Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights
Emily Bronte (Charlotte Bronte's sister)
Novel

Mr. Lockwood is a rich man and the new tenet at Thrushcross Grange. He wants to escape society and live peaceably....until he hears the story of Mr. Heathcliff...

Mr. Heathcliff is the owner of both Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights, and he is one of the central characters of the story. He is a very evil, plotting, and vengeful person. He loves Catherine Earnshaw.

Catherine Earnshaw is Mr. Heathcliff's sister, (orphan), and is in love with Heathcliff.

The setting is the mid seventeen hundreds to just after the start of the eighteen hundreds in Northern England.



Mr. Lockwood is a rich man and the new tenet at Thrushcross Grange. He goes to meet his landlord at a nearby farmhouse called Wuthering Heights, and finds his landlord, and the landlord's family, to be very queer. He has to spend a haunted night at Wuthering Heights when the weather becomes bad. When he returns to his rented estate the next day, he find that his housekeeper once lived with his landlord and he requests to hear their story. The story begins thirteen years before this setting.

Mr. Heathcliff was an orphan child of about seven who was picked up by the Earnshaw family. Because of the love Mr. Earnshaw shows Heathcliff, Hindley, the Earnshaw's oldest at fourteen, becomes jealous and hates Heathcliff. However, Catherine Earnshaw, the Earnshaw's other child, loves Heathcliff and they share a very wild attachment. Hindley is sent away to college because of his hatetred of Heathcliff, and doesn't return until both his parents die and he is married. Some years later, while spying on the Linton's children, Edgar and Isabella, Heathcliff and Catherine are jumped upon by the Linton's guard dog and Catherine is injured. She would stay with the Lintons for some weeks and grow accustomed to their fancy way of living. When she comes back with the lintons, Edgar and Heathcliff, who has dressed up to try and impress Catherine, get in a fight and Hindley puts Heathcliff in the attic for the rest of the night. Heathcliff vows to get revenge on Hindley. The next year, Hindley's wife dies giving birth to his son named Hareton. Because of this Hindley starts becoming drunk continually and hates his son. Two years later, Edgar asks Catherine to be his wife and she accepts because she sees it as a way to raise Heathcliff's status. Heathcliff does not know her intentions and runs away. Three years later, Catherine and Edgar are married; six months afterward, Heathcliff returns seeking revenge.

Heathcliff takes his revenge on Hindley by winning Wuthering Heights from him and turning Hindley's son against his father.  He then takes his revenge on Edgar by marrying his sister, Isabella. He does not marry her forcefully, rather, she thinks he is some kind of romantic hero. Catherine falls ill during this time and dies while giving birth to a daughter Edgar would name Cathy. Isabella runs away to Southern England and gives birth to a son, Linton.

Twelve years later, Isabella dies and Linton, a very sick child, goes to live with his father Heathcliff. Cathy and Linton meet three years later, and grow attached to each other. One day, Heathcliff traps Cathy and forces her to marry Linton. Cathy escapes, with Linton's help, and gets to she her father just before he dies. Linton dies soon afterward and Heathcliff own both the Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Hareton tries to be nice to Cathy, but she retreats to herself.

This is the point where Mr. Lockwood enters the scene. He decides he doesn't want to live at the Grange anymore and leaves. Eights months later, Mr. Lockwood returns (because he still had to rent the place for the rest of the year), and finds that his housekeeper is living at Wuthering Heights. He meets her there, and she fills him in on everything that happened since he left.

Hareton was hurt while farming and was confined to the house. During this time, he and Cathy became friends. Heathcliff would die soon after because of self-starvation. Lockwood thanks her and begins to take his leave when she tells him that Cathy and Hareton are to be married on New Year's Day.

I really enjoyed the book even though it had a very evil storyline. It made the story very different than a lot of other books. One of the things I didn't like, was how mentally weak the good guys were. The book was a little confusing. The "H" names also made it difficult at first. I was very surprised with the ending. I thought that a book centered around an evil person doing evil throughout the whole book would end the same way.

-Kole