too, loves Keating, and accepts him completely. She is not troubled by his posturing and his insecurities, and is never upset with him even when he disappears on her for months at a time. Catherine is very gullible and falls under the sway of her uncle, Ellsworth Toohey, and his belief in altruism and selflessness. She begins helping Toohey in his work and professes great admiration for him. Yet, she has moments when she clearly sees that Toohey’s vision is a monstrous one, and at one such time, she goes running to Keating to ask him to marry her so they can both escape Toohey’s vision. Later in the book, when she and Keating make plans to go away and get married, she triumphantly tells Toohey that she is not afraid of him. Toohey always discourages their relationship because he says that romantic love is too selfish. What’s more, he knows that happy people cannot be ruled, so it’s in his own best interest to discourage them. Most of the time, however, Catherine listens to Toohey and tries to live a life of selflessness. She throws herself into her job as a social worker, and tells Toohey that despite living a selfless life, she is becoming bitter and angry. Toohey explains this away as growing pains. Years later, Keating runs into Catherine in the street and discovers that she harbors no resentment towards him for abandoning her and marrying Dominique. Catherine doesn’t behave like she and Keating ever had a personal connection, and Keating realizes that now, “she has no self.” While Keating’s character demonstrates a loss of self through living through other people, Catherine’s character shows the reader that continuous self-denial also results in the loss of one’s self.
Catherine Halsey Quotes in The Fountainhead
The The Fountainhead quotes below are all either spoken by Catherine Halsey or refer to Catherine Halsey. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 1: Chapter 9
Quotes
Then came the voice.
“My friends,” it said, simply and solemnly. “My brothers,” it added softly, involuntarily, both full of emotion and smiling apologetically at the emotion. […]
It was not a voice, it was a miracle. It unrolled as a velvet banner. […] It was the voice of a giant.
Keating stood, his mouth open. He did not hear what the voice was saying. He heard the beauty of the sounds without meaning. He felt no need to know the meaning; he could accept anything, he would be led blindly anywhere. […]
Keating looked at Catherine. There was no Catherine; there was only […] a nameless thing in which she was being swallowed.
“Let’s get out of here,” he whispered. His voice was savage. He was afraid.
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Part 2: Chapter 13
Quotes
“Don’t you see what it is that I must understand? Why is it that I set out honestly to do what I thought was right and it’s making me rotten? I think it’s probably because I’m vicious by nature and incapable of leading a good life. That seems to be the only explanation. But…but sometimes I think it doesn’t make sense that a human being is completely sincere in good will and yet the good is not for him to achieve. I can’t be as rotten as that. But…but I’ve given up everything, I have no selfish desire left. I have nothing of my own—and I’m miserable. And so are the other women like me. And I don’t know a single selfless person in the world who’s happy—except you.”
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Get the entire The Fountainhead LitChart as a printable PDF.
Catherine Halsey Quotes in The Fountainhead
The The Fountainhead quotes below are all either spoken by Catherine Halsey or refer to Catherine Halsey. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 1: Chapter 9
Quotes
Then came the voice.
“My friends,” it said, simply and solemnly. “My brothers,” it added softly, involuntarily, both full of emotion and smiling apologetically at the emotion. […]
It was not a voice, it was a miracle. It unrolled as a velvet banner. […] It was the voice of a giant.
Keating stood, his mouth open. He did not hear what the voice was saying. He heard the beauty of the sounds without meaning. He felt no need to know the meaning; he could accept anything, he would be led blindly anywhere. […]
Keating looked at Catherine. There was no Catherine; there was only […] a nameless thing in which she was being swallowed.
“Let’s get out of here,” he whispered. His voice was savage. He was afraid.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2: Chapter 13
Quotes
“Don’t you see what it is that I must understand? Why is it that I set out honestly to do what I thought was right and it’s making me rotten? I think it’s probably because I’m vicious by nature and incapable of leading a good life. That seems to be the only explanation. But…but sometimes I think it doesn’t make sense that a human being is completely sincere in good will and yet the good is not for him to achieve. I can’t be as rotten as that. But…but I’ve given up everything, I have no selfish desire left. I have nothing of my own—and I’m miserable. And so are the other women like me. And I don’t know a single selfless person in the world who’s happy—except you.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
