Wuthering Heights (Novel)

**Wuthering Heights** is the sole novel published by Emily Brontë, it was published in December 1847 in a three volume set with Agnes Grey.

## Plot Summary

Mr Lockwood, a merchant goes to pay. his landlord, Mr Heathcliff a visit at his home, Wuthering Heights. There he meets Joseph, Mr Heathcliff's servant, Hareton Earnshaw, his nephew and Cathy Heathcliff, his daughter in law. Bad weather prevents Lockwood from going home, and he spends the night in a room at the Heights.

During the night, he has a ghostly encounter where he meets the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw. The next morning, Heathcliff walks Lockwood home to his house, Thrushcross Grange, where he asks his housekeeper, Nelly Dean, to tell him the story of his landlord

Nelly begins her story with Old Earnshaw, the former master of Wuthering Heights, going on a journey when Nelly, and his son Hindley Earnshaw were 14, and his younger daughter Catherine was 6. He promised them presents, but instead of bringing them back, he returns with an orphaned boy he picked up on the streets of Liverpool. The boy is named Heathcliff.

Heathcliff and Catherine become very close, but Hindley despises him. At the advice of the curate, Hindley is sent away to college, but he returns with a wife, Frances Earnshaw, when Mr Earnshaw dies. Heathcliff is immediately degraded to a servant, and Hindley attempts to separate him from Catherine. Heathcliff and Catherine soon grow to laugh at the punishments they receive from Hindley.

They go exploring across the moors and find Thrushcross Grange, where they spy on Edgar and Isabella Linton. They are seen and dogs are sent to chase after them. Catherine is mauled by a dog, and kept at the Grange to get better, whilst Heathcliff is sent home. He recounts the story to Nelly.

Five weeks later, Catherine returns to the Heights a young lady, upsetting Heathcliff when she teases him for being dirty. The Lintons are invited over for Christmas, and Heathcliff decides to clean up to be allowed to join in, but Hindley refuses. Edgar then insults him, so Heathcliff throws a jar of hot apple sauce at him, leading Hindley to beat him and lock him in the garret. Catherine sneaks away to talk to him later.

Frances gives birth to her only son, Hareton, and dies within a few months. Nelly is left responsible for Hareton, and Hindley begins to descend into drinking and gambling. Heathcliff delights in watching this play out. Edgar is the only decent person who calls on the house to see Catherine, although Heathcliff begs her to send him away. Nelly attempts to stay in the room cleaning when Edgar is round, but Catherine orders her out, pinches her and eventually slaps her. Hareton cries and Catherine shakes him, before finally boxing Edgar's ears. Edgar leaves in a hurry, as Hindley comes home. Hindley drops Hareton down the stairs, but Heathcliff saves him. When Hindley expresses regret, Nelly screams that Hareton hates him.

Catherine accepts Edgar's proposal, and asks Nelly if she did the right thing. She says that it would degrade her to marry Heathcliff, which Heathcliff overhears, so he leaves the Heights before he can hear Catherine confess her love for him. Nelly tells Catherine what Heathcliff overheard, and she rushes out in the rain after him, catching a fever and becoming ill for a few days. She marries Edgar and moves to the Grange. Nelly is forced to leave Hareton and go with her.

Three years later, Heathcliff returns to the Grange a wealthy man, only to discover that Catherine is now married. Isabella develops an infatuation with Heathcliff, who encourages it for revenge on Catherine. Edgar and Heathcliff are enemies, and Catherine locks herself in her room and makes herself ill again. She is now also pregnant.

Heathcliff lives at the Heights, teaching Hareton bad habits. Hindley mortgages the Heights to pay his gambling debts. Heathcliff and Isabella elope, angering Edgar, but they return to the Heights later. Isabella is desperately unhappy in her marriage. Heathcliff learns that Catherine is dying, and visits her one last time, with Nelly's help.

Catherine gives birth to a daughter, Cathy, and dies two hours later. Heathcliff begs her to haunt him, as she is buried on the moors. Hindley does not go to the funeral, and Isabella is not invited. The mourners are mainly servants. Shortly after the funeral, Isabella escapes from the Heights and goes to live in the South, giving birth to a son, Linton Heathcliff, not long after. Hindley dies six months after Catherine, meaning that Hareton is solely Heathcliff's responsibility, and Heathcliff is now master of Wuthering Heights.

Twelve years pass, and Cathy grows to be a young girl. Isabella dies and Edgar goes to fetch him to the Grange. Cathy, in his absence, discovers the Heights and that Hareton is her cousin, in addition to Linton. Edgar returns with Linton. It looks as if he would stay at the Grange, but Heathcliff demands that his son should come to live at the Heights.

Three years later, Linton has faded somewhat from Cathy's memory. Nelly and Cathy take a stroll on the moors, running into Heathcliff on the way, who takes them to see Linton and Hareton. Cathy and Linton begin a secret correspondence and relationship, which Nelly discovers. The following year, Edgar begins to decline, and takes a turn for the worse while Linton tricks Nelly and Cathy into coming to Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff then holds them captive until Linton and Cathy are married, as he hopes to secure Thrushcross Grange for himself. After five days, Nelly is released, and Cathy escapes to see her father before he dies.

Heathcliff insists that Cathy come to live at the Heights, as he is renting out the Grange. Soon after, Linton dies. Hareton tries to be kind to Cathy, but he is brushed off. At this point, Nelly's story catches up to the present day. Time passes, and after an illness, Lockwood informs Heathcliff he is leaving.

Eight months later, Lockwood returns to the Grange, and finds that Nelly has returned to the Heights after Zillah left. Hareton is confined to the house after an accident, and he and Cathy begin to grow closer. Heathcliff begins to act strangely and eventually dies in Catherine's old room. He is buried on the moors next to her.

Hareton and Cathy plan to marry on New Year's Day 1803. As he walks to the Grange, he pauses by the graves of Catherine, Edgar and Heathcliff.

## Characters

* Nelly Dean
* Mr Earnshaw
* Mrs Earnshaw
* Hindley Earnshaw
* Frances Earnshaw
* Hareton Earnshaw
* Catherine Earnshaw
* Heathcliff
* Cathy Heathcliff
* Linton Heathcliff
* Joseph
* Kenneth
* Mr Linton
* Mrs Linton
* Edgar Linton
* Isabella Linton
* Mr Lockwood
* Zillah

## Adaptations

* Wuthering Heights (1920) - directed by A. V. Bramble, starring Milton Rosmer and Ann Trevor
* Wuthering Heights (1939) - directed by William Wyler, starring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon
* Wuthering Heights (1950) - CBS version, part of the *Studio One* series
* Wuthering Heights (1953) - BBC drama directed by Rudolph Cartier, starring Richard Todd and Yvonne Mitchell
* Abismos de Pasion (1954) - directed by Luis Buñuel, set in Catholic Mexico and starring Jorge Mistral and Irasema Dilián
* Wuthering Heights (1958) - episode of CBS DuPont Show of the Month.
* Wuthering Heights (1959) - Australian adaptation using the script from the 1953 BBC drama
* Wuthering Heights (1962) - directed by Rudolph Cartier and starring Keith Mitchell and Claire Bloom
* Cumbres Borrascosas (1964) - Mexican telenovela
* Dil Diya Dard Liya (1966) - directed by Abdul Rashid Kardar and starring Dileep Kumar and Waheeda Rehman
* Wuthering Heights (1967) - BBC drama, starring Ian McShane and Angela Scoular
* Wuthering Heights (1970) - directed by Rob Fuest, starring Timothy Dalton and Anna Calder-Marshall
* Cumbres Borrascosas (1976) - Venezuelan telenovela
* Wuthering Heights (1978) - BBC TV serialisation, starring Ken Hutchinson, Kay Adshead and John Duttine
* Cumbres Borrascosas (1979) - Mexican telenovela
* Hurlevent (1985) - French adaptation, directed by Jacques Rivette
* Onimaru (1988) - Japanese adaptation, directed by Yoshishige Yoshida
* Hihintayin Kita sa Langit (1991) - Filipino adaptation loosely based on the novel, directed by Carlos Sigiuon-Renya
* Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1992) - directed by Peter Kosminsky, starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche
* Wuthering Heights (1998) - Television film directed by David Skynner, starring Robert Cavanah and Orla Brady
* Sparkhouse (2002) - BBC three part series
* Wuthering Heights (2003) - Adaption for MTV, starring Erika Christensen and Mike Vogel
* Cime Tempestose (2004) - Italian adaptation, directed by Fabrizio Costa, starring Alessia Boni and Anita Caprioli
* Wuthering Heights (2009) - ITV drama starring Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley
* Wuthering Heights (2011) - directed by Andrea Arnold, starring James Howson and Kaya Scodelario
* Wuthering High School (2015) - modern adaptation set in Malibu