Wuthering Heights

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The novel opens in 1801 with Mr Lockwood, the new tenant at Thrushcross Grange, visiting his landlord Heathcliff at Wuthering Heights. Snowed in for the night, Lockwood reads diary entries of the former inhabitant of his room, Catherine Earnshaw, and has a nightmare in which a ghostly Catherine begs to enter through the window. Awakened by Lockwood's yells, Heathcliff is distraught. Lockwood returns to Thrushcross Grange and falls ill. While he recovers, Lockwood's housekeeper, Ellen "Nelly" Dean, tells the story of the strange family. Thirty years earlier, the Earnshaws live at Wuthering Heights with their two children, Hindley (aged fourteen) and Catherine (aged six), and their servant, Nelly. Returning from a trip to Liverpool, Earnshaw brings home an orphan whom he names Heathcliff. Heathcliff's origins are unclear but he is described as "like a gipsy" and, possibly, a Lascar or an American or Spanish castaway. Earnshaw treats the boy as his favourite and neglects his own children, especially after his wife dies. Hindley beats Heathcliff, who gradually becomes close friends with Catherine. Hindley departs for university and returns three years later as the new master of Wuthering Heights after his father's death. He and his new wife, Frances, force Heathcliff to live as a servant. Edgar Linton and his sister Isabella live nearby at Thrushcross Grange, and Heathcliff and Catherine spy on them after one of their rambles across the moors. When Catherine is attacked by their dog, the Lintons take her in but send Heathcliff home. When the Lintons visit, Hindley and Edgar make fun of Heathcliff, and a fight ensues. Heathcliff, banished to an attic, swears that he will one day have his revenge. Frances dies after giving birth to a son, Hareton. Two years later, Catherine accepts Edgar's marriage proposal. She confesses to Nelly that she loves Heathcliff deeply but cannot marry him because of his low social status. Nelly warns against associating with Heathcliff. Heathcliff overhears part of the conversation and, misunderstanding Catherine's feelings, flees the household. Distraught, Catherine falls ill. Three years after his departure, with Edgar and Catherine now married, Heathcliff returns unexpectedly, now mysteriously wealthy. He plays upon Isabella's infatuation as revenge on Edgar. Enraged by Heathcliff's presence at the Grange, Edgar banishes him. Distraught, Catherine locks herself in her room and refuses food for three days. At Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff exploits Hindley's gambling addiction and becomes mortgagee of the estate. Heathcliff tricks Isabella into eloping, but they soon return. Heathcliff visits the gravely ill and pregnant Catherine in secret. She dies shortly after giving birth to a daughter, Cathy. Heathcliff rages, calling on Catherine's ghost to haunt him. Isabella, embittered by Heathcliff's obsession and having suffered mental and physical abuse, flees south where she gives birth to Heathcliff's son, a sickly boy named Linton. Hindley dies six months later of alcoholism, and Hareton inherits Wuthering Heights, although Heathcliff takes possession. Twelve years later, after Isabella's death, the still-sickly Linton, prospective inheritor of Thrushcross Grange, is brought back to live there, but Heathcliff insists that his son must live with him. Cathy and Linton become friends. Heathcliff schemes to have them marry, hoping to control Cathy's inheritance. On Edgar's death the young couple go to live at Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff becomes increasingly wild, revealing that he has opened Catherine's grave on two occasions. When Linton dies, Cathy, his widow, has no option but to remain at Wuthering Heights, where Heathcliff mistreats her. Having reached the present day, Nelly's tale concludes. Lockwood moves away, returning eight months later to pay his rent. Nelly, now the housekeeper at Wuthering Heights, updates him. Cathy seeks Hareton's forgiveness – their reconciliation leading to love – and subsequently confronts Heathcliff with unlawfully taking both their properties. Declining physically, and increasingly fixated by the dead Catherine, Heathcliff avoids the young couple. He eventually stops eating, and some days later is found dead in Catherine's old room. Hareton has reclaimed Wuthering Heights, and Cathy has been teaching him to read. They plan to marry and move to the Grange, of which she is now the undisputed owner, with Joseph having left to take care of Wuthering Heights. Locals report having seen the ghosts of Catherine and Heathcliff together on the moors. Lockwood seeks out the graves of Catherine, Edgar, and Heathcliff, side-by-side, and is convinced that all three are finally at peace.

Reader's Guide

Wuthering Heights was accepted by publisher Thomas Newby along with Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey before the success of their sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre, but Jane Eyre was published before the other two. The first American edition was published in April 1848 by Harper & Brothers of New York. After Emily's death, Charlotte edited a second edition of Wuthering Heights, which was published in 1850. Though contemporaneous reviews were polarised, Wuthering Heights has come to be considered one of the greatest novels written in English. It was controversial for its depictions of mental and physical cruelty, including domestic abuse, and for its challenges to Victorian morality, religion, and the class system. It has inspired an array of adaptations across several types of media.

Did You Know?

• Emily Brontë initially published Wuthering Heights in 1847 under her pen name Ellis Bell.
• The first American edition was published in April 1848 by Harper & Brothers of New York.
• After Emily's death, her sister Charlotte edited a second edition of Wuthering Heights, published in 1850.
• The novel was controversial for its depictions of mental and physical cruelty, including domestic abuse.
• Heathcliff's origins are described in the novel as 'like a gipsy' and possibly a Lascar or an American or Spanish castaway.