Wuthering Heights is a classic novel by Emily Brontë that tells the story of the tumultuous relationship between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff. The novel is set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries on the Yorkshire moors in England, and it explores themes of love, revenge, and social class.
The novel begins with Mr. Lockwood, a tenant at Thrushcross Grange, visiting his neighbor Mr. Heathcliff at Wuthering Heights. Mr. Lockwood is immediately drawn into the dark and complex history of the estate and its inhabitants. He learns that Heathcliff was orphaned as a child and taken in by Mr. Earnshaw, the owner of Wuthering Heights. Mr. Earnshaw's daughter, Catherine, and Heathcliff become close friends and eventually fall in love. However, Catherine's desire for a higher social status leads her to marry Edgar Linton, a wealthy and refined young man from Thrushcross Grange.
Heathcliff is heartbroken and leaves Wuthering Heights, only to return years later as a wealthy and successful man. Upon his return, he seeks revenge on those who have wronged him, including Catherine and Edgar. His actions have devastating consequences for the characters, as he manipulates and destroys relationships in his quest for vengeance.
Throughout the novel, Brontë explores the destructive power of love and the ways in which social class can shape one's choices and opportunities. The characters of Catherine and Heathcliff are deeply flawed, but their intense and passionate love for each other ultimately leads to their downfall. The novel also touches on themes of isolation and the damaging effects of living in a society that values wealth and status above all else.
In conclusion, Wuthering Heights is a haunting and thought-provoking novel that delves into the complexities of love, revenge, and social class. Its themes and characters continue to resonate with readers today, making it a timeless classic of literature.
Wuthering Heights Plot Summary
Wuthering Heights is the tragic story of Heathcliff, an orphaned boy who becomes obsessed with Catherine Earnshaw and her wealthy guardian. Nelly tells him that she spent her childhood in Wuthering Heights together with Hindley and Catherine Earnshaw. Wuthering Heights Heathcliff and Catherine spy on Edgar Linton and his sister Isabella, children who live nearby at Thrushcross Grange. Compared to her, Heathcliff looks as dirty as a street boy. At first, Emily Bronte published her first novel with the nick name Elis Belis and after her death, her sister, Charlotte Bronte, rebroadcast it with her real name. Retrieved 13 August 2020— via Internet Archive. Lockwood goes back to London, but passes through the region six months later.
Our first encounter with Heathcliff shows him to be a nasty bully. He sees Nelly again, who is now the housekeeper at Wuthering Heights. In chapter 5 we find out that Mr. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Linton is pursuing Catherine only because Heathcliff is forcing him to; Heathcliff hopes that if Catherine marries Linton, his legal claim upon Thrushcross Grange—and his revenge upon Edgar Linton—will be complete. Earnshaw loves Heathcliff despite the tension between the orphan and his biological son Hindley. Wuthering Heights is a story of love and revenge, and tells the tale of two families, the Earnshaws and the Lintons.
Prose Works of Sir Walter Scott. Earnshaw and his wife, Catherine falls powerfully in love with Heathcliff, the orphan Mr. The Yellow Wallpaper: Characters This article by Custom-Writing. Lockwood has a bad introduction to Wuthering Heights when the dogs attack him. This has not been accomplished with ease, but with an ill-mannered contempt for the decencies of language, and in a style which might resemble that of a Yorkshire farmer who should have endeavored to eradicate his provincialism by taking lessons of a London footman.
Heathcliff still ends up throwing applesauce at Edgar and is banished to the attic. A bit later, we find out that Edgar chooses to bury his wife in the churchyard with the view of the moors she adored. The novel was written by Emily Bronte, who was born in 1818 and died in 1848, shortly after Wuthering Heights was published. She agrees to take a letter to Catherine, hoping this would cheer her up. Earnshaw soon dies, leaving Heathcliff with only Catherine who likes him.
She could only get some news from their housekeeper Zillah. Meanwhile, Cathy slowly falls into a depression. Heathcliff takes the best and when his falls lame , takes Hindley's. Retrieved 10 October 2017. Edgar brings Linton home, and he wants the boy to stay at Thrushcross Grange. He doesn't stop manipulating, however, and is soon trying to convince his son Linton to marry Cathy, even holding her hostage while her father grows more and more sick. The servant assumes that he is stealing it and sends the hounds after Lockwood.
Suspended Judgment: Essays on Books and Sensations. Frances dies not long after the birth of her son. That night he was found dead in his bed. Wuthering Heights: Chapters 1-5 In 1801, Mr. This flashback tells the tale between Heathcliff and Catherine. This is mirrored in the progeny with Catherine Linton, Linton Heathcliff, and Hareton Earnshaw, respectively, with Heathcliff as the oppressor in this case. As a consequence, Catherine begins a secret correspondence with her cousin, and they send each other love letters.
She also discovers that she is pregnant. Catherine herself dies a few hours later, Heathcliff is both upset and angry, cursing her spirit. Heathcliff is upset to see Lockwood in the room and when he hears about the ghost he starts crying and begging for the ghost to reappear. He stays at Wuthering Heights, gambling with Hindley, and frequently visits Thrushcross Grange. Catherine keeps seeing Heathcliff despite her husband. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Crouse Heathcliff and Catherine, which establishes their role in the story as the chief instigators of confinement.
. He returns to Thrushcross and talks about his encounter with Nelly Ellen Dean , a long-serving maid at the Thrushcross. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath--a source of little visible delight, but necessary. In the morning, Lockwood returns home escorted by Heathcliff and prefers to stay alone in his room. The scope and drift of its imagination, its passionate exploration of a fatal yet regenerative love affair, and its brilliant manipulation of time and space put it in a league of its own. Back to the Present This brings us back to the point where the book began. Les Hauts de Hurle-Vent.
Emily Brontë "Wuthering Heights" Summary and Plot Overview 🤓
London: Continuum, 2008, p. It shows how the two main characters, Heathcliff and Catherine, were brought together and had this strong connection between them, but the division of society separated them from happiness. Not being able to resist his power, Nelly gives up and agrees to pass the letter from Heathcliff to Catherine. Heathcliff demands a secret meeting with Catherine and Nelly refuses till she is threatened by him. We have been taken and carried through a new region, a melancholy waste, with here and there patches of beauty; have been brought in contact with fierce passions, with extremes of love and hate, and with sorrow that none but those who have suffered can understand.