Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
In the late winter months of 1801, a man named Lockwood rents a manor house called Thrushcross
Grange in the
isolated moor country of England. Here, he meets his dour landlord, Heathcliff, a wealthy man who lives
in the
ancient manor of Wuthering Heights, four miles away from the Grange. In this wild, stormy countryside,
Lockwood
asks his housekeeper, Nelly Dean, to tell him the story of Heathcliff and the strange denizens of
Wuthering
Heights. Nelly consents, and Lockwood writes down his recollections of her tale in his diary; these
written
recollections form the main part of Wuthering Heights.
Nelly remembers her childhood. As a young girl, she works as a servant at Wuthering Heights for the
owner of the
manor, Mr. Earnshaw, and his family. One day, Mr. Earnshaw goes to Liverpool and returns home with an
orphan boy
whom he will raise with his own children. At first, the Earnshaw children—a boy named Hindley and his
younger
sister Catherine—detest the dark-skinned Heathcliff. But Catherine quickly comes to love him, and the
two soon
grow inseparable, spending their days playing on the moors. After his wife’s death, Mr. Earnshaw grows
to prefer
Heathcliff to his own son, and when Hindley continues his cruelty to Heathcliff, Mr. Earnshaw sends
Hindley away
to college, keeping Heathcliff nearby.
Three years later, Mr. Earnshaw dies, and Hindley inherits Wuthering Heights. He returns with a
wife, Frances,
and immediately seeks revenge on Heathcliff. Once an orphan, later a pampered and favored son,
Heathcliff now
finds himself treated as a common laborer, forced to work in the fields. Heathcliff continues his close
relationship with Catherine, however. One night they wander to Thrushcross Grange, hoping to tease Edgar
and
Isabella Linton, the cowardly, snobbish children who live there. Catherine is bitten by a dog and is
forced to
stay at the Grange to recuperate for five weeks, during which time Mrs. Linton works to make her a
proper young
lady. By the time Catherine returns, she has become infatuated with Edgar, and her relationship with
Heathcliff
grows more complicated.
When Frances dies after giving birth to a baby boy named Hareton, Hindley descends into the depths
of
alcoholism, and behaves even more cruelly and abusively toward Heathcliff. Eventually, Catherine’s
desire for
social advancement prompts her to become engaged to Edgar Linton, despite her overpowering love for
Heathcliff.
Heathcliff runs away from Wuthering Heights, staying away for three years, and returning shortly after
Catherine
and Edgar’s marriage.
When Heathcliff returns, he immediately sets about seeking revenge on all who have wronged him.
Having come into
a vast and mysterious wealth, he deviously lends money to the drunken Hindley, knowing that Hindley will
increase his debts and fall into deeper despondency. When Hindley dies, Heathcliff inherits the manor.
He also
places himself in line to inherit Thrushcross Grange by marrying Isabella Linton, whom he treats very
cruelly.
Catherine becomes ill, gives birth to a daughter, and dies. Heathcliff begs her spirit to remain on
Earth—she
may take whatever form she will, she may haunt him, drive him mad—just as long as she does not leave him
alone.
Shortly thereafter, Isabella flees to London and gives birth to Heathcliff’s son, named Linton after her
family.
She keeps the boy with her there.
Thirteen years pass, during which Nelly Dean serves as Catherine’s daughter’s nursemaid at
Thrushcross Grange.
Young Cathy is beautiful and headstrong like her mother, but her temperament is modified by her father’s
gentler
influence. Cathy grows up at the Grange with no knowledge of Wuthering Heights; one day, however,
wandering
through the moors, she discovers the manor, meets Hareton, and plays together with him. Soon afterwards,
Isabella dies, and Linton comes to live with Heathcliff. Heathcliff treats his sickly, whining son even
more
cruelly than he treated the boy’s mother.
Three years later, Cathy meets Heathcliff on the moors, and makes a visit to Wuthering Heights to
meet Linton.
She and Linton begin a secret romance conducted entirely through letters. When Nelly destroys Cathy's
collection
of letters, the girl begins sneaking out at night to spend time with her frail young lover, who asks her
to come
back and nurse him back to health. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Linton is pursuing Cathy
only
because Heathcliff is forcing him to; Heathcliff hopes that if Cathy marries Linton, his legal claim
upon
Thrushcross Grange—and his revenge upon Edgar Linton—will be complete.
One day, as Edgar Linton grows ill and nears death, Heathcliff lures Nelly and Cathy back to
Wuthering Heights,
and holds them prisoner until Cathy marries Linton. Soon after the marriage, Edgar dies, and his death
is
quickly followed by the death of the sickly Linton. Heathcliff now controls both Wuthering Heights and
Thrushcross Grange. He forces Cathy to live at Wuthering Heights and act as a common servant, while he
rents
Thrushcross Grange to Lockwood.
Nelly’s story ends as she reaches the present. Lockwood, appalled, ends his tenancy at Thrushcross
Grange and
returns to London. However, six months later, he pays a visit to Nelly, and learns of further
developments in
the story. Although Cathy originally mocked Hareton’s ignorance and illiteracy (in an act of
retribution,
Heathcliff ended Hareton’s education after Hindley died), Cathy grows to love Hareton as they live
together at
Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff becomes more and more obsessed with the memory of the elder Catherine, to
the
extent that he begins speaking to her ghost. Everything he sees reminds him of her. Shortly after a
night spent
walking on the moors, Heathcliff dies. Hareton and Cathy inherit Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross
Grange, and
they plan to be married on the next New Year’s Day. After hearing the end of the story, Lockwood goes to
visit
the graves of Catherine and Heathcliff.
this text is invissible
