Wuthering Heights is a Gothic novel written by Emily Bronte and published in 1847 the same year that her sister Charlotte published Jane Eyre growing up relatively isolated Emily published the novel her first and only under the name Ellis Bell a pin name that her sisters helped coin along with their own when they co-authored a book of poetry in 1846 dying soon after Wuthering Heights was published to scathing reviews Emily would never read the introduction to the novel pinned by her sister Charlotte in which she outed Emily as the author and defended her from critics her
mind would of itself have grown like a strong tree sat on the Moors near Yorkshire Wuthering Heights tells the story of two neighboring families that become tragically entangled as a result of a fraught romance between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff the novel begins with its narrator Mr Lockwood the new tenet of a fine estate called thrush cross Grange paying a visit to the neighboring property Wuthering Heights which is owned by a troubled man named Heathcliff finding himself snowed in Lockwood passes the night at Wuthering Heights by reading the Diary of Catherine Earnshaw the former inhabitant of
his room while reading Lockwood is visited by Catherine's ghost who asks to be let in through the window Upon returning home Lockwood Falls ill and asks his housekeeper Ellen or Nelly Dean who used to work at Wuthering Heights to tell him what she knows about the place Nellie's Story begins with the original owner of Wuthering Heights a gentleman farmer named Ern Shaw who returns from a trip to Liverpool with a dark-skinned orphan boy he found roaming the streets naming the boy Heathcliff after his late son Earnshaw raises the child as his own inspiring the Envy
of his biological son hindley who beats Heathcliff every chance he gets in contrast earnshaw's daughter Catherine immediately befriends Heathcliff and the two become close throughout the years eventually Earnshaw and his wife passed away hindley returns from college to take over as the new head of Wuthering Heights bringing his new wife Francis with his father gone hindley relegates 12-year-old Heathcliff to the level of a servant but eleven-year-old Catherine continues her friendship with Heathcliff roaming the Moors with him despite the punishment they both know to expect when they return home one day Catherine and Heathcliff are caught
spying on the Civilized Linton family who live at thrush cross Grange while the linton's throw Heathcliff out they invite Catherine to stay for five weeks dressing and teaching her to behave like a proper young lady during this time Catherine also becomes infatuated with Edgar the linton's son when Catherine finally returns to Wuthering Heights a changed young woman Heathcliff worries that she will lose interest in him Francis gives birth to a son heriton and dies of tuberculosis soon after hindley gives them to Despair and alcoholism neglecting the upkeep of Wuthering Heights after accepting a marriage proposal
from Edgar Catherine admits to Nelly that despite her consuming affection for Heathcliff she cannot marry him due to his inferior social status overhearing this Heathcliff becomes distraught and runs away Catherine searches for him all night in a raging Storm but to no avail at the age of 18 Catherine marries Edgar and moves into thrush cross Grange to Catherine's relief Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights three years later having mysteriously acquired gentlemanly manners education and money while he was away while spending time with Catherine at the Grange Heathcliff indulges the affections of Edgar's sister Isabella in an
attempt at revenge on her brother over time the tense atmosphere between Heathcliff and Edgar culminates in Heathcliff being thrown out of the Grange to which Catherine responds by shutting herself in her room ultimately Edgar is unable to stop Heathcliff and Isabella from being together and they elope locked in her room Catherine refuses food and Falls ill even though she is pregnant with Edgar's child meanwhile Heathcliff and Isabella returned to Wuthering Heights miserable and regretting their elopement one day while Edgar is in church Heathcliff comes to Grange where he and Catherine have a passionate reunion forgiving
each other for their betrayals in order to avoid Edgar Heathcliff leaves but is later devastated to learn that Catherine died that very night after giving birth to a daughter Kathy racked with grief Heathcliff calls on Catherine's ghost to haunt him for the rest of his days hindley dies soon after his sister making Heathcliff the head of Wuthering Heights plagued by heathcliff's cruelty Isabella flees to London giving birth to their son Linton meanwhile Edgar raises Kathy entirely within the confines of the Grange depriving her of contact with Wuthering Heights that is until she stumbles upon it
one day while exploring the Moors horrified by the realization that she is related to her uncultured cousin Harrington Kathy flees Ellen warns her never to return when Linton is 12 years old his mother Isabella dies leaving Edgar and Heathcliff to compete over where the child will be raised ultimately Heathcliff wins out taking Linton to Wuthering Heights where he grows up isolated from Edgar and Kathy but on her 16th birthday Kathy Strays onto heathcliff's property where he invites her and Nelly to spend time with Linton while Edgar later forbids Kathy from returning to Wuthering Heights Heathcliff
begins to encourage a romance between her and Linton sure enough Kathy and Linton begin writing love letters to each other though Nelly later puts an end to their correspondence Edgar fallsdale and Kathy defies him by returning to Wuthering Heights to continue her liaison with Linton who soon grows ill as well soon enough however Kathy realizes that Linton is only pursuing her at his father's urging since Heathcliff hopes to inherit the Grange when Edgar dies Heath Cliff eventually forces Kathy to remain at Wuthering Heights until she marries Linton finally consenting she escapes Wuthering Heights just in
time to see her father before he dies following Edgar's funeral Heathcliff forces Kathy to live at Wuthering Heights as a glorified servant tasked with caring for Linton who eventually dies although she detests the uncivilized Heritage who is by now in love with her she becomes so lonely that she begins teaching him to read gradually coming to return his feelings meanwhile growing increasingly crazed Heathcliff reveals to Nelly that he is still tormented by the ghost of Catherine having dug up her grave in a deranged attempt to gaze upon her corpse with Kathy at Wuthering Heights Heathcliff
rents the Grange to Lockwood bringing us up to the present in Nellie's story tiring of the gloomy Moors Lockwood moves away but encounters Nelly while passing through the area eight months later Nelly explains to Lockwood that Heathcliff grew so obsessed with Catherine's ghost that he stopped eating and sleeping one day Nelly found him dead with a bizarre smile on his face Heathcliff is buried with Catherine Paul Harrison and Kathy make plans to marry and move into the Grange
