Wuthering Heights: Chapters 1-9
Heathcliff, it's me!
… stretching an arm out to seize the importunate branch; instead of which, my fingers closed on the fingers of a little, ice-cold hand! The intense horror of nightmare came over me: I tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and a most melancholy voice sobbed, 'Let me in—let me in!' 'Who are you?' I asked, struggling, meanwhile, to disengage myself. 'Catherine Linton,' it replied, shiveringly (why did I think of Linton? I had read Earnshaw twenty times for Linton) 'I'm come home: I'd lost my way on the moor!'
It’s 1801, and we’re at Thrushcross Grange with Mr Lockwood, who is hiding out in the Yorkshire moors after a scandalous romantic incident. Spoilers ahead!
Thrushcross Grange is owned by the man who lives in the manor - Wuthering Heights - nearby, Mr Heathcliff. Lockwood goes to visit his new landlord, is upset and fascinated by the mysterious Mr Heathcliff, his house-staff, and his faintly terrifying dogs. He has dinner at Wuthering Heights, and learns that the ‘staff’ are actually Heathcliff’s family - a nephew and a widowed daughter-in-law. The weather forces Lockwood to stay the night at Wuthering Heights, and he has a strange nightmare, prompting an even stranger response in his host. When he eventually gets home to Thrushcross Grange, he asks Nelly Dean - his housekeeper, and longtime familiar of the two houses - to tell him the history.
Nelly begins to recount her childhood, working for the Earnshaw family at Wuthering Heights. She grew up with the Earnshaw children; headstrong Catherine and her older brother, Hindley. Their father returns from a long business trip to Liverpool with a scrappy young orphan, and calls him Heathcliff. Immediately, Hindley is jealous of his father’s new favourite son, and bullies him relentlessly, but Catherine and Heathcliff grow close, uniting against the terrorism from their (foster-) brother. Hindley is sent away to college, and Catherine and Heathcliff run about all over the moors, having a grand old time.
It’s only a couple of years later that the Mr Earnshaw dies, following a decline in his health after the early death of his wife (everyone dies very suddenly, a lot of the time in this novel - Emily had no need for useless Mrs Earnshaw for long!), and Hindley returns to Wuthering Heights to claim his title as the eldest son, bringing a new wife with him. Frances is frail and sickly, and this never bodes well.
Locked out one night as a punishment for not returning before dinner, Catherine and Heathcliff find themselves having wandered further across the moors, to Thrushcross Grange, where they are spying on the Linton children in the house through the windows. Edgar and Isabella are fascinating to them, dressed up and demurely having tea in a fancy sitting room. When they are noticed, Catherine and Heathcliff start to run away, but are caught up by the Linton’s dogs, and Catherine is bitten. She stays at Thrushcross Grange for FIVE WEEKS to recover, and when she eventually returns to Wuthering Heights, in a fancy gown, with her hair done and her gloves on, Heathcliff is stunned to see her.
Hindley’s wife gives birth to a son, Hareton, but dies a week later, and Hindley is heartbroken. He gives the baby to Nelly, and reverts to his torment of Heathcliff. In a drunken rage, Hindley accidentally drops Hareton at the top of the stairs, and Heathcliff, walking below catches him. Equally horrified by their own actions, Hindley is in Heathcliff’s debt, and Heathcliff is disgusted with himself for inadvertently saving his hated foster-brother’s child, having promise to wreak revenge on Hindley.
Meanwhile, Catherine has been spending more time with the Linton’s and less time with Heathcliff, who is sulking around the manor and inflicting his hurt feelings on everyone else. Having witnessed Catherine’s horrendous temper tantrums, and been on the end of one of her outbursts, Edgar has realised he is in love with her, and proposes. Catherine goes to Nelly for advice, worried that she cannot refuse Edgar because he is of her same social status, and although she loves Heathcliff, she could never marry him because it would be a “degradation”. Heathcliff hears this last part and leaves, and thought Catherine follows after to try to find him, she cannot, and comes home with a fever after running around in the rain all night. She recovers, but the elder Mr and Mrs Linton catch the fever and die (told you). Three years later, Heathcliff has still not returned, and Catherine and Edgar get married. Nelly goes to live with them at Thrushcross Grange.
Phew.
More reading…
Wuthering Heights is a masterpiece of literary genius that is incredibly unpleasant to read (Vox)
Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes often wrote ‘matching’ poems, giving each other topics and titles to write about: here are Wuthering Heights, by Sylvia Plath, which she wrote about visiting Top Withens, and Wuthering Heights, by Ted Hughes, about Sylvia, in reply.
There’s an RPG of Wuthering Heights?? My favourite instruction was “Characters are defined primarily by their Rage, Despair, and Oldness.” I kind of want to play it.
The buddy reads are for everyone to join in on, but if you’re considering a subscription, you’ll gain access to writing prompts and community posts, plus discounts on our courses and workshops. This Substack is reader-supported, and paid subscriptions mean I can do more of it!
Happy reading! See you next week.