Wuthering Heights is a novel that is told in a series of narratives,
which are themselves told to the narrator, a gentleman named Lockwood.
Lockwood rents a fine house and park called Thrushcross Grange in
Yorkshire, and gradually learns more and more about the histories of
two local families. This is what he learns from a housekeeper, Ellen Dean,
who had been with one of the two families for all of her life:

In around 1760, a gentleman-farmer named Earnshaw went from his farm,
Wuthering Heights, to Liverpool on a business trip. He found there a little boy who
looked like a gypsy who had apparently been abandoned on the streets, and
brought the child home with him, to join his own family of his wife, his son Hindley,
his daughter Catherine, a manservant named Joseph and the little maid, Ellen.
He named the boy Heathcliff after a son of his who had died. All the other
members of the household were opposed to the introduction of a strange boy,
except for Catherine, who was a little younger than Heathcliff and became
fast friends with him. Hindley in particular felt as though Heathcliff
had supplanted his place, although he was several years older,
and the true son and heir. Hindley bullied Heathcliff when he could,
and Heathcliff used his influence over Earnshaw to get his way.
Heathcliff was a strange, silent boy, who appeared not to mind the
blows he received from Hindley, although he was in fact very vindictive.
Earnshaw's wife died. Hindley was sent away to college in a last
attempt to turn him into a worthy son, and to ease pressures at home.

After some years, Earnshaw's health declined and he grew increasingly
alienated from his family: in his peevish old age he believed that
everyone disliked Heathcliff, because he liked him. He did not like his daughter
Catherine's charming and mischievous ways. Finally he died, and Catherine and
Heathcliff were very grieved, but consoled each other with thoughts of heaven.

Hindley returned, now around twenty years old ­ Heathcliff was about twelve
and Catherine was eleven. He was married to a young woman named Frances,
to the surprise of everyone at Wuthering Heights. Hindley used his new power to
reduce Heathcliff to the level of a servant, although Heathcliff and Catherine
continued their intimacy. Catherine taught Heathcliff her lessons, and would
join him in the fields, or they would run away to the moors all day
to play, never minding their punishments afterward.

One day they ran down to the Grange, a more civilized house where the
Lintons lived with their children Edgar (13) and Isabella (11).
They despised the spoiled, delicate Linton children, and made faces
and yelled at them through the window. The Lintons called for help and the
wilder children fled, but Catherine was caught by a bulldog, and they were
brought inside. When the Lintons found out that the girl was Miss Earnshaw,
they took good care of her and threw Heathcliff out.

Catherine stayed at the Grange for 5 weeks, and came home dressed and acting like
a proper young lady, to the delight of Hindley and his wife, and to Heathcliff's
sorrow (he felt as though she had moved beyond him). In the next few
years, Catherine struggled to maintain her relationship with Heathcliff,
and to socialize with the elegant Linton children.

Frances gave birth to a son, Hareton, and died soon after of tuberculosis.
Hindley gave into wild despair and alcoholism, and the household fell
into chaos. Heathcliff was harshly treated, and came to hate Hindley more and more.
Edgar Linton fell in love with Catherine, who was attracted by what he represented,
although she loved Heathcliff much more seriously. They became engaged,
and all night in a storm, and went to the Grange to get better.
The older Lintons caught her fever and died of it. Edgar and
Catherine were married when she was 18 or 19.

They lived fairly harmoniously together for almost a year ­ then Heathcliff returned.
He had mysteriously acquired gentlemanly manners, education, and some money.
Catherine was overjoyed to see him; Edgar considerably less so.
Heathcliff stayed at Wuthering Heights, where he gradually gained financial
control by paying Hindley's gambling debts. Heathcliff's relationship
with the Linton household became more and more strained as Edgar became
extremely unhappy with the situation. Finally there was a violent quarrel:
Heathcliff left the Grange to avoid being thrown out by Edgar's servants,
Catherine was angry at both of the men, and Edgar was furious at Heathcliff and
displeased by his wife's behavior. Catherine shut herself in her room for several
days. In the mean time, Heathcliff eloped with Isabella (who was struck by his
romantic appearance) by way of revenge on Edgar. Edgar could not forgive
his sister's betrayal of him, and didn't try to stop the marriage. Catherine
became extremely ill, feverish and delirious, and nearly died ­ though
she was carefully tended by Edgar once he found out her condition.

A few months later, Catherine was still very delicate, and looked as though
she would probably die. She was pregnant. Heathcliff and Isabella returned
to Wuthering Heights, and Isabella wrote to Ellen to describe how brutally she was
mistreated by her savage husband, and how much she regretted her marriage.
Ellen went to visit them, to see if she could improve Isabella's situation.
She told them about Catherine's condition, and Heathcliff asked to see her.

A few days later, Heathcliff came to the Grange while Edgar was at church.
He had a passionate reunion with Catherine, in which they forgave each
other as much as possible for their mutual betrayals. Catherine fainted,
Edgar came back, and Heathcliff left. Catherine died that night after
giving birth to a daughter. Edgar was terribly grieved and Heathcliff wildly
so ­ he begged Catherine's ghost to haunt him. A few days later Hindley
tried to murder Heathcliff, but Heathcliff almost murdered him instead.
Isabella escaped from Wuthering Heights and went to live close to
London, where she gave birth to a son, Linton. Hindley died
a few months after his sister Catherine.

Catherine and Edgar's daughter, Catherine, grew to be a beloved and
charming child. She was brought up entirely within the confines of the
Grange, and was entirely unaware of the existence of Wuthering Heights,
Heathcliff, or her cousin Hareton there. Once she found the farmhouse
while exploring the moors, and was upset to think that such an ignorant rustic as
Hareton could be related to her. Ellen told her she could not return there.

Isabella died when Linton was about 12 years old, and Edgar went to fetch him to the
Grange. Linton was a peevish and effeminate boy, but Catherine was pleased to have a
playmate. That very day, however, Heathcliff sent Joseph to fetch his son to
Wuthering Heights, and when Catherine woke up the next morning her cousin was gone.
Though sad at first, she soon got over it, and continued her happy childhood.

On her sixteenth birthday, Catherine and Ellen strayed onto Heathcliff's lands,
and he invited them into Wuthering Heights to see Linton. Catherine was pleased
to renew her acquaintance, and Heathcliff was eager to promote a romance
between the two cousins, so as to ensure himself of Edgar's land when he died.
When they returned home, Edgar forbade her to continue visiting there,
and said that Heathcliff was an evil man. Catherine then began a secret
correspondence with Linton, which became an exchange of
love letters. Ellen found out, and put an end to it.

Edgar became ill. Heathcliff asked Catherine to return to Wuthering Heights
because Linton was breaking his heart for her. She did so, and found Linton
to be a bullying invalid, but not without charm. Ellen fell ill as
well and was unable to prevent Catherine from visiting Wuthering Heights
every day. She felt obliged to help Linton, and despised Hareton for being clumsy
and illiterate. Ellen told Edgar about the visits when she found out,
and he forbade Catherine to go any more.

Edgar was in poor health and didn't know about Linton's equally bad health and
bad character, so he thought it would be good for Catherine to marry him ­
since Linton and not Catherine would inherit the Grange, most likely.
A system was fixed up in which Linton and Catherine met outside. Linton
was increasingly ill, and seemed to be terrified of something ­ his father w
as forcing him to court Catherine. Heathcliff feared Linton would die before
Edgar did, so eventually he all but kidnapped Catherine and Ellen,
and told them Catherine couldn't go home to see her dying
father until she married Linton. Catherine did marry Linton,
and escaped in time to see Edgar before he died.

After Edgar's funeral (he was buried next to his wife) Heathcliff fetched
Catherine to Wuthering Heights to take care of Linton, who was dying,
and to free up the Grange so he could rent it out (to Lockwood, in fact).
He told Ellen that he was still obsessed by his beloved Catherine, and
had gone to gaze at her long-dead body when her coffin was
uncovered by the digging of Edgar's grave.

Catherine had to care of Linton alone, and when he died, she maintained an
unfriendly attitude to the household: Heathcliff, Hareton (who was in love with her),
and Zillah, the housekeeper. As time passed, however, she became lonely
enough to seek Hareton's company, and began teaching him to read.

This is around the time of Lockwood's time at the Grange. He left the area for
several months, and when he returned, he found out that while he was gone:

Heathcliff began to act more and more strangely, and became incapable of
concentrating on the world around him, as though Catherine's ghost wouldn't let him.
He all but stopped eating and sleeping, and Ellen found him dead one morning,
with a savage smile on his face. He was buried next to Catherine,
as he had wished. Hareton grieved for him, but was too happy with the
younger Catherine to be inconsolable. When the novel ends,
they plan to marry and move to the Grange.

Emily Brontė



(1818-1848)



Emily Brontė lived most of her life in England on the North Yorkshire moors like those
depicted in Wuthering Heights. Not many details are known about her life.
As one Brontė scholar stated, "Next to her genius, the most astonishing
thing about Emily Brontė is the silence which surrounds her life."
Charlotte Brontė declared that Emily's "disposition was not naturally
gregarious; circumstances favored and fostered her tendency to seclusion;
except to go to church or take a walk on the hills, she seldom crossed the threshold
of home. Though her feeling for the people [all around] was benevolent, intercourse
with them was never sought; nor, with very few exceptions, ever experienced."

Emily Jane was the fifth of six children born to the Reverend Patrick
and Maria Brontė on July 30, 1818, in the village of Bradford, Yorkshire.
Three years after Emily was born, her mother died of cancer, the first
of several tragedies that would befall the Brontė family. Just before Emily's sixth
birthday, she and her older sisters--Maria, Elizabeth, and Charlotte--enrolled at the
Cowan Bridge School. Maria and Elizabeth both fell ill, and on May 6, 1825,
Maria succumbed to her illness. The other three girls then
left for home, where Elizabeth died two weeks later.

In June 1826, Mr. Brontė returned from travelling with a set of
twelve wooden soldiers for Emily's brother, Branwell. Led by
Charlotte and Branwell, the Brontė children created imaginative stories,
poems, plays,and games about a magical world they created for
"The Twelves," as they called the soldiers. They founded a kingdom on the
African coast with a city named Great Glass Town, complete with a government,
newspapers, magazines, generals, poets, historians, publishers, and actors.
Their adventures were recorded in tiny booklets, often less than two inches square,
in minute handwriting. One hundred of the booklets--whose wordcount is equal
to the total published works of the three sisters--have been preserved.

Charlotte discovered Emily's poems in October 1845 and convinced her
sisters to collaborate on a volume of poetry. They chose to use pseudonyms
to avoid the criticism and prejudice often directed towards women writers.
In May 1846, Poems (by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell) was published,
with the Brontės paying for the costs; only two copies were sold.

Emily began working on Wuthering Heights in December 1845.
She completed it in July 1846 and began submitting it for publication (along with
Anne's Agnes Grey and Charlotte's The Professor). In December 1847, the publisher
T. C. Newby published Wuthering Heights. One year later, on December 19, 1848, Emily
died from the effects of a severe cold. Two years later, Wuthering Heights was reissued,
along with a selection of Emily's poems and a biographical notice by Charlotte.

About Emily Brontė, Virginia Woolf wrote that she had the ability to "tear up all that
we know human beings by, and fill these unrecognizable transparencies with such a
gust of life that they transcend reality. . . . She could free life from its dependence on facts;
with a few touches indicate the spirit of a face so that it needs no body;
by speaking of the moor make the wind blow and the thunder roar."

WUTHERING HEIGHTS
by Emily Brontė

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WUTHERING HEIGHTS
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