 Hello and welcome to our video summarizing all you need to know about the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. My name is Bani and in this video we will look at Wuthering Heights, specifically beginning with some context related to the author Emily Brontë as well as ideas at the time this novel was written that you will need to be aware of. We will then look into the novel's plot in detail and examine the necessary information you will need to know about it before looking at each character in the novel in depth, key themes related to this novel as well as important symbols. This video is really useful especially if you are studying Wuthering Heights as part of your English coursework or exams as we will go into the details you need to know to get top marks. So let's get started. Starting with the plot summary, Mr Lockwood, an out-of-towner renting an estate called Thrush Cross Grunge, twice visits his landlord Mr Heathcliff who lives at a nearby manor called Wuthering Heights. During the first visit Heathcliff is gruff but compelling. During the second Lockwood meets other mysterious residents of Wuthering Heights, is attacked by dogs when he tries to leave and endures a costly visitation overnight. Lockwood asks the housekeeper at the Grunge, Ellen Dean also known as Nelly, to tell him about Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights. She recounts a complicated story of two families, the Earnshaws and the Lintons. Mr Earnshaw, a gentleman owns Wuthering Heights. He has two children, Hindley and Catherine, and adopts a third, Heathcliff. Hindley is jealous of Heathcliff because both his father and his sister are very fond of the youngster. To avoid strife, Mr Earnshaw sends Hindley away to college, during which time Catherine and Heathcliff become extremely close. Mr Earnshaw dies and Hindley, with a new wife, returns to claim Wuthering Heights. Still bitter, Hindley forces Heathcliff to give up his education and treats him like a servant. Hindley's wife dies soon after giving birth to a baby boy, Herton, however. Hindley descends into alcoholism, though he continues to abuse and mistreat Heathcliff. Meanwhile, Heathcliff and Catherine grow interested in the Lintons, a well-to-do family who live at Thrush Cross Grunge. The Lintons have two children, Edgar and Isabella, who seem very cultured and refined, to the somewhat wild inhabitants of Wuthering Heights. After suffering an injury while spying on the Lintons, Catherine Earnshaw spends five weeks with the Lintons, becoming close to Edgar. She finds Edgar's wealth and blonde beauty in dicing. Yet her feelings for Heathcliff are far more passionate. Even so, Catherine tells Nellie that she can't marry Heathcliff because of how Hindley has degraded him. Heathcliff overhears Catherine and flees Wuthering Heights that night. In Heathcliff's absence, a devastated Catherine marries Edgar Linton and moves to Thrush Cross Grunge. All is well until Heathcliff returns, now rich and dignified, but just as wild and ferocious. Catherine is thrilled to see Heathcliff again. Edgar doesn't share her excitement. He tries to keep them apart, but Catherine continues to see Heathcliff despite her husband's disapproval. Heathcliff, meanwhile, moves into Wuthering Heights. Hindley, who has become a gambler, welcomes Heathcliff into his home because he lost after Heathcliff's money. Soon after, Catherine reveals to Heathcliff that Isabella has a crush on him. Not long after that, she observes the two of them embracing. The developing romance leads to a conflict between Edgar and Heathcliff, after which Edgar demands that Catherine choose between the two of them. Catherine responds by locking herself into her room and refusing to eat for three days. On the third day, she is frenzied and delusional and believes herself near death. That same night, Heathcliff elopes with Isabella. Edgar nurses Catherine for two months. Her health improved somewhat, but not completely. She also discovers that she is pregnant. At Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff treats Isabella terribly from the moment after their wedding. Edgar, however, refuses to have any contact with Isabella and fears that Heathcliff wed Isabella solely as a way to try to take Thrushcross Grunge from the Lintens. Two months after the wedding, Heathcliff, concerned about Catherine's health, pays a surprise visit to Thrushcross Grunge while Edgar is away. In a tearful reunion, Heathcliff and Catherine profess their continuing and eternal love for each other, but Edgar soon returns and Catherine collapses. That night, Catherine gives birth to a girl, Kathy, and dies a few hours later. Catherine is buried in a spot overlooking the moors where she used to play with Heathcliff as a child. Two days later, Isabella escapes from Wuthering Heights and goes to town outside of London where she gives birth to Heathcliff's son, Linton. Hindley dies six months later, so deeply in debt to Heathcliff that Heathcliff becomes the owner of Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff then places Herton into the same kind of servitude into which Henley once placed him. Twelve years pass, Kathy grows into a beautiful young woman while Herton grows into rough youths. Isabella dies and Edgar brings Linton back to Thrushcross Grunge, but Heathcliff insists that Linton come to live with him at Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff then carefully and deliberately cultivates a friendship between the weak and spineless Linton and the strong-willed Kathy. Though Edgar at first forbids Kathy from seeing Linton at all, as his own health fails, he relents and allows her to meet with Linton at Thrushcross Grunge or on the moors. One day, while meeting with Linton on the moors, Heathcliff forces Kathy and Nelly to return with him and Linton to Wuthering Heights. He confines Kathy and Nelly in the house until Kathy marries Linton, which he ultimately does. Kathy escapes from Wuthering Heights long enough to be with her father as he dies, but is soon taken back to Wuthering Heights by Heathcliff. Edgar is buried next to Catherine. Linton dies soon after that and Heathcliff, because of careful legal maneuverings, now owns both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grunge. Kathy reluctantly lives with Heathcliff and Herton, whom she constantly mocks for his illiteracy at Wuthering Heights. This brings the story up to the present, when Lockwood has rented Thrushcross Grunge. Lockwood goes back to London, but passes through the region six months later. Much to everyone's surprise, Kathy and Herton have fallen in love. Kathy has realised Herton's nobility and kindness beneath his lack of education. Heathcliff, who sees a strong resemblance in both Herton and Kathy to Catherine, no longer feels the need for revenge. He dies and is buried beside Catherine, on the spot opposite where Edgar is buried. Kathy and Herton, at last free of interfering adults, plan to marry and move to Thrushcross Grunge. Moving on to the summary of chapters, Chapter 1 It is 1801, Mr. Lockwood writes in his diary that wanting solitude after unintentionally hurting a woman he admired because he dislikes showing of emotion, he has rented a house called Thrushcross Grunge in the Yorkshire countryside. Soon after arriving, he visits his landlord, Mr. Heathcliff, whom he describes as a gruff yet noble dark-skinned gypsy. Heathcliff lives in a manor called Wuthering Heights, which is named after the harsh winds that blow across the nearby moors. The house is strong and sturdy and has grotesque carvings around the front door. During this visit, Heathcliff is amused when Lockwood is nearly attacked after Heathcliff leaves him alone with a bunch of savage dogs. Yet, Lockwood finds Heathcliff compelling and uninvited, announces that he will return soon. Chapter 2 Lockwood returns to Wuthering Heights the next day. As he arrives, it begins to snow. No one answers his knock at the door and an old servant with a heavy Yorkshire accent named Joseph tells him that Heathcliff is away. Eventually, a rough young man lets Lockwood in and brings him to a sitting room. In the room also is a beautiful but rather rude and hotty young woman. Soon after Heathcliff arrives, he scolds Lockwood for coming and begrudgingly invites him to dinner. During the meal, Lockwood learns that the young woman whom he assumed was Heathcliff's wife was the widow of Heathcliff's son and the rough young man whom Lockwood thought was Heathcliff's son is Heathcliff's nephew. The meal is awkward at one point the young woman threatens to use witchcraft on Joseph the servant. The snow also turns to a blizzard and while discussing how Lockwood will get home, the woman tells Heathcliff that if he lets Lockwood leave alone, she hopes Lockwood's ghost will haunt him. Chapter 3 Zillach brings Lockwood to a room that Heathcliff usually doesn't allow anyone to stay in. Left alone, Lockwood notices three names scratched into the paint of the bed. Catherine Earnshaw, Catherine Heathcliff and Catherine Linton. Lockwood also finds a 25-year-old diary written by Catherine Earnshaw. He reads an entry from a time just after her father died in which her older brother Hindley makes Catherine and Heathcliff listen to Joseph's dull sermons. From the entry, it's clear that Hindley hated Heathcliff, but that Catherine and Heathcliff were close. That night Lockwood has a nightmare in which he breaks a window to get some air and a child grabs his hand. She says her name is Catherine Linton and begs to enter, claiming she's been trying to get in for 20 years. Lockwood fights her and frees himself. She continues to beg and cries out. His yell carries her to the real world. Heathcliff hears it and comes running. He's upset to find Lockwood in the room, while Lockwood's upset over the ghost. Lockwood describes his nightmare to Heathcliff, who becomes livid when Lockwood says the dream wave deserves to be punished. Heathcliff sobbing opens the window and shuts for Catherine to come in. The next morning, Heathcliff escorts Lockwood home. The servants of Thrushcross Grunge are overjoyed to see Lockwood. They feared he'd died in the storm, but Lockwood in no mood for company locks himself in the study. Chapter 4 Back at Thrushcross Grunge, Lockwood starts feeling lonely and asks his housekeeper, Nellie Dean, to tell him about Heathcliff and Woodring Heights. Nellie Dean says she grew up at Woodring Heights with Hindley and Catherine Earnshaw and tells Lockwood that Heathcliff has a dead son and is rich enough to live in a house grander than Woodring Heights. She also explains that the young woman he met at Woodring Heights is named Cathy and is the daughter of Catherine Earnshaw and the previous tenant of Thrushcross Grunge, Edgar Linton. Additionally, she says that Herton is the last of the Earnshaw's, a very old family. The point of view shifts from Lockwood to Nellie as she tells his story. Mr. Earnshaw, the former master of Woodring Heights, was a strict but kind man. When Nellie was little, he returned from a business trip to Liverpool with Heathcliff, an orphan boy he'd found on the street. Earnshaw's daughter, Catherine, took to her foster brother almost immediately, but Earnshaw's son, Hindley, hated him. Hindley was jealous of his father's affection for Heathcliff and expressed his jealousy by bullying him. Heathcliff responded with silence. Only Mrs. Earnshaw, Earnshaw's wife, took Hindley's side against Heathcliff, but she died just two years after Heathcliff arrived. Chapter 5 Time passes. Mr. Earnshaw's health deteriorates and he becomes even less accepting of Hindley's behaviour toward Heathcliff. He sends Hindley away to college, allowing Catherine and Heathcliff to grow together. As Mr. Earnshaw nears death, he becomes interested in Joseph's harsh and rigid religious beliefs. Meanwhile, to her father's dismay, Catherine is constantly going on adventures with Heathcliff and getting into trouble. Though she teases her father about this, she loves him deeply and is the one holding him when he dies. On the stormy night of Mr. Earnshaw's death, Catherine and Heathcliff console each other. They talk of heaven, imagining it as a beautiful place. Chapter 6 Hindley returns from his father's funeral. He brings with him his somewhat silly and ineffectual wife, Frances. As his father's heir, Hindley is now master of Wuthering Heights and makes immediate changes, such as moving the servants to the back quarters. He also forces Heathcliff to give up his education and instead to work in the fields. Yet for the most part, Hindley ignores both Heathcliff and Catherine who escape the domineering brother by escaping to go to play on the moors. One day Heathcliff and Catherine don't return from one of their adventures and Hindley orders that they be locked out. Nellie though waits up for them and she is there when Heathcliff comes back alone. He tells Nellie that he and Catherine had been at Thrushcross Grunge, spying on Edgar and Isabella Linton. Heathcliff is impressed by their house and he thought the Linton children were idiots. When he and Catherine laughed aloud at them, the Lintons realised someone was outside. As Heathcliff and Catherine try to escape, the Lintons dog, Skalka, got them and bit Catherine's foot. When the Lintons realised that Catherine is from Wuthering Heights, they bring her inside and insist that Catherine stay with them while she heals. But they are shocked at Heathcliff's rough clothes and language and refuse to let him stay with Catherine. Before leaving, Heathcliff spies on them. He sees how the Lintons fuss over Catherine and how much she likes the attention. The next day Mr. Linton goes to Wuthering Heights and berates Hindley for letting Catherine run wild. Ashamed, Hindley blames Heathcliff and says that Heathcliff may no longer see or talk to Catherine. Catherine stays at Thrushcross Grounds for five weeks. Mrs. Linton spends the time teaching her how to be a proper young lady. Catherine returns around Christmas wearing a beautiful dress. Hindley allows Heathcliff to greet her like the other servants. Catherine kisses Heathcliff hello but teases that he is dirty compared to Edgar. Heathcliff walks out, growling that he will be as dirty as he likes. Edgar and Isabella come to Wuthering Heights for Christmas. Heathcliff allows Nally to make him presentable but it turns out that Mrs. Linton allowed her children to come only on the condition that they be kept away from Heathcliff. Hindley sees Heathcliff to the kitchen. Before he can go, Edgar makes a disparaging comment about Heathcliff's appearance. And Heathcliff throws apple sauce in Edgar's face. Hindley locks Heathcliff in the attic. Catherine, though, thinks that both Edgar and Hindley mistreated Heathcliff and after dinner she slips away from the others to visit him. Nally also takes pity on Heathcliff and brings him down to the kitchen for some food. While eating, Heathcliff tells Nally that he is going to get revenge against Edgar. Nally then breaks into her story to say that it is late and she must sleep. Lockwood insists that she continue the story right then. Chapter 8 Nally continues her story. The following summer, Francis gave birth to a son, head in Earnshaw. But Francis dies just a week later. Childbirth had aggravated a case of consumption that she had long suffered from. Hindley is devastated. He hands the baby over to Nally to take care of. He turns to alcohol for comfort and takes out his grief on the servants, Catherine and especially Heathcliff. For his part, Heathcliff delights in Hindley's decline. Catherine remains in touch with the Lintons. When she is with them, she acts like a proper lady. But when with Heathcliff, she acts just as she used to. One day when Hindley is out, Heathcliff doesn't go to the fields and instead plans to spend the day with Catherine. But Catherine admits that she is invited Edgar and Isabella to come visit. Heathcliff comments on how much time Catherine has been spending with the Lintons. She retorts that it is because he, Heathcliff, is dumb and dull. Edgar arrives just then, alone. Heathcliff storms out. Catherine tells Nally to leave the room since she wants to be alone with Edgar. Nally refuses. Hindley had told her to shuffle on Catherine. Furious, Catherine slaps and pinches Nally and even shakes the crying hair turn. Edgar tries to step in but Catherine boxes his ears. Shocked and defeated by Catherine's wild behaviour, Edgar rushes from the house. But as he leaves, he catches a glimpse of Catherine and captured by her beauty, he returns. Chapter 9 That night Hindley grabs her turn from Nally in a rage but then accidentally drops the baby over the banister. Luckily Heathcliff is at the bottom of the steps to catch her turn without harm. Later Catherine goes to Nally in the kitchen. When Heathcliff listens, she tells Nally that she has accepted Edgar's proposal of marriage. Yet isn't sure she should have. Catherine describes a dream in which she was in heaven but didn't feel at home. When angels returned her to Wuthering Heights, she was relieved. She equates marrying Edgar to such a heaven. Yet she also says that she cannot marry Heathcliff because Hindley has so degraded Heathcliff that marrying him would be like degrading herself. Furious and ashamed, Heathcliff leaves and therefore doesn't hear Catherine say that. Though she must marry Edgar, she loves Heathcliff more than anything and that nothing could interfere their relationship. Not even marrying Edgar because she and Heathcliff are essentially the same person. That night, in a storm, Heathcliff runs away from Wuthering Heights. Catherine discovers his absence and is strought, such as for him, all night in the rain, catching a fever in the process. The Lintins nurse Catherine through the fever at Thrushcross Grunge but Mr. and Mrs. Lintin themselves come down with the sickness and die. Three years later, Heathcliff has still not returned and Edgar and Catherine get married. Nally leaves Hairton with Hindley and Joseph at Wuthering Heights and moves to Thrushcross Grunge. Lockwood falls ill for four weeks. Heathcliff wizards him once during this time after which Lockwood asks Nally to tell him how Heathcliff made his fortune. Nally doesn't know how Heathcliff made his money but continues with his story. For about six months after Catherine's wedding, everything is peaceful at Thrushcross Grunge, largely because the Lintins do whatever the imperious Catherine wants. Then one evening, Heathcliff appears at the Grunge. Catherine is almost frantic with excitement. Edgar, however, is less pleased. He suggests they receive Heathcliff in the kitchen but Catherine insists that they bring him into the parlour. As Heathcliff enters the parlour, Nally notes that he looks imposing, mature and dignified in contrast to his youthful roughness. Yet he still retains a kind of ferocity in his eyes. As Edgar, Heathcliff and Catherine talk, Heathcliff says that he returned hoping only to catch a glimpse of Catherine, exact revenge on Hindley and then kill himself. But Catherine's joy at seeing him has changed his mind. Edgar, uncomfortable, interrupts to say that if they wait any longer, the tea will get cold. As he leaves, Heathcliff shocks Nally when he tells her that he is staying at Wuthering Heights at Hindley's invitation. That night, Catherine awakens Nally to tell her that she couldn't sleep from excitement. She says that she had praised Heathcliff to Edgar but that Edgar had claimed to feel sick and even cried. Nally advises Catherine to hide her feelings for Heathcliff and treasure her husband's love but Catherine dismisses Edgar and Isabella as spoiled children. Nally comments that it's actually the Lintons who humour Catherine. Catherine also tells Nally how Heathcliff wound up staying at Wuthering Heights. He'd gone to Wuthering Heights to find Nally and get information from her about Catherine but instead he found Hindley in the middle of a card game. During the game it was clear Heathcliff had money so Hindley invited him to stay. Heathcliff insisted on paying for the lodging. In the following days, Catherine and Isabella often visit the Heights and Heathcliff regularly comes to the grunge. Isabella soon develops a crush on Heathcliff When she confesses it to Catherine her assistant law warns her that Heathcliff is a friend whom she should stay away from. Nally seconds his advice and adds that there are rumours that Heathcliff is lending Hindley money to support his gambling habit. The next day, Catherine humiliates Isabella by revealing her crush to Heathcliff when he visits. Isabella rushes from the room. Heathcliff expresses disdain for Isabella but notes that Isabella must be Edgar's heir. Nally thinks Heathcliff is plotting something. Chapter 11 Not long afterward, Nally stops by Wuthering Heights as she is walking past on some other errand and encounters her former charge, Herton, who curses and throws stones at her. Herton tells her that it was Heathcliff who taught him to curse and that Heathcliff also refused to allow Herton to be educated. Heathcliff then appears and Nally flees. The following day, Nally and Catherine observe Heathcliff and Isabella embracing in the groundless garden. Catherine confronts Heathcliff in the kitchen about his feelings for Isabella. She offers to convince Edgar to allow the marriage if Heathcliff truly loves Isabella but Heathcliff answers that Catherine wronged him when she married Edgar and that he plans to get revenge. Informed of the confrontation by Nally, Edgar rushes in and orders Heathcliff to leave. Heathcliff refuses. Edgar moves to get the servants to come and help him remove Heathcliff but Catherine forces Edgar to confront Heathcliff alone by locking the door into the house and throwing the key in the fire. Edgar at first hides his face but Catherine taunts him and he punches the larger Heathcliff in the neck. Then he runs from the kitchen into the garden to get the servants. Deciding he can't fight off Edgar and a bunch of armed servants, Heathcliff leaves. Once Heathcliff is gone, Edgar furiously demands that Catherine choose between him and Heathcliff. Catherine refuses to talk to him and retreats to her room where she stays for three days without eating anything. In the meantime, Edgar distraught tells Isabella to either stay away from Heathcliff or be disowned. Chapter 12 Lily unlocks her door and allows Lily to give her food. Catherine believes that she is dying and is distraught that Edgar has buried himself in his books instead of coming to her. Delirious, Catherine rambles about a time she spent on the moors with Heathcliff as a child and obsesses over deaths. Lily refuses Catherine's request to open the window. She doesn't want Catherine to catch a chill. Catherine staggers to the window herself She says that she can see Wuthering Heights and that though she is going to die she will never be at rest until she is with Heathcliff. Edgar arrives and is appalled by Catherine's weak and frenzied condition. Lily goes to get a doctor. When the doctor arrives and examines Catherine he announces that he is optimistic that she recover. That same night, Isabella runs off with Heathcliff. Edgar furious refuses to attempt to get Isabella to come back. Instead he says that Isabella is now his sister in name only. Not because I disown her but because she has disowned me. Chapter 13 For two months, Edgar nurses Catherine and though she improves somewhat she never fully recovers her health. During that time Catherine does learn however that she is pregnant. Edgar hopes the child is male so that the baby rather than Isabella and Heathcliff will inherit Thrush Cross Grunge. Six weeks after she ran away with and married Heathcliff Isabella writes to Edgar begging for forgiveness. Edgar doesn't answer the letter. Isabella next writes to Nelly. She says that she is living at Wuthering Heights and that her experience has been awful. Heathcliff has told her that since he can't go to get to Edgar to punish him for Catherine's illness he will take it out on Isabella instead. Hinley, Head and Joseph treat her just as badly. Isabella also writes that Hinley is completely unhinged and plans to kill Heathcliff and take his money. Isabella says that she has made a mistake but knows it is too late to fix it. She begs Nelly to come visit her at Wuthering Heights. Chapter 14 Nelly goes to visit Wuthering Heights Edgar however refuses Nelly's request to send with her a token of forgiveness to Isabella. At Wuthering Heights Nelly barely gets to see Isabella at all. Instead Heathcliff asks after Catherine's condition and then asks Nelly to help him see her. Adding that were he in Edgar's place he would never stop Catherine from seeing someone she wanted to see. Nelly refuses to help Heathcliff who threatens to hold Nelly prisoner at Wuthering Heights and go to the Grand Jalon. He gives in and agrees to carry a letter to Catherine from Heathcliff. Chapter 15 When Edgar goes to church four days later Nelly delivers Heathcliff's letter to Catherine who is so weak that she can hardly hold it. Heathcliff walks into the room almost as soon as Nelly delivers the letter. Upon seeing him Catherine says that he and Edgar have broken her heart and adds that she can't stand the thought of dying while Heathcliff is still alive and wishes that the two of them will never be parted. Then she begs Heathcliff for forgiveness. Heathcliff responds that he forgives her for what she has done to him but that he can never forgive her for what she has done to herself. He says I love my murderer but yours how can I? Just then Edgar arrives from the church. Heathcliff gets up to leave but Catherine begs him to stay as Edgar approaches Nelly screams. Catherine collapses and Heathcliff catches her. Edgar rushes into the room. Heathcliff puts Catherine's body into Edgar's arms and commands Edgar that it is more important for him to take care of Catherine rather than get angry. Nelly ushers Heathcliff from the room promising to send news of Catherine's health in the morning. Heathcliff says he'll stay nearby in the garden. Chapter 16 At midnight Catherine gives birth to a daughter, Cathy, two months prematurely. Catherine dies two hours later. When Nelly brings Heathcliff the news he seems somehow to already know. He curses Catherine for the pain she's caused then begs her to haunt and torment him for the rest of his life even if it drives him mad just so that they can be together. Edgar keeps watch over Catherine's body day and night while Heathcliff stays out in the garden through the night. Eventually exhaustion forces Edgar to leave Catherine's side for a few hours and Nelly allows Heathcliff to see the body. After Heathcliff leaves Nelly discovers that Heathcliff has replaced a lock of Edgar's hair that Catherine kept in a locket with his own hair. Nelly finds Edgar's lock of hair and dwinds the two together in the locket. Nelly does not attend Catherine's funeral though he's invited. Isabella is not invited. The nearby villagers are surprised when Edgar doesn't bury Catherine in the Linton Dome but instead by a wall in the corner of the charge yard with a view of the moors she loved. Nelly then tells Lockwood that Edgar is buried next to Catherine. Chapter 17 Just a few days after the funeral Isabella comes to Thrushcross Grunge at a time when she knows Edgar will be asleep in his room. Just have old and laughing hysterically Isabella tells Nelly who is taking care of the baby Cathy that she knows Edgar won't allow her to stay but that she needs Nelly's help. Isabella tells Nelly that Hindley desperately tried to stay sober in order to attend Catherine's funeral but fell apart the morning of the funeral and started drinking. Then while Heathcliff was out standing Wigel at Catherine's grave Hindley locked the doors of Wuthering Heights to keep Heathcliff out and told Isabella that he planned to shoot Heathcliff. When Heathcliff returned Isabella warned him of Hindley's plans but didn't let him into the house. Hindley then tried to shoot Heathcliff from a first floor window but Heathcliff wrenched away the end of the gun and in the process wounded Hindley in the wrist with the blade of the gun's bayonet. Heathcliff then broke into the house through that window and beat Hindley. The next morning Hindley did not remember what had happened but Isabella reminded him. The two men once again fell to fighting at which point Isabella ran to Thrushcross Grunge. Nelly then jumps a bit ahead in her story to say that after leaving Thrushcross Grunge Isabella went to live near London where she gave birth to a sickly boy whom she named Linton. Heathcliff eventually learned where Isabella and his son were but did not go after them. Isabella died when Linton was 12. Hindley died six months after Catherine and Nelly goes to Wuthering Heights to look after the funeral and to bring Herdon back to the Grunge but Nelly is shocked to learn that Hindley died deep in debt to Heathcliff who now owns Wuthering Heights. In addition Heathcliff refuses to let Herdon leave Wuthering Heights and implies that he eventually plans to bring Linton to Wuthering Heights as well. Nelly then adds that Herdon who should be the master of Wuthering Heights now is forced to live as dependent and servant to Heathcliff. Chapter 18 Cathy grows into a beautiful smart inquisitive and willful 13 year old. Edgar doesn't allow her to leave Thrushcross Grunge unattended however so she is entirely unaware of Wuthering Heights or anyone who lives there. One day she hears of some fairy caves at nearby Benestone crags and begs Edgar to take her but Edgar refuses since to get there they would have to pass Wuthering Heights. Soon after though Edgar learns that Isabella is dying and rushes off to London to bring Linton back to the Grunge while he's gone Cathy manages to escape Nelly and the grounds off the Grunge. She goes off toward Benestone crags which meets Herdon along the way and immediately likes him. The two spend the day playing together Nelly chases after Cathy and soon finds her at Wuthering Heights. Cathy refuses to leave when Nelly tells her to however she wants to stay with Herdon. Cathy's interest in Herdon turned to contempt though when she learns from Nelly that Herdon isn't the son of the master of Wuthering Heights. Cathy starts to order Herdon around who much to her surprise and indignation gusses back at her. A servant of Wuthering Heights then reveals that Herdon is actually Cathy's cousin. Catherine denies it with the argument that her father has gone to get her real cousin who is the son of a gentleman from London. Unhappy that the news of Edgar's trip to get Linton has been made public Nelly hushes Cathy by saying that the person can have many cousins of all sorts of stations in life. Finally Nelly and Cathy leave. On the trip back to Grange Cathy agrees not to tell Edgar about a trip to Wuthering Heights since the news might anger Edgar so much that he would fire Nelly. Chapter 19 Edgar and Linton arrive at the Grange. Linton resembles Edgar but is weak and whiny. Cathy treats him like a pet or baby kissing his forehead and stroking his hair. Edgar tells Nelly that he believes that if Linton is allowed to stay at Thrush Cross Grange he will get stronger because in Cathy he has a playmate his own age. But that night Joseph arrives from Wuthering Heights demanding Linton Edgar says he will bring Linton to Heathcliff in the morning. Chapter 20 Nelly takes Linton to Wuthering Heights the next morning. To make the fearful Linton feel better Nelly assures him but Heathcliff proves Nelly is lying from the moment he appears. He refers to Linton as his property. He calls Isabella a wicked slut and admits he wants Linton not because he loves him but because he wants to use him to get Thrush Cross Grange. Linton begs Nelly not to leave him with Heathcliff but she can do nothing but ride away. Chapter 21 At first Cathy is despondent by her torture. As time passes though she asks about Linton less and less. Meanwhile Nelly keeps tabs on Linton by questioning the Wuthering Heights housekeeper and learns that Linton remains weak and whiny and that Heathcliff constant him. One day three years later Linton goes to Wuthering Heights the 16 year old Catherine and Nelly go bird hunting on the moors. Cathy runs ahead of Nelly and Nelly catches up. She finds Catherine speaking with Heathcliff and Herton. Catherine says that she thinks she's met Herton before and wonders if he's Heathcliff's son. Heathcliff says no but that he does have a son whom Catherine has met before and invites Cathy and Nelly to come back to Wuthering Heights with him. Nelly suspects Heathcliff is plotting something but Cathy is intrigued and Nelly fights. At the house Heathcliff tells Nelly that he hopes Linton and Cathy will one day marry yet Cathy and Linton don't even recognize each other when they meet. Linton is now taller than Cathy but he is still so sickly and weak that he can't even show Cathy around the house so she goes off with Herton instead. Heathcliff demands that Linton go after them. Before they move out of airshot Nelly hears Cathy mocking Herton and then illiterates. The next day Cathy confronts Edgar about why he has kept her lead relatives at Wuthering Heights a secret from her. Edgar tries to carefully explain and though Cathy doesn't entirely understand he does manage to get across how much he despises Heathcliff. Edgar also asks his daughter not to have any contact with Linton but Cathy doesn't listen and she and Linton begin writing secret letters to each other. Nelly eventually finds Linton's letters and over Cathy's objections destroys them. Cathy ends the correspondence with Linton and Nelly doesn't say anything about the letters to Edgar. Chapter 22 That winter Edgar falls ill and Nelly becomes Cathy's main companion. One day as the two walk in the garden Cathy climbs the wall in an effort to get some fruit. In the process her hat falls over the wall. Cathy with Nelly's permission climbs down the wall to get it but then finds herself unable to climb back. As Nelly searches for a key to the gate in the wall Heathcliff appears. Admonishes Cathy for ending the correspondence with Linton. Adding that he suspects she was cruelly playing with Linton. He then says that he will be away from Wuthering Heights for a week and that she should visit Linton who he thinks may be dying for broken heart. Cathy feels so guilty that she decides to go to Wuthering Heights the next morning. Nelly agrees to go only because she thinks the sight of Linton will show Cathy that Heathcliff is lying. Chapter 23 Cathy and Nelly ride to Wuthering Heights the next morning in the rain. There they find Linton who whines about the servants and complains about Cathy not coming to visit him before. Linton then brings up the possibility of marriage. Cathy says that she will go to Wuthering Heights and show Linton's chair which sends Linton into a spasm of coughing. Linton says that Catherine has assaulted him and worsened his already failed condition. Doing his best to make Catherine feel guilty he then asks her to nurse him back to health herself. Nelly and Cathy return to Thrush Cross Grunge when Nelly comes down with the cold from her riding to Wuthering Heights and back in the rain. Catherine dutifully nurses both Nelly by day. By night she takes the opportunity to secretly go to Wuthering Heights to see Linton. Chapter 24 When Nelly recovers she quickly notices Cathy's suspicious behaviour and soon catches Cathy sneaking into her room after a night out. After feebly trying to lie Cathy admits that she's been going to Wuthering Heights to see Linton. In particular Cathy tells Nelly of one trip to Wuthering Heights where head and stops her and proves to her that he could read the name head and written above the house front door. Cathy though asks him if he can read the number next to the word. It says 1,500. When head and admits that he can't she once again mocks him for his stupidity. Furious head and later barges in on Cathy's visit with Linton and forces the week snivelling Linton to go upstairs. A bit later head and feels remorse and apologizes to Cathy for his actions. But she refuses to speak to him and returns to Thrushkar's grunge. Cathy returns to the Heights three days later but immediately leaves when Linton blames her for the humiliation head and forced on him. Cathy returns two days later to tell Linton that she has decided never to visit him again. This trot Linton begs for forgiveness. As soon as Cathy finishes her story Nelly goes to Edgar and tells him everything. Edgar forbids Cathy from ever again visiting Linton at Udring Heights but does agree to allow Linton to visit the grunge. Chapter 25 Nelly pauses in a narrative to tell Lockwood that the events she is now describing took place a little over a year ago during the previous winter. She notes how odd it is to be telling the story to a stranger though she wonders if Lockwood might fall in love with Cathy and thereby cease to be a stranger. Lockwood agrees that he just might fall in love with Cathy but adds that she is unlikely to return the feeling and that anyway he will have to leave soon because the Moors aren't his home. He asks Nelly to continue the story and she does. Obeying her father's wishes Cathy seizes to visit Linton but Linton also does not visit the grunge because he is too weak to make the trip. Eventually Edgar decides that his daughter's happiness is the most important and he says that if she wishes Cathy may marry Linton even though that would mean Heathcliff would definitely inherit the grunge. As he falls further into illness Edgar agrees to let Cathy visit Linton though he asks that she meet him not at Wuthering Heights but on the Moors. However Nelly further explains to Lockwood Edgar didn't know that Linton goes to death as Edgar himself. Chapter 26 Cathy and Nelly ride to the location on the Moors where they are to meet Linton but he is not there. Instead they find him nearby Wuthering Heights he appears even weaker than usual but he insists that he is in fact getting stronger. Linton seems anxious during the entire visit and keeps glancing over his shoulder at Wuthering Heights. As the visit ends he says to meet Linton in the same place the following Thursday. As they travel home Cathy and Nelly discuss how much more ill Linton seems but decide that they will have to wait until the next visit to get a real sense of his health. Chapter 27 Edgar's health continues to fail over the following week though she doesn't want to leave her sick father alone Cathy rides with Nelly to see Linton on the Moors. Linton is even more nervous during this meeting than the last one and admits that his father is pushing him to move Cathy. He also says that he is frightened of what Heathliff would do to him if she doesn't marry him. As they talk Heathliff arrives, he asks Nelly that Edgar's health and also tells her privately that he worries that Linton will die before Edgar does. Heathliff then asks Cathy and Nelly to return to Wuthering Heights with him. Cathy tells him that she is forbidden by her father to go to Heights but agrees to go anyway because Linton is terrified to return to the house without her. At Wuthering Heights Heathliff locks Nelly and Cathy inside the house and says that they won't be allowed to leave until Cathy and Linton marry. He locks Nelly and Cathy in a bedroom that night. The next day he lets Cathy out of the bedroom but not out of Wuthering Heights and keeps Nelly locked in the room under the guard of Herton. This continues for 5 days. Chapter 28 On the 5th day, Zela the housekeeper frees Nelly from the bedroom and tells her that the village is a wash-in gossip that Nelly and Cathy have been lost in the marshes. Nelly searches the house for Cathy but instead finds Linton. He tells her that Cathy has been locked up in another room and that he and Cathy are married. Then he exalts that he owns all of Cathy's inheritance since Edgar is close to death. Nelly rushes from Wuthering Heights back to Thrushcross Grunge. She tells the dying Edgar that Cathy is safe and will soon be back at the Grunge. She then sends a group of servants to Wuthering Heights to get Cathy but they fail and return without her. Meanwhile, in order to keep Cathy's inheritance from Heathliff Edgar decides to place the inheritance in the hands of trustees. He sends for his lawyer Mr. Green so he can change his will. A while later, Nelly hears someone arrive. She thinks that it's Mr. Green but it's actually Cathy who has escaped Wuthering Heights with the help of Linton. Cathy goes to Edgar and spends a few moments with him before he dies. Edgar dies content believing that Cathy is happily married to Linton. Mr. Green arrives that evening. He takes over the house and dismisses all of the servants but Nelly. He also tries to have Edgar buried in the chapel but Nelly intervenes, knowing that Edgar states that he wanted to be buried next to his wife. Chapter 29 After Edgar's funeral, Heathliff comes to the Grunge to bring Cathy back to Wuthering Heights. He says that he has punished Linton for helping Cathy escape and that he expects Cathy to work to earn her keep at Wuthering Heights. Cathy responds that she and Linton love each other while Heathliff is loveless alone. She adds that however miserable you might make us we shall still have the revenge of thinking that your cruelty arises from your greater misery. As Cathy backs Nelly asks Heathliff to let her be the housekeeper at Wuthering Heights because she wants to stay with Cathy. Heathliff doesn't answer instead telling Nelly that while the sexton was digging Edgar's grave Heathliff bribed the man to dig up Catherine's grave and remove the wall of a coffin that faced away from Edgar's grave. He then says that when he dies he'll be buried on that side of Catherine's grave with the facing wall of his own coffin also removed. He adds that Catherine's ghost has haunted him for the 18 years since she died but that he could never reach her as they leave Cathy and asks Nelly to visit her at Wuthering Heights but Heathliff tells Nelly never to come to the Heights and that if he needs her he'll come to her at the Grunge. Chapter 30 Nelly tells Lockwood that she hasn't seen Cathy since that day and only gets news about her from Zela. Heathliff forbade anyone at the Heights to be kind to Cathy and made her nurse Linton herself until he died. After Linton's death did you spend time with Zela or Herton? Nelly wishes Cathy could come live with her in a cottage Nelly has taken but knows it will never happen. She says that only another marriage could save Cathy but such a thing seems impossible. In his diary Lockwood writes that Nelly has finished the story. He says that he has recovered from his illness and will soon ride to Wuthering Heights to tell Heathliff that he will be leaving Thrasher's Grunge to London where he will be free of the strange people of the Grunge and Heights. Chapter 31 Lockwood goes to Wuthering Heights to tell Heathliff of his decision to leave Thrasher's Grunge. He also carries a letter to Cathy from Nelly but Herton intercepts it before he can give it to her. When Cathy starts to cry Herton returns the letter Lockwood also learns that Heathliff has taken Cathy's books. Herton has gathered some of her favorite books and tries to read them but she mocks his faulty efforts. Herton ashamed gathers the books and throws them in the fire. Heathliff returns and says as soon as he enters at Herton where such a striking resemblance to Catherine that it causes him physical and emotional pain even to look at Herton. After a rather dull and unpleasant meal Lockwood leaves. On the way back to the Grunge he muses on how lucky Cathy would have been had she fallen in love with him and let him take her away to a more pleasant place than Wuthering Heights. Chapter 32 Six months later Lockwood returns to the area and pays a visit at Wuthering Heights. He finds to his surprise that Nelly now lives there. She tells him about what happened after he left. Two weeks after Lockwood left Zilla finds a new job and asks Nelly to take her place. Soon after Nelly arrives Cathy admits to her that she feels guilty for mocking Herton. One day Herton accidentally shoots himself while working and Cathy has to tend to him. At first they argue often but eventually they come to an understanding and start to get along. Cathy gives Herton a gift of a book and promises to teach him to read and not to mock him. Nelly says that the two have come to love each other and looks forward to an eventual marriage between them. Chapter 33 The morning after Cathy gives Herton the book she and Heathcliff get into an argument at breakfast over her inheritance. Herton takes her side Heathcliff grabs Cathy and nearly hits her but then suddenly lets her go. Her eyes remind him of Catherine. That same night he sees Cathy and Herton sitting together and they both remind him of Catherine. All of these reminders of Catherine torment him and he admits to Nelly that he no longer much cares about taking out his revenge on Cathy and Herton. Chapter 34 Heathcliff withdraws from the world and eats just one meal a day. A few nights later he spends the entire night walking outside. When he returns to Wuthering Heights Cathy remarks that he is actually acting pleasantly. He tells Nelly that last night Heathcliff tells Nelly that she is not well. Today I am within sight of my heaven. Heathcliff refuses all food and demands that he be left entirely alone. The next morning at breakfast Heathcliff terrifies Nelly when he seems to see an apparition. She can see nothing but it seems to her that Heathcliff is communicating with it. At night Heathcliff again seems to be speaking with a ghost. Nelly hears and say Catherine. He reminds her of his burial wishes. The next day Heathcliff locks himself into his room and refuses to even see the doctor. The next morning Nelly uses another key to get into the room and finds Heathcliff dead and soaking wet. He had thrown open the window to let the rain come down on him. Character Analysis Mr Lockwood He is a gentleman who rents Thrushgrass Grunge from Heathcliff. He is the creator of the story. Nelly Dean tells him about all of the other characters and he passes on her account to the reader. He is a somewhat smug and emotionally remote city boy who is not very involved into the action. Nelly Dean She is the housekeeper to the Unshores and Lintons. The novel is from her point of view. We see every character aside from Lockwood through her eyes. She grows up with Hindley, Catherine and Heathcliff and works at both Houdring Heights and Thrushgrass Grunge. Nelly is confident to many including both Catherine's, Isabella and even Heathcliff. She cares for Herton when he is an infant and is a mother figure to the younger Cathy. Though a servant, she is educated and articulate. Frequently she does more than observe. She becomes very involved in her employer's lives. Some might call her meddlesome but most of the characters are so comfortable with her that they have intimate conversations in front of her. Hindley Earnshaw Son of Mr. Earnshaw Brother of Catherine Father of Heathcliff Husband of Francis He inherits Houdring Heights from his father a hard-core drinker and gambler. He falls apart after his wife's death. He falls from being a fun-loving, good-natured boy into an angry, bitter, jealous and self-destructive man. Catherine Earnshaw Linton Daughter of Mr. Earnshaw Sister of Hindley, foster sister and true love of Heathcliff Wife of Edgar, mother of Cathy. Gorgeous and fiery with dark girls and penetrating eyes, Catherine is a woman in conflict. She craves the luxury, security of ultra-civilized Edgar even as she rulls wild across the moors with brooding and unkempt Heathcliff. She loves Heathcliff with a huge and overwhelming passion. She is impetuous, proud and sometimes hotty. Heathcliff Foster son of Mr. Earnshaw Foster brother of Hindley and Catherine Husband of Isabella and father of Linton. Heathcliff is a conflicted villain and hero of the novel. Mr. Earnshaw finds him on the street and brings him home to Wuthering Heights where he and Catherine become soulmates. He is the ultimate outsider with his dark gypsy looks and mysterious background. Though he eventually comes to own Wuthering Heights he never seems as fully home in the house as he does on the moors. His love for Catherine is gigantic and untamed and matters to him more than anything else. But it is never easy. It leads him to control and belittle and manipulate nearly everyone around him. Despite his many horrible deeds Heathcliff is not a straight out bad guy. He is a poor orphan who finds material success but not what he really wants. The love of Catherine Catherine or Kathy Linton Heathcliff Earnshaw daughter of Edgar and Catherine wife of Linton Heathcliff Earnshaw. Young, beautiful and good hearted Kathy has the gumption and passion of a mother and the calm and blonde beauty of a father. She is a complicated teenager who is frequently kind and compassionate but often also selfish and inconsiderate. Ultimately she shows the capacity to see past superficial things to the nobility and beauty beneath a trait her mother lacked. Hearton Earnshaw Henry and Francis husband of young Kathy Hearton lives and works at Wuthering Heights where his father ignores him and Heathcliff tolerates him. His shy, rough, illiterate, hardworking and neglected. By birth he should be a gentleman but his guardians purposely neglect his education. Underneath his gruffness is a smart, kind and sensitive soul. Edgar Linton brother of Isabella, husband of Catherine father of Kathy. Sweet, loving and kind, Edgar is the picture of a country gentleman he is very handsome and dotes upon both wife and daughter. He initially appears fragile but in fact he is quite strong in a quiet, introspective way. He is not pure goodness however he despises Heathcliff and can be unforgiving. Mr. Earnshaw is a gentleman farmer, his father to Hindi and Catherine out of kindness he takes Heathcliff and orphan. He is stern and alienates his biological son by showing interest in Heathcliff. By the time of his death he has little control over any of his children. Francis Earnshaw Hindi's wife and Hearton's mother Francis is a minor character and meets Hindi away from Wuthering Heights. She arrives at Wuthering Heights full of enthusiasm but dies soon after giving births to her son. Isabella Linton is sister of Edgar, wife of Heathcliff and mother of Linton. Beautiful and fair she is raised to be a dainty, delicate lady. She is no match for Heathcliff who marries her for her claim on Thresh Cross Grange rather than for her love. Linton Heathcliff is son of Heathcliff and Isabella husband of young Catherine though lovely looking Linton is sickly, whiny, effeminate and weak. Joseph long time servant at Wuthering Heights and religious and judgmental Joseph speaks in a very thick dialect. Zilla is a housekeeper at Wuthering Heights. Moving on to the theme analysis Gothic literature and the supernatural. From beginning to end Wuthering Heights is a novel full of ghosts and spirits. Dead characters refuse to leave the living alone and the living accept that the deceased find ways of coming back to haunt them. With the departure from traditional Gothic tales these hauntings are sometimes welcomed. Heathcliff for instance repeatedly seeks out visitations from the ghost of his beloved Catherine. He even digs up her grave in order to be closer to her. Bronte uses otherworldly figures to emphasize the ferocity of Heathcliff's and Catherine's love. Their connection is so powerful that even deaths can't stop them. Nature and Civilization Bidding nature against civilization Emily Bronte promotes the romantic idea that the sublime, the awe-inspiring almost frightening beauty of nature is superior to man-made culture. She makes this point by correlating many of the characters with one side or the other and then squaring them off against each other. For instance, Heathcliff whose origins are unknown and who roams the moors is definitely on the nature's side. While his rival, the studious Edgar Linden, is in the civilized camp. Other pairings include Herdyn Earnshaw vs Linden Earnshaw Catherine vs Isabella and Herdyn vs Cathy. In all of these cases Bronte makes one character a bit wild perhaps by showing them in tune with animals and outdoors or their emotions while portraying the other as somewhat reserved and often prissy or fussy. Herdyn is black and white in mothering heights. Many of the characters exhibit traits from both sides. While Bronte argues that nature is somehow purer she also loads civilization particularly in terms of education. Herdyn Earnshaw personifies this combination of nature and civilization. Bronte associates the young orphan with nature. He is of course an awkward farm boy as well as civilization inspired by his desire for young Cathy he learns how to read. This mixture of down-to-earth passion and book-centered education make him arguably the most sympathetic character in the book. The theme of love and passion. The novel Wuthering Heights explores a variety of kinds of love. Loves on display in the novel include Heathcliff and Catherine's all-consuming passion for each other which while noble in its purity is also terribly destructive. In contrast, the love between Catherine and Edgar is proper and civilized rather than passionate. There's a love of peace and comfort. A socially acceptable love but it can't stand in the way of Heathcliff and Catherine's more profound and more violent connection. The love between Catherine and Linton is a grotesque exaggeration of that between Catherine and Edgar. While Catherine always seems just a bit too strong for Edgar Cathy and Linton's love is founded on Linton's weakness. Linton gets Cathy to love him by playing on a desire to protect and mother him. Finally, there's the love between Cathy and Herton which seems to balance the traits of the other loves on display. They have the passion of Catherine Heathcliff without the destructiveness and the gentleness shared by Edgar and Catherine without the dullness of masculinity and power. Masculinity and femininity Britain, when gender roles are far more rigid and defined than they are now withering heights examine stereotypes of masculinity and femininity. Emily Bronte constantly contrasts masculinity and femininity but not all of the comparisons are simple. Sometimes boys act like girls and girls act like boys. Edgar Linton and Linton Heathcliff for instance are men but Bronte frequently describes them as having the looks and attributes of women. Likewise, Catherine Earnshaw has many masculine characteristics even though she's outrageously beautiful she loves rough, outdoor play and can hold her own in any fight. She is a complex mix of hyper feminine grace and loveliness and ultra masculine anger and recklessness. Heathcliff with his physical and mental toughness has no such ambiguities. He is exaggeratedly masculine and scorns his wife Isabella for her overblown femininity. Emily Bronte seems to favor masculinity over femininity even in her women. In general she portrays weak delicate characters with contempt while she treats strong and rugged characters like Heathcliff both Catherine's and Herton with compassion and admiration despite their flaws. Understanding the importance of class in 18th and 19th century Britain is essential to understanding withering heights generally at the time people were born into a class and stayed within it. If your parents were rich and respected like Edgar's, you would be too. If your parents were servants like Nellie Deans, you probably would be too. Social mobility the idea that you can change your class status usually for the better was not commonplace. In Bronte's novel however class distinctions are constantly changing much the confusion of the characters. There are two primary examples of this Heathcliff and Herton because no one knows anything about Heathcliff's background, they all treat him differently. Mr. Arnger adopts him and treats him like a son but the snobby Lintons refuse to socialize with him. When he disappears for a few years and comes back rich, the characters struggle even more over how to approach him. He now has money and land but many of them still consider him a farm boy. Likewise, Herton has a hard time gaining respect. The son of Hinley, Herton should be the heir to Woodring Heights. With land and standing, he ought to be a gentleman. However Heathcliff refuses to educate him and everyone else mostly ignores him so his manners are very important indicator of class status are rough and gruff. Only when young Cathy helps educate him does he achieve the class standing to which he was born. Revenge and repetition Nearly all of the action in Woodring Heights results from one or the other actors desire for revenge. The result are cycles of revenge that seem to endlessly repeat. Hinley takes revenge on Heathcliff for taking his place at Woodring Heights by denying an education and in the process separates Heathcliff and Catherine. Heathcliff then takes revenge upon Hinley by first dispossessing Hinley of Woodring Heights and then by denying an education to Herton Hinley's son. Heathcliff also seeks revenge on Edgar for marrying Catherine by marrying Cathy to Linton. Yet while Heathcliff's revenge is effective it seems to bring him little joy. Later on in the novel, Cathy sees this and tells Heathcliff that her revenge on him, no matter how miserable he makes her, is to know that he Heathcliff is more miserable. And it is instructive that only when Heathcliff loses his desire for revenge is he able to finally reconnect with Catherine in depth and to allow Cathy and Herton who are so similar to Heathcliff and Catherine to find love and marry. Moving on to Symbol Analysis Woodring Heights The childhood home of many of the book's characters that is Heathcliff, Catherine, Hinley, Nanny Dean and Herton. Woodring Heights is a centuries old farmhouse that symbolizes simplicity, wildness and passion. Steady, substantial and stubborn the house is at one with the surrounding moves. It is fierce but unchanging. Its inhabitants share its characteristics like it or not they are in touch with their raw, natural and animalistic instincts. Woodring Heights thus stands for unfettered primal emotions. It is nature. Thrushcross Grange Thrushcross Grange, the house owned by the Lintons and then inhabited by Lockwood is a symbol of tamed, refined, civilized culture. Even when Heathcliff owns it he chooses to rent it rather than live in it for its formality does not suit him. In contrast to Woodring Heights the grant stands for manners and civility. It is an outpost of education and urbanity in the midst of the wildness of the northern English moors. The Weather The frequent storms and wind that sweep through Woodring Heights symbolize how the characters are at the mercy of forces they cannot control. For example, Lockwood the city boy thinks he can walk back to Thrushcross Grange through a storm but the nature respecting folks at Woodring Heights tell him he's crazy. They know that the weather or nature is far stronger than he is. Bronte uses the weather as a metaphor for nature which she portrays as a magnificently strong force that can conquer any character. The strongest characters are those who give the weather the respect it deserves. Moving on to a short biography by the author Emily Bronte full name Emily Jane Bronte Birthday 30th July 1818 Born in Thornton Yorkshire, England She died on 19th December 1848 in Howard's Yorkshire, England Emily Bronte is best known for authoring the novel Woodring Heights She was a sister of Charlotte and Anne Bronte also famous authors Born in Thornton Yorkshire, England on 30th July 1818 Emily Jane Bronte lived a quiet life in Yorkshire with a clergyman father Brother Brandwell Bronte and two sisters, Charlotte and Anne The sisters enjoyed writing poetry and novels which they published under pseudonyms As Alice Spell, Emily wrote Woodring Heights in 1847 her only published novel which garnered wide critical and commercial acclaim Emily Bronte died in Howard's Yorkshire the same year that her brother Brandwell passed away in 1848 Emily Bronte was not the only creative talent in her family Her sisters, Charlotte and Anne enjoyed some literary success as well Her father had published several works during his lifetime as well Emily was the fifth child of Reverend Patrick Bronte and his wife Maria Brandwell Bronte The family moved to Howard in April 1821 Only a few months later Bronte's mother died of cancer Her death came nearly nine months after the birth of her sister Anne Her mother's sister, Elizabeth Brandwell came to live with the family to help care for the children At the age of six, Emily was sent to the clergy daughter's school at Cowan Bridge with Charlotte and her two older sisters, Elizabeth and Maria Bronte came seriously ill at school and returned home where they died of tuberculosis in 1825 Bronte's father removed both Emily and Charlotte from the school as well At home in Howard Bronte enjoyed her quiet life She read extensively and began to make up stories with her siblings The surviving Bronte children which included brother Brandwell had strong imaginations They created tales inspired by toy soldiers given to Brandwell by their father In 1835, the shy Emily tried leaving home for school She went with Charlotte to Miss Wooler School in Rohed where Charlotte worked as a teacher but she stayed only a few months before heading back to Howard Coming from a poor family Bronte tried to find work She became a teacher at the Law Hill School in September 1837 but she left her position the following March Bronte and her sister Charlotte travelled to Brussels in 1842 to study but the death of their aunt Elizabeth forced them to return home Some of Emily's earliest known works involve a fictional world called Gondel which she created with her sister Anne She wrote both prose and poems about this imaginary place and its inhabitants Emily also wrote other poems Her sister Charlotte discovered some of Emily's poems and sought to publish them along with her own work and some by Anne The three sisters used male pen names for their collection Poems by Cura Ellis and Acton Bell Published in 1846 the book only sold a few copies and garnered little attention Again publishing as Ellis Bell Bronte published her defining work Wuthering Heights in December 1847 The complex novel exposed to families and the Lintons across two generations and their stately homes Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grunge Heathcliff an orphan taken in by the Earnshaws is the driving force between the action in the book He first motivated by his love for Catherine Earnshaw then by his desire for revenge against her for what he believed to be rejection At first reviewers did not know what to make of Wuthering Heights It was only after Bronte's death that the book developed its reputation as a literary master work She died of tuberculosis on December 19, 1848 nearly two months after her brother Branwell succumbed to the same disease Emily's sister Anne also fell ill and died of tuberculosis the following May Interest in Bronte's work and life remains strong today The passage my Bronte spent much of her life is now a museum The Bronte Society operates the museum and works to preserve and honour the work of the Bronte sisters Moving on to the literary movement that inspired the writing of Wuthering Heights Romanticism Romanticism proper was preceded by several related developments from the mid 18th century that can be termed pre-romanticism Among such trends was a new appreciation of the medieval romance from which the romantic movement derives its name The romance was a tale or palette of chivalric adventure whose emphasis on individual heroism and on the exotic and mysterious was in clear contrast to the elegant formality and artificiality of prevailing classical forms of literature such as the French neoclassical tragedy or the English heroic couplets in poetry This new interest in relatively unsophisticated but overtly emotional literary expressions of the past was to be a dominant note in romanticism Romanticism in English literature began in the 1790s with the publication of the lyrical ballads of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge Wordsworth's preface to the second edition of lyrical ballads in which he described poetry as a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings became the manifesto of the English romantic movement in poetry William Blake was the third principal poet of the movement's early phase in England The first phase of the romantic movement in Germany was marked by innovations in both content and literary style and by a preoccupation with the mystical the subconscious and the supernatural The second phase of romanticism comprising the period from about 1805 to the 1830s was marked by a quickening of cultural nationalism and a new attention to national origins as a testate by the collection and imitation of native folklore, folk ballads and poetry, folk dance and music and even previously ignored medieval and renaissance works The revived historical appreciation was translated into imaginative writing by Sir Walter Scott was often considered to have invented the historical novel At about the same time English romantic poetry had reached its limits in the works of John Keats Lord Byron and Percy Shelley By the 1820s romanticism had broadened to embrace the literatures of almost all of Europe In this later second phase the movement was less universal in approach and concentrated more on exploring each nation's historical and cultural inheritance and on examining the passions and struggles of exceptional individuals A brief survey of romantic or romantic influence writers would have to include Thomas DeQuincy William Hazlitt and the Bronte sisters in England Romanticism in Wuthering Heights The romantic period in literature is generally defined as the late 18th century and the first half of the 19th century Emily Bronte's only novel Wuthering Heights published in 1847 is considered a classic of romantic literature It might sound as if romantic literature is about romantic love like a contemporary romance novel However, this is not quite what is meant Hopefully this lesson about Wuthering Heights can help with that confusion One of the key values of the romantic movement in music, art and literature was the emphasis on the experience of the individual both the creator of the work and the characters depicted Characters are often complex and serious with dark problems in their past The call of romanticism as a movement was to experience the world with emotional intensity and to transcend the ordinary in everyday life Characters of romantic literature include nature and landscape complex characters the deaths and the supernatural idea of romantic love versus class Bronte's novel is shaped by the prominence of the industrial revolution in England which had gotten well underway by this point The industrial revolution caused great disruption in the traditional relationships among social classes Self-made men who had profited greatly from the revolution posed a threat for the dominant standing of the gentry in the upper classes although willing to mix socially with manufacturers and industrialists for the sake of profit the gentry usually resisted marrying into this newly emerging middle class due to perceived differences in breeding The prominence of distinctions between social classes is materialized by the two properties Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Ranch The less extravagant of the two properties Wuthering Heights identifies as home for the unshores who may be categorized as upper middle class due to owning their own land and being weighted on by servants The unshores position in social class is almost immediately recognized by Lockwood upon his first visit to the Heights who offers the description of the place and furniture reflecting that of a homely northern farmer The adjective homely contradicts Lockwood's previous notice of millennia's guns hanging from the walls suggesting that the place is fitting for as hostile a character as Heathcliff is In contrast Thrushcross Ranch is granted a far more regal description with Heathcliff and Catherine's focus being drawn to the crimson carpets chairs and tables as well as a ceiling bordered with gold and hanging glass drop chandeliers All of these assets are indicative of the great wealth of the family who live there The Lintons Importantly the description offered by the prestigious Thrushcross Ranch is mostly enabled by Heathcliff and Catherine's observations from the window whereas far more detail is able to be offered by the interior of the lesser Wuthering Heights The physical barriers of the closed windows and doors of the Ranch that greatly limit access for the upper middle class Catherine and entirely forbid access for Heathcliff as part of the working class can be interpreted as representative of the social immobility and restricted merging between classes This division is made explicit in Chapter 6 where the Lintons take Catherine in but refuse Heathcliff forcing him to find his way back from the Grange alone Just as social class forces division between Catherine and Heathcliff as children it continues to do so years later Despite Catherine's confession to Nelly of a lasting love for Heathcliff she is insistent that his lesser social standing prevents Heathcliff from being a suitable husband for her It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff she said Contextual understanding is essential in preventing a modern reader from interpreting Catherine's response as a shallow excuse In this period to marry outside of social class was seen to betray and dishonor one's family and was a cause for women to be completely outcast and rejected by the ones they loved At a time when women were typically unable to own property and other financial assets themselves financial dependence on their fathers often ruled out marrying a man who did not meet the approval of the family as doing so would put their financial security at risk As Heathcliff's working class position as a manual labourer renders him unable to offer her this financial security Catherine attempts to dismiss her love for Heathcliff instead opting to marry Ed Galinton for the social comforts he is able to offer her The difficulty of overlooking the importance of social class in favour of genuine passion and the emotional turmoil involved in doing so translates through so many later novels including Ian McEven's Atonement published in 2001 over 50 years after the publication of Wuthering Heights In Atonement Cecilia's upper class social standing sets her apart from her childhood friend Robbie Turner who has sustained genuine love and adoration for her Although not outrightly prohibiting a relationship to occur between the two Robbie's inherited lesser position as son of the Dallas's housekeeper sets him at a disadvantage with the privilege of Cecilia So that's all for now If you found this video useful we would really love it if you could give it a thumbs up Also do subscribe to our channel where we offer lots of free material that you can use as part of your 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