Wuthering Heights guide

Summary

Characters

• HeathcliffLeadFrom Chapter 1
• IsabellaAlso Heathcliff, LintonSuitorFrom Chapter 1
• LockwoodOtherFrom Chapter 1
• JosephGatekeeperFrom Chapter 1
• CatherineAlso Earnshaw, Linton, CathyLoveFrom Chapter 1
• HaretonAlso EarnshawSuitorFrom Chapter 1
• HindleyAlso EarnshawVillainFrom Chapter 1
• ZillahHelperFrom Chapter 2
• EdgarAlso LintonRivalFrom Chapter 3
• EllenAlso Dean, NellyHelperFrom Chapter 4
• KennethHelperFrom Chapter 8
• Mr. Green, the lawyerAlso Mr. GreenGatekeeperFrom Chapter 28

Chapter by chapter

Storylines

• Lockwood and Heathcliff establish a landlord–tenant acquaintance: Lockwood seeks contact despite Heathcliff's hostile reserve, and their conversation becomes somewhat friendlier.

  • The acquaintance deteriorates as Heathcliff refuses assistance, insults Lockwood and laughs at his humiliation, although he subsequently orders brandy for him.
  • The visit deepens their uneasy acquaintance: Lockwood resolves to avoid further visits but feels compassion after witnessing Heathcliff's distress, and Heathcliff subsequently guides him across the moor.
  • Heathcliff visits the sick Lockwood and sends grouse; this kindness restrains Lockwood's wish to blame him for the illness.

• Lockwood seeks to understand Heathcliff, initially identifying with his reserve but withdrawing certainty about its cause.

  • Lockwood abandons his favourable assessment of Heathcliff and learns the household's identities and restrictions through repeated corrections of his assumptions.
  • Catherine's writings and Heathcliff's response reveal childhood mistreatment and a powerful attachment beneath his reserve, although their full history remains unknown.
  • Lockwood solicits Ellen's history and learns Heathcliff's family connections, obscure origins, childhood reception and use of Earnshaw's protection against Hindley.
  • The history prompts Lockwood to reconsider his disbelief in lifelong love, extending his understanding of the attachment underlying Heathcliff's conduct.
  • Lockwood summons Ellen to continue the history through which he seeks to understand Heathcliff.
  • Ellen supplies Heathcliff's complete history, extending Lockwood's knowledge of him.
  • Lockwood learns of Heathcliff's death and receives Ellen's account of his subsequent history and strange end.
  • Lockwood receives the conclusion of the household's history and visits Heathcliff's grave, completing his acquaintance with Heathcliff's fate without resolving the supernatural uncertainty.

• Lockwood's attraction to a woman at the sea-coast appears reciprocated, but his confusing response undermines her confidence in his interest; she is persuaded to leave, and he acquires a reputation for deliberate heartlessness.

• The house dogs attack Lockwood, who defends himself and calls for help until the kitchen woman disperses them.

  • A renewed attack knocks Lockwood down and stops his escape, but he is subsequently freed from the dogs.

• Lockwood complains to Heathcliff about the dogs' attack, then gives up sulking and resumes civil interaction.

  • The renewed attack and the men's laughter revive and intensify Lockwood's grievance; he demands release and threatens retaliation.

• Lockwood commits to visiting Heathcliff again the following day despite perceiving that he is unwelcome.

  • Lockwood makes the promised return visit and gains admission despite obstacles; the reception makes him cautious about visiting again.

• Lockwood's acquaintance with Catherine begins in coldness and mistaken assumptions; she later supplies information and tries to obtain a guide for him.

  • Lockwood acts as Ellen's messenger and learns more about Catherine's isolation and household grievances; their acquaintance continues through Ellen's favorable accounts of each.

• Lockwood seeks to return safely to the Grange, but snow, refused assistance and the dogs prevent his departure; illness forces him to accept overnight lodging.

  • After further delay, Heathcliff guides Lockwood to Thrushcross Park. Lockwood reaches the Grange despite losing his way and becoming severely chilled and weak.

• Heathcliff commands Catherine harshly, while Catherine reports that she is forbidden to leave the garden's bounds.

  • Heathcliff interrupts the younger Catherine's reading and threatens violence when she asserts her independence. Lockwood's intervention suspends the confrontation without settling it.
  • Heathcliff's destruction of Catherine's books further restricts her life; she retreats on his return and obeys his order to remain in the kitchen until Lockwood leaves.
  • Catherine's confinement to the garden continues during Heathcliff's lifetime, but his death ends his personal enforcement of it.

• Joseph's rebuke provokes Catherine's threats of harm and supernatural punishment, which frighten him into retreat.

• Catherine attempts to direct Hareton to guide Lockwood; Hareton rejects her authority, and she answers with hostile wishes.

• Lockwood seizes Joseph's lantern to leave; Joseph pursues him and summons the dogs to detain him.

  • Lockwood ultimately leaves with Heathcliff's assistance and returns home; Joseph's earlier effort to detain him no longer prevents departure.

• Zillah intervenes on Lockwood's behalf, brings him inside and provides care and a bed.

  • Zillah completes her assistance by lodging Lockwood upstairs, but Heathcliff's threat places her at risk when Lockwood names her as his guide.

• Lockwood seeks to learn about the earlier Catherine through her names and private writings, discovering her childhood alliance with Heathcliff.

  • Lockwood distinguishes the young widow from the earlier Catherine and hears about the earlier Catherine's initial rejection of Heathcliff and their subsequent friendship.
  • Lockwood presses for the detailed continuation of Catherine's history, and Ellen agrees to resume with the next summer.

• The earlier Catherine and Heathcliff form a close childhood alliance, sharing refuge and resisting household discipline together.

  • Ellen's retrospective account establishes that Catherine and Heathcliff became close friends after Catherine initially rejected him.
  • Separation from Heathcliff is used to punish Catherine, showing the importance of their attachment. After her father's death, their shared grief becomes mutual consolation.
  • Catherine shares her lessons with Heathcliff and they repeatedly escape together. When she is injured, she urges him to save himself, but he attempts her rescue, refuses to leave without her and watches for any sign that she wants help leaving the Grange.
  • Despite their painful reunion, Catherine remains distressed by Heathcliff's absence and punishment, seeks his release and crosses the roof to reach him in confinement.
  • Their childhood intimacy deteriorates: Heathcliff abandons educational equality, becomes less responsive to Catherine's affection, and resents the time she gives the Lintons; she wounds him by rejecting his companionship.
  • Catherine affirms an enduring attachment, but Heathcliff hears only her rejection of marriage to him and disappears, preventing communication.
  • Their joyful reunion renews the attachment interrupted by Heathcliff's departure; Catherine's welcome changes his immediate intentions, and regular visits follow.
  • Catherine recalls shared childhood experiences and their forced separation, despairs at returning to her present identity, and vows that death will not separate her permanently from Heathcliff.

• Hindley seeks to subordinate Heathcliff and separate him from Catherine through humiliation, exclusion and threats of expulsion; Catherine suffers and resists.

  • The childhood history supplies Hindley's perceived motive for persecuting Heathcliff and shows escalating violence, threatened expulsion and Heathcliff's successful coercion of a horse exchange.
  • Hindley renews his hatred, reduces Heathcliff to farm labour, removes his instruction and imposes punishments and exclusions on both children. Following the excursion and Linton's rebuke, Heathcliff learns that speaking to Catherine will bring dismissal.
  • Hindley and Frances pursue separation; Hindley excludes and confines Heathcliff, refuses Catherine's request for release and provokes Heathcliff's commitment to revenge.
  • Heathcliff's subordination deepens into educational abandonment and degraded social bearing, while his hostility persists in pleasure at Hindley's decline.
  • Hindley's degradation of Heathcliff shapes Catherine's marriage decision; Hindley plans dismissal, and Catherine threatens to leave with Heathcliff.
  • Hindley's death ends his power to subordinate Heathcliff; Heathcliff becomes master of Wuthering Heights.

• Catherine and Heathcliff resolve to rebel against Hindley's treatment, with Heathcliff proposing that they take the dairywoman's cloak and escape onto the moors.

  • Their proposed resistance through escape becomes a repeated practice of roaming the moors, culminating in a joint excursion to investigate the Lintons.

• Joseph imposes religious discipline on the younger Catherine and Heathcliff; they reject his books, and his report to Hindley brings punishment.

• Heathcliff threatens to expel whoever admitted Lockwood to the sleeping chamber, and Lockwood identifies Zillah as responsible.

• Lockwood decides to leave at daylight and avoid further visits, but Heathcliff's warning about loose dogs prevents his proposed wait in the yard.

  • Lockwood abandons his resolution to avoid social intercourse and actively pursues conversation about his neighbours; no renewed visit is established.

• Heathcliff's intense attachment to the earlier Catherine emerges through rage, grief and a plea for her return; the history of their bond remains unexplained.

  • Ellen begins supplying the history behind Heathcliff's attachment by recounting his close childhood friendship with Catherine.
  • The childhood history further exposes Heathcliff's vulnerability to Catherine's judgement and his desire to regain her company despite his wounded pride.
  • The history reveals Catherine's avowed inseparability from Heathcliff and the partial overhearing followed by his disappearance and her desperate distress.
  • Heathcliff discloses the torment caused by his former suspicion that Catherine preferred Edgar's attachment and now rejects that belief.
  • Heathcliff despairs at Catherine's anticipated death; their renewed embrace and reciprocal forgiveness further reveal the strength of their attachment.
  • Catherine's death intensifies Heathcliff's attachment into anguished demands for haunting, self-injury, and a secret farewell marked by placing his hair in her locket.
  • Heathcliff reveals his attempts to reach Catherine through her corpse and her supposed spirit. Seeing her body brings partial peace, while repeatedly expecting and failing to see her produces continuing anguish.
  • Heathcliff's attachment to the earlier Catherine dominates his perceptions and expectations, displacing his appetite for revenge.
  • Heathcliff addresses Catherine as if present and anticipates his heaven; his burial and the boy's reported sighting extend their attachment beyond his death without establishing an actual reunion.

• Lockwood conceals his reading of Catherine's private writings from Heathcliff, attributing his knowledge of her name to the window ledge.

• After reaching the Grange severely chilled and weak, Lockwood seeks to restore his warmth by changing clothes and pacing.

• Ellen wishes Heathcliff would move to the Grange so that she could reunite with young Catherine.

  • Ellen achieves reunion with Catherine by moving to the Heights at Heathcliff's summons.

• Earnshaw brings the homeless Heathcliff into his family, protects him from rejection and persecution, and gives him special affection and privileges.

  • Earnshaw continues to favour and defend Heathcliff, reacting furiously to Hindley's scorn. His death ends his active protection.

• Ellen initially rejects and mistreats Heathcliff, but nursing him leads her to soften towards him and withdraw her support from Hindley.

  • Ellen's concern for the children leads her to preserve her influence and determine to shelter them against Hindley's orders; Heathcliff returns and tells her where Catherine is.
  • Ellen acts on her sympathy through grooming, encouragement, attempted feeding and acquiescence in Heathcliff's escape, although she cannot cheer him or turn him from revenge.

• Hindley regards Heathcliff as having displaced him in his father's affection and comes to regard his father as an oppressor.

  • Hindley's scorn of Heathcliff provokes his father's fury and attempted beating; Earnshaw subsequently agrees to send Hindley to college.

• Heathcliff seeks Hindley's sound colt in exchange for his lame one, using threatened disclosure of Hindley's violence and intentions to compel agreement.

• Hindley intends to expel Heathcliff after his father's death; Heathcliff threatens to disclose this intention to Earnshaw.

  • After his father's death, Hindley retains Heathcliff as a subordinated labourer, but dismissal becomes an explicit threat if he speaks to Catherine.
  • After Earnshaw's death, Hindley increasingly marginalizes and confines Heathcliff; these events advance his exclusion without establishing that expulsion occurs.
  • Despite acknowledging an obligation to Heathcliff, Hindley renews his intention to dismiss him; Catherine opposes expulsion.
  • Hindley dies without expelling Heathcliff, who instead gains possession of the estate.

• Heathcliff agrees to Ellen's proposal to attribute his bruises to the horse, concealing Hindley's violence.

• Mr. Earnshaw agrees to the curate's proposal to send Hindley to college, offering the household a prospect of peace.

• Joseph gains influence over the declining Mr. Earnshaw and uses it to accuse Catherine, Heathcliff and Hindley.

• Catherine responds to her father's reproofs with provocation, but also seeks reconciliation through affection; his rejection distresses her and erodes their bond before his death.

• Ellen seeks medical and religious assistance after Mr. Earnshaw's death, bringing the doctor back and obtaining the parson's promise to come in the morning.

• Hindley returns with a wife whose dislike of Heathcliff revives and reinforces his hostility toward him.

  • Frances and Hindley now share the explicit intention of separating Catherine from Heathcliff.
  • Frances dies, ending her active participation in Hindley's household hostility toward Heathcliff.

• Hindley's wife initially courts Catherine with affection and presents, but her affection soon fades.

  • Frances's death ends the possibility of further development in her relationship with Catherine.

• Ellen seeks to preserve her influence over the increasingly reckless children by withholding criticism and intends to admit them despite Hindley's prohibition.

  • Ellen continues to preserve influence through practical kindness and accommodation, ultimately overlooking Heathcliff's escape so that he can eat.

• The Grange household initially treats Catherine and Heathcliff as suspected criminal intruders, then welcomes the recognized Catherine while forcibly excluding Heathcliff.

  • The Lintons' exclusion of Heathcliff extends to the Christmas visit: Mrs. Linton requires separation, and Edgar reports promising not to speak to him.

• Catherine gains a welcoming connection with the Linton household, receiving care and entertainment; Heathcliff concludes that Edgar and Isabella admire her.

  • Catherine returns with refined manners and maintains her connection with the Linton children, welcoming them to Wuthering Heights for Christmas.
  • The Lintons' admiration strengthens, Edgar falls deeply in love, and he and Catherine become acknowledged lovers.
  • Mrs. Linton nurses Catherine and takes her to the Grange; Catherine subsequently marries Edgar.

• After Mr. Linton rebukes Hindley over the children's conduct, Hindley's wife undertakes to restrain Catherine through indirect influence upon her return.

  • Catherine's acquired refinement accompanies Frances's explicit participation in the effort to separate her from Heathcliff.
  • Frances dies, preventing further influence, and Catherine's polished behavior among the Lintons coexists with unchecked unruliness at home.

• Catherine's refined appearance and concern over Heathcliff's dirt wound his pride, creating a rupture that both subsequently seek to mend.

  • The rupture deepens as Heathcliff's manner deteriorates and Catherine explicitly rejects the companionship he seeks.

• Ellen undertakes to remedy Heathcliff's neglect by grooming him, encouraging reconciliation with Catherine and securing him food.

• Heathcliff seeks to make himself presentable and approach Catherine pleasantly, while wishing he possessed Edgar's appearance, manners and advantages.

  • Heathcliff abandons efforts to maintain equality with Catherine, becomes increasingly degraded in appearance and manner, and meets rejection when he seeks her company.

• Heathcliff's resentment of Edgar develops into physical aggression when he throws hot apple sauce at him.

• Heathcliff commits to devising revenge against Hindley, however long it takes, and rejects Ellen's appeal to forgive him.

  • Heathcliff's anguish at having saved Hindley's child reveals that his commitment to revenge persists, although his instinctive rescue frustrates this opportunity.
  • Heathcliff reports an immediate revenge-and-suicide plan, then abandons that plan after Catherine welcomes him. He nevertheless wins Hindley's money while Hindley encumbers his estate; the events do not establish that Heathcliff has renounced revenge.
  • Hareton's account supplies evidence that Heathcliff is undermining Hindley through his son and preventing the curate's intervention.
  • Heathcliff violently overcomes Hindley, gains his mortgaged estate and extends his revenge to Hindley's son.
  • Heathcliff reports losing the will to pursue revenge, ending the continuing purpose of the plan through abandonment.

• Lockwood seeks a leisurely, detailed continuation of Ellen's history, resisting both her interruption and her proposed three-year omission.

  • After receiving a detailed continuation, Lockwood agrees to postpone the rest when Ellen ends the late-night conversation.

• Lockwood plans to remain in bed until the following afternoon.

• Frances's death leaves Hindley bereaved; his grief develops into reckless dissipation, household tyranny and social isolation.

  • Hindley's dissipation escalates into potentially lethal household violence; his brief shame passes, and he resumes drinking while rejecting restraint.
  • Hindley's dissipation progresses to borrowing against his land, further gambling losses and an interrupted suicide attempt that injures his restrainer.
  • Hindley's grief and dissipation culminate in his death while drunk.

• Ellen becomes Hareton's sole practical caregiver and chooses to remain in the household for his sake and out of sympathy for Hindley.

  • Ellen protects and teaches Hareton and resists leaving him, but Hindley's command forces her departure and ends her continuing care.
  • Hareton apparently no longer recognizes his former nurse, attacks and curses her, and Ellen leaves without restoring a protective presence.
  • Ellen tries to recover responsibility for Hareton, but Heathcliff prevents his removal and reduces him to a dependent servant.

• Ellen becomes Catherine's confidante and adviser even as her liking for Catherine disappears.

  • Catherine confides her engagement and divided attachments, but Ellen condemns her reasoning and later blames her for Heathcliff's disappearance; Catherine withdraws personal communication for months.
  • Ellen finds Catherine better behaved and moderates her own responses out of regard for Edgar. Catherine seeks her company and confides in her, while Ellen gives direct advice about the marriage.
  • Their confidante relationship becomes openly antagonistic: Ellen refuses Catherine's requested intervention and discloses her intentions to Edgar, provoking Catherine's anger.
  • Catherine comes to regard Ellen as an enemy, interprets her disclosure as betrayal, and attempts to attack her and compel a recantation.

• Catherine maintains polite manners among the Lintons while behaving unruly at home, sustaining their misleadingly favorable view of her until Edgar witnesses her violence and falsehood.

• Catherine and Edgar become acknowledged lovers despite his discovery of her cruelty and his briefly declared intention to stop visiting.

  • Edgar proposes, Catherine accepts and reaffirms her decision, and their courtship culminates in marriage.
  • Catherine and Edgar enjoy a deeply happy marriage, sustained partly by his fear of upsetting her. Heathcliff's return exposes conflicting attachments, but Catherine subsequently makes peace and shows sustained affection.
  • Catherine repudiates Edgar, while his horror at her condition and sustained care reveal his continuing attachment.

• Heathcliff seeks Catherine's exclusive company, while she prepares to entertain Edgar and explicitly disparages Heathcliff's companionship.

  • Catherine chooses marriage to Edgar while intending to retain Heathcliff; Heathcliff leaves after hearing that marriage to him would be degrading.

• Catherine resists Ellen's required chaperonage with physical violence and denial; Edgar's intervention to protect Hareton brings violence against him too.

• Ellen seeks to persuade Edgar to leave Catherine and ride home, but he returns and their attachment becomes openly acknowledged.

• After Hindley returns violently drunk, Ellen sets out to hide Hareton and remove the shot from Hindley's gun to limit his potential violence.

  • Hindley discovers Hareton's hiding place and threatens both child and caregiver. Heathcliff's rescue and Ellen's protective custody avert immediate harm; removal of the gun's shot is not established.

• Hindley's drunken violence endangers Ellen and Hareton; Ellen resolves to prevent him from handling his son.

  • Hindley's death ends the continuing danger of his drunken violence.

• Ellen attempts to restrain Hindley's drinking for his own and Hareton's sake, but he rejects her intervention.

  • Hindley dies while drunk, ending Ellen's effort to restrain his drinking without achieving its protective purpose.

• Catherine plans to use marriage to Edgar to raise Heathcliff out of Hindley's power while preserving her attachment to him and requiring Edgar to tolerate it.

  • Catherine actively seeks Edgar's acceptance of her continuing attachment to Heathcliff and secures courteous reception and regular visits. Her earlier intention to use Edgar's resources to rescue Heathcliff is not shown being carried out.
  • Catherine cannot maintain Edgar's tolerance of her attachment to Heathcliff: Edgar withdraws permission for visits and demands that she choose between them.

• Catherine intends to conceal her love from Heathcliff; he overhears only her judgment that marrying him would degrade her, while Ellen initially conceals his presence and departure from Catherine.

• Catherine seeks the missing Heathcliff and insists on speaking to him; Ellen and Joseph join the unsuccessful search.

  • Heathcliff returns, and Catherine meets and speaks with him, ending her unsuccessful effort to find him.

• Ellen and Catherine attempt to conceal Heathcliff's absence from Hindley.

• Catherine commits to leaving with Heathcliff if Hindley expels him.

• Ellen seeks medical help and nurses Catherine through dangerous fever; Catherine survives and continues her recovery at the Grange.

• After her illness Catherine asserts the authority of an adult mistress, rejects Joseph's lectures and keeps aloof from Hindley, who adopts a policy of indulging her demands.

• Catherine seeks to take Ellen with her into married life; Edgar's offer and Hindley's command overcome Ellen's refusal, and she accompanies Catherine.

  • Ellen's move with Catherine to Thrushcross Grange completes Catherine's plan to take her into married life.

• Hindley intends the curate to take charge of Hareton's instruction after Ellen leaves.

  • Hareton reports the curate's exclusion, enforced by Heathcliff's threat of violence.
  • Hindley's death and Heathcliff's control of Hareton terminate the prospect of Hindley arranging his son's instruction.

• Lockwood seeks recovery from prolonged illness, accepting the doctor's restriction on outdoor activity and discontinuing the powders.

  • Ellen considers Lockwood much better and intends to report his improvement to Kenneth.
  • Lockwood makes further progress toward recovery.
  • Lockwood recovers his strength sufficiently to plan riding to the Heights and leaving for London.

• Catherine's renewed intimacy with Heathcliff provokes Edgar's jealousy and distress; her wish that the men become friends produces a marital quarrel, followed by reconciliation and temporarily accepted visits.

  • The temporarily tolerated visits culminate in expulsion, Catherine's humiliation of Edgar, his demand for an exclusive choice, her violent fit and subsequent withdrawal and refusal of food.
  • Catherine interprets Edgar's withdrawal as indifference, renews her effort to alarm him, threatens to jump if he names Heathcliff, and rejects him while affirming an enduring bond with Heathcliff.
  • Edgar discovers Heathcliff with Catherine and becomes enraged, although her collapse forestalls immediate hostile action.

• Heathcliff intends to remain near Catherine, refuses to be driven away again and arranges paid lodging at Wuthering Heights.

  • Edgar bars Heathcliff from the Grange and brings servants to enforce his departure; Heathcliff abandons immediate retaliation and escapes.
  • Heathcliff remains barred from the Grange and leaves the district with Isabella, obstructing his intention to remain near Catherine.
  • Heathcliff insists on access to Catherine, reports prolonged waiting in the Grange garden, threatens repeated entry attempts and obtains Ellen's conditional assistance.
  • Heathcliff reaches Catherine, refuses immediate departure when she resists, and eventually leaves the house intending to remain nearby.

• Ellen resolves to watch Heathcliff's movements because she suspects his apparent reconciliation with Hindley conceals harmful intentions.

  • Evidence of Heathcliff's influence over Hareton and his advances toward Isabella strengthens Ellen's resolve to oppose his influence at the Grange and prompts her report to Edgar.
  • Isabella's letter supplies Ellen with evidence of violent antagonism beneath Heathcliff and Hindley's shared residence, including Hindley's armed attempts and declared intentions.
  • Ellen investigates Hindley's treatment and discovers both Heathcliff's financial ascendancy and his harmful intentions toward Hareton.

• Isabella develops an unreciprocated love for Heathcliff, suffers emotionally and physically, and persists despite warnings about his character.

  • Heathcliff initiates physical intimacy while declaring an intention to exploit Isabella's feelings; Edgar learns her attitude and threatens the loss of her family connection.
  • Isabella's persistent distress gives way to a commitment to elope, followed by departure with Heathcliff; no reciprocated love is established.
  • Isabella marries Heathcliff, but his rejection of marital intimacy and explicit threats expose the hostility she now faces as his wife.
  • Isabella has discovered that Heathcliff does not love her, and her attachment has become hatred after witnessing and suffering his cruelty.

• Edgar fears Isabella's attachment to Heathcliff and prospective dependence on him, mistakenly believing Heathcliff deliberately cultivated it.

  • Ellen reports Heathcliff's embrace, and Edgar responds to a clearer account of Isabella's attachment by threatening to disown her if she encourages him.
  • The feared attachment culminates in Isabella's flight with Heathcliff, and Edgar responds by refusing pursuit and repudiating their sibling bond.

• Isabella treats Catherine as a rival and false friend; Catherine's warnings become punitive disclosure and teasing, and their hostility escalates into restraint and scratching.

  • Isabella's attachment remains a source of conflict: Catherine intervenes over Heathcliff's advances, briefly offers marriage support, withdraws it and later demands that Isabella be kept away.

• Ellen attempts to dissuade Isabella from marrying Heathcliff, but Isabella rejects her warnings and regards her as an allied persecutor.

  • Isabella commits to elopement and leaves despite Ellen's earlier warnings.
  • The marriage Ellen sought to prevent has occurred. Isabella now seeks her help, but the preventive aim is no longer attainable.
  • The marriage Ellen tried to prevent has occurred; Isabella now recognizes Heathcliff's lack of love and hates him.

• Ellen seeks to visit Hindley and warn him, but fear of Heathcliff drives her away before she can see him.

• Heathcliff encourages Hareton's hostility toward Hindley and obstructs the curate, undermining Hindley's paternal authority and Hareton's instruction.

  • Heathcliff takes control of Hareton's upbringing and degrades his position, while Hareton welcomes his possessive attention.

• Heathcliff intends to exploit Isabella's attachment as an instrument of revenge, while denying that Catherine is his direct target.

  • Heathcliff secures Isabella's departure with him, placing his revenge plan into action and precipitating her rupture with Edgar.
  • Marriage gives Heathcliff access to Isabella, and he explicitly declares that he will punish her in Edgar's stead.
  • Heathcliff's deliberate torment and declared custody of Isabella enact his exploitation of the marriage; Isabella reports that he explicitly named power over Edgar as his motive.
  • Heathcliff continues to use Isabella and his claim over their son as instruments of coercion against Edgar.

• Catherine opposes Heathcliff's exploitation of Isabella, withdrawing her conditional support for their marriage after hearing his intentions.

• Edgar and Heathcliff's hostility becomes physical: Edgar expels and strikes Heathcliff, who threatens retaliation and eventual murder before escaping.

  • Heathcliff renews threats of extreme action against Edgar and proposes violence or armed intimidation if access to Catherine is opposed.
  • Their renewed confrontation brings Edgar's rage, but Catherine's condition diverts him into caring for her and Heathcliff subsequently withdraws.
  • Heathcliff's threats continue to constrain Edgar, who withdraws from public life and abandons intervention over Hareton.

• Ellen intends to conceal from Catherine her contribution to Edgar's intervention and the ensuing disturbance.

  • Ellen's disclosure leads Catherine to infer her betrayal, ending the intended concealment and provoking demands for a recantation.

• Catherine seeks to frighten Edgar with threatened serious illness and conditionally proposes destroying her own health to hurt both him and Heathcliff; Ellen refuses to assist.

  • Catherine renews the demand that Ellen frighten Edgar with her possible death and contemplates starvation; actual delirium develops, Edgar finally discovers her condition, and she adds a threat to jump from the window.

• Catherine withdraws behind a secured chamber door after the confrontation and refuses meals over two days.

  • Catherine ends her barred-door withdrawal and takes nourishment; Edgar enters and assumes her care, although the resulting illness remains serious.

• Edgar threatens to disown Isabella if she encourages Heathcliff's advances.

  • After confirming Isabella's flight, Edgar carries out his threatened disowning, declines pursuit, and orders her property sent to her new home.

• Ellen seeks medical treatment for Catherine's delirium; Kenneth makes recovery conditional on constant tranquillity and fears lasting mental derangement.

  • Catherine survives the acute fever and gradually regains strength, but exhaustion and despondency persist, and complete mental recovery remains an expectation rather than an established outcome.
  • Catherine suffers further physical crises; Ellen's attempted examination is deterred, but she later helps Edgar restore Catherine to consciousness, with bewilderment persisting.
  • Catherine dies without recovering recognition, ending the possibility of recovery through medical treatment.

• Edgar blames Ellen for concealing Catherine's illness and threatens dismissal over further tales; Ellen resolves to leave him to discover information himself.

• Heathcliff urges Isabella to elope; she postpones immediate departure but promises readiness at their next meeting, and they subsequently leave together.

  • The elopement culminates in marriage and the couple's arrival at Wuthering Heights.

• Ellen conceals her discovery of Isabella's flight, but Mary's report and Ellen's subsequent confirmation disclose it to Edgar.

  • Isabella directly informs Edgar of her marriage, completing the disclosure of the flight Ellen had initially concealed.

• Edgar seeks Catherine's bodily and mental recovery through affection, reassurance and changes of surroundings, expecting fuller recovery than her condition warrants.

  • Catherine has regained some bodily strength, but collapses during the visit. Edgar takes charge of her and helps revive her, without restoring recognition.
  • Catherine's death defeats Edgar's efforts to restore her bodily and mental health and leaves him profoundly bereaved.

• Isabella seeks Edgar's remembrance and reconciliation after marrying Heathcliff.

  • Edgar refuses a letter or visit and commits to ending communication with Heathcliff's household; Isabella receives this refusal.
  • Edgar welcomes Isabella's separation from Heathcliff, and brother and sister establish regular correspondence.

• Isabella turns to Ellen as a prospective confidante and ally, asking for an explanation of Heathcliff, news or a token from Edgar, and an urgent visit.

  • Ellen visits, softens Edgar's response and advocates for Isabella's care; Isabella entrusts her with a further request for secrecy.
  • Ellen receives Isabella's account, treats her injury, arranges assistance and later refuses to disclose her address to Heathcliff.

• Isabella's attempts to secure friendship, assistance and ordinary domestic comfort at Wuthering Heights meet Hareton's threats, Joseph's refusal and hostility, and Hindley's intimidating control.

  • Isabella permanently leaves the hostile household rather than securing a place within it.

• Isabella seeks food and a place to rest in the hostile household, undertaking domestic work herself and eventually sheltering in Hareton's room.

  • Escape brings Isabella shelter, wound care, clothing and transport away from Wuthering Heights.

• Hindley intends to recover his losses, seize Heathcliff's gold and kill him; he carries a weapon and repeatedly seeks access to Heathcliff's locked room.

  • Hindley's attempted killing fails, he loses the physical ability to fight Heathcliff, and his death ends his plan without recovering his losses.

• Isabella briefly seeks the power Hindley's weapon could give her, but he takes it back after recognizing her interest.

• Joseph considers leaving service if Isabella assumes authority as a new mistress.

• Heathcliff repudiates Isabella's expectation of a shared marital bedroom and threatens to punish her as Edgar's substitute for Catherine's illness.

  • The threatened punishment develops into reported repeated torment, hatred, obstructed escape, declared custody and forcible expulsion from the room.
  • Heathcliff's violence destroys Isabella's love; she repudiates the marriage and permanently separates from him.

• Isabella asks Ellen to conceal her account of married life from everyone at the Grange.

• Ellen urges Heathcliff to leave Catherine undisturbed, but he threatens detention and forced entry until she abandons her refusal to assist him.

  • Although Ellen initially avoids Heathcliff's pressure, she delivers his letter and he gains access to Catherine, ending this dispute over assistance.

• Isabella resolves to defend Edgar and prevent Heathcliff from using her against him, even at the cost of her life.

  • Isabella deliberately avoids involving Edgar in her escape and establishes a separate residence.

• Isabella wants to escape her marriage, but a previous attempt has left her afraid to try again, and Heathcliff declares that he will keep her in custody.

  • Isabella regains the will to live, escapes during Hindley's intervention and leaves the neighbourhood permanently.

• Ellen seeks a maid and kinder treatment for Isabella from Heathcliff.

  • Isabella's permanent departure ends Ellen's effort to improve her treatment within Heathcliff's household; Ellen instead supplies direct care and assistance.

• Isabella asks Ellen to withhold Heathcliff's conversation from Edgar and Catherine.

• Ellen conditionally agrees to deliver Heathcliff's letter and, if Catherine consents to a meeting, disclose Edgar's absence and keep the servants away; she resolves that this will be her last betrayal of Edgar's trust.

  • Ellen times the letter's delivery for Edgar's absence and sends the manservant away; the meeting takes place, but Edgar returns before Heathcliff leaves and discovers him.

• Lockwood resolves to guard against falling in love with the younger Catherine.

  • Lockwood's interest extends to requesting Catherine's portrait, but he explicitly renews his intention to avoid romantic temptation and return to his usual world.
  • Seeing Catherine with Hareton provokes envy and regret over an imagined lost romantic opportunity; Lockwood avoids the couple.

• Lockwood intends to continue recording Ellen's account in a slightly condensed form.

• Catherine seeks permanent union and renewed closeness with Heathcliff, resisting separation even at the cost of their suffering or death.

  • Catherine dies without recognizing Edgar or missing Heathcliff; permanent closeness in life becomes impossible, and no union beyond death is established.

• Catherine longs to escape her weakened body into an existence beyond it.

  • Death ends Catherine's bodily suffering, but the existence beyond the body that she desired is not established by these events.

• Ellen promises Heathcliff a morning report on Catherine; he intends to wait beneath the garden larches and return if she fails to report.

  • Ellen finds the waiting Heathcliff and delivers her promised report, confirming Catherine's death and describing her final hours, although he already knows or has inferred the death.

• Catherine's death leaves Edgar profoundly bereaved; his attachment continues through his vigil and eventual burial beside her.

  • Edgar withdraws from public life as acute grief becomes consoling melancholy, and his attachment to his daughter grows.
  • Edgar's annual visit to the kirkyard on his daughter's birthday sustains his attachment to her dead mother.

• The prematurely born younger Catherine initially suffers neglect amid the household's grief, then receives compensating care.

  • The younger Catherine receives nursery care and develops a devoted paternal bond with Edgar.

• Heathcliff commits to praying that Catherine cannot rest while he lives and begs her to haunt him so that their connection survives her death.

  • Heathcliff continues praying and repeatedly visiting the Grange while suffering after Catherine's death.
  • Heathcliff recounts continually praying for Catherine's return and becoming convinced of her presence, but the expected sight of her remains unfulfilled.
  • Heathcliff behaves as though Catherine is present, and a later report associates their apparitions; neither establishes that his wish for haunting has been fulfilled.

• The household arranges Catherine's funeral, invites Hindley, and carries out her burial.

  • Hindley's preparation to attend supplies further evidence of the funeral arrangements already carried through to Catherine's burial.

• Ellen enables Heathcliff's secret farewell during Edgar's absence. Heathcliff replaces the light curl in Catherine's locket with his own; Ellen discovers the substitution and secretly joins the two locks.

• Heathcliff conditionally proposes having Hindley confined in an asylum.

• Joseph resolves to obtain Edgar's intervention as magistrate after discovering the bloody assault on Hindley.

• Heathcliff seeks Isabella's whereabouts; Ellen withholds her address, but other servants disclose her residence and her son's existence.

• Heathcliff claims the right to take possession of his son whenever he chooses and uses that claim to deter interference with his custody of Hareton.

  • Heathcliff acts on his previously asserted claim to his son by sending Joseph to fetch Linton; Edgar agrees to send the boy tomorrow, though Joseph demands immediate possession.
  • Heathcliff exercises his previously asserted paternal claim: Linton is delivered into his household and Ellen relinquishes temporary guardianship.

• Edgar's initial coldness toward his daughter gives way to devoted paternal attachment.

  • Edgar personally undertakes Catherine's education, accompanies her outside the park and promises a future excursion; her sadness at his absence further establishes their attachment.
  • Edgar's concern for Catherine's future makes him fear death, and he resumes walking with her while seeking safeguards for her welfare.

• Ellen seeks to establish the circumstances of Hindley's death after suspecting that he received unfair treatment; she obtains an account qualified by Joseph's testimony.

• Ellen seeks to perform Hindley's last duties and secure a respectable funeral, obtaining permission and seeing his coffin carried out.

• Heathcliff intends to keep Hareton and reproduce in his upbringing the degradation he himself suffered.

  • Heathcliff's intention is reported as continuing deprivation of Hareton's education and cultivation. Joseph nevertheless teaches Hareton pride in his name and ancestry.
  • Heathcliff reinforces Hareton's degradation by requiring his subordination to Linton while providing Linton with instruction.
  • Heathcliff's deliberate cultivation of Hareton's ignorance is confirmed, and Hareton's illiteracy exposes him to humiliation.
  • Catherine's instruction and their growing mutual esteem counter Hareton's imposed degradation, while Heathcliff's death ends his ability to perpetuate it.

• Ellen attempts to remove Hareton to the Grange, but Heathcliff threatens to demand his own son in retaliation, causing Edgar to abandon further intervention.

• Catherine seeks to visit Penistone Crags and its Fairy Cave. Edgar defers the journey; she crosses the park boundary during his absence and obtains Hareton's guidance, but Ellen retrieves her before any visit to the crags is established.

• Edgar charges Ellen to keep Catherine within the park, but Ellen's provision of independent outings enables Catherine to escape its bounds. After finding her, Ellen imposes confinement and struggles against her resistance to returning home.

• Ellen seeks the missing Catherine, fearing injury or death, and discovers her safe at Wuthering Heights before bringing her home.

• Catherine and Hareton establish a friendly connection through his guidance and local knowledge, but her assumption that he is a servant provokes insults. The disclosure of their kinship distresses her, and she rejects his attempted reconciliation.

  • Their kinship is reaffirmed and Hareton accompanies Catherine around the farm, but her amusement at his ignorance renews his resentment and ends in his humiliated withdrawal.
  • Catherine ridicules Hareton's limited reading, their hostility escalates into threats and physical confrontation, and he later avoids her.
  • Hareton prepares to please Catherine, supplies books and seeks shared reading, but she rejects his proximity and overtures with contempt; he abandons his accommodating behavior and answers her with hostility.
  • Hareton relents over Ellen's letter, but Catherine's ridicule and rejection of his books intensify their hostility. He strikes her mouth and burns the books, obstructing reconciliation.
  • Catherine actively seeks kinship and forgiveness. Hareton initially rejects her, then accepts her gift and companionship; reconciliation grows into love and mutual esteem.
  • Catherine and Hareton collaborate, overcome disagreement about Heathcliff, and deepen their friendship through teaching and encouragement.

• Ellen persuades Catherine to conceal her unauthorized excursion and encounter with the Heights household from Edgar by invoking his hostility toward them and the risk of Ellen's dismissal. Catherine abandons her proposed complaint and keeps her promise of silence.

  • The renewed visit remains undisclosed to Edgar, who believes they stayed in the park. Ellen subsequently overlooks signs she might have associated with further rides.

• Catherine discloses Edgar's journey to fetch her cousin to Hareton and the housekeeper, giving the Heights household information Ellen fears will reach Heathcliff.

• Catherine welcomes Linton as her cousin and seeks to nurture him; her affectionate attention comforts him after his bereavement and exhausting journey.

  • Linton is removed from Catherine's company, and Edgar orders his nearby destination concealed from her, obstructing her continued care and companionship.
  • After separation and fading memory, Catherine joyfully renews acquaintance with Linton; concern and promised books develop into reciprocal love letters and her professed romantic attachment.
  • Heathcliff's account renews Catherine's distress for Linton and prompts her to seek him out with assurances of continued affection.
  • Catherine renews her affection and care for Linton. Their quarrel and his injury disrupt the visit, but they reconcile and enjoy her recitation of ballads.
  • Shared pleasures and reconciliation sustain Catherine's affection despite Linton's selfishness; she resumes visiting from duty and intervenes against Heathcliff's cruelty.

• Edgar seeks to retain Linton in accordance with Isabella's wishes, but Heathcliff's demand for his son obstructs this intention.

  • Edgar yields to Heathcliff's demand and sends Linton away, abandoning his immediate attempt to retain him in accordance with Isabella's wishes.
  • Edgar conditionally promises to recover Linton and seeks information about his outings, but no return to his care is obtained.

• Joseph insists on taking Linton immediately for Heathcliff; Edgar refuses to wake the exhausted boy, postpones his departure until tomorrow and removes Joseph from the library.

  • The dispute over Linton's immediate removal ends with his delivery to Heathcliff the following morning.

• Edgar commits to sending Linton to Wuthering Heights the following day.

  • Ellen carries out Edgar's commission, takes Linton to Wuthering Heights and leaves him there.

• Edgar instructs Ellen to conceal Linton's destination and nearby residence from Catherine.

  • Catherine discovers Linton's nearby residence and Heathcliff's identity, confronts the concealment and learns Edgar's protective reason for it.

• Ellen and Edgar overcome Linton's resistance with false assurances that his absence will be short and that Edgar and Catherine will visit.

• Linton meets his previously unknown father with fear and tears; Heathcliff treats him roughly and privately expresses contempt while undertaking to maintain him.

  • Heathcliff's dislike increases and he repeatedly dismisses Linton from his presence; Ellen attributes the boy's worsening disposition to his lack of sympathy.
  • Catherine witnesses Heathcliff cruelly rebuking Linton and interrupts him, exposing the continuing harshness of their relationship.

• Heathcliff intends to use Linton for dynastic advantage, preserving his health, arranging his education and establishing his superiority over Hareton.

  • Heathcliff makes Catherine and Linton's marriage an explicit objective and clarifies his own prospective property advantage, while Linton's persistent frailty complicates the scheme and Hareton remains deliberately degraded.
  • Heathcliff supervises Linton's exchanges with Edgar and intensifies coercion despite his son's approaching death to advance his acquisitive plans.
  • Heathcliff advances his dynastic use of Linton by detaining Catherine and requiring marriage before she can return to Edgar.
  • Heathcliff's dynastic scheme extends to Catherine's personal fortune, and his corrupt agent takes control of the Grange's affairs after Edgar's death.
  • Heathcliff's exploitation of Linton culminates in possession of his movable estate, including Catherine's former property; Linton's death ends the project of maintaining and educating him.

• Ellen plans to reassure Edgar that Heathcliff's self-interest will secure tolerable treatment for Linton.

  • Reports of illness, paternal dislike and emotional neglect undermine Ellen's intended reassurance that self-interest will secure tolerable treatment; she wishes Linton had remained at the Grange, although his conduct also erodes her sympathy.

• Linton seeks to leave Wuthering Heights and prevent Ellen from abandoning him, but the household prevents his departure and Ellen rides away.

• Linton and Hareton's unsuccessful companionship develops into explicit humiliation when Linton exposes Hareton's illiteracy and joins Catherine in mocking him.

  • Heathcliff reports sustained ridicule of Linton by Hareton, suggesting that their antagonism continues; the report is not independently confirmed.
  • Hareton and Linton's antagonism becomes physical and precipitates Linton's collapse; Hareton assists him afterward, and Linton subsequently exonerates Hareton while blaming Catherine.

• Heathcliff determines to marry Catherine to Linton and promotes their contact, intending to use Hareton as a rival if Linton fails to attract her.

  • Heathcliff promotes renewed contact by alleging that separation is killing Linton and urging Catherine to save him through a visit; she sets out for the Heights.
  • Linton's controlled appeals help secure Edgar's permission for regular meetings with Catherine, advancing the contact Heathcliff needs for his marriage scheme.
  • The proposed marriage becomes a coercive arrangement for the next morning; Catherine promises compliance, but no completed marriage is established.
  • Catherine's marriage to Linton is established as accomplished when Ellen requests reassurance about it before her reunion with Edgar.

• Edgar and Ellen seek to protect Catherine from Heathcliff by ending her contact with Linton, while Catherine resists separation and attempts to maintain it.

  • Ellen removes Catherine from Heathcliff and challenges his claims, but Catherine insists on seeing Linton and ultimately obtains Ellen's accompaniment.
  • Ellen attempts to end the visit and prohibit its repetition; Catherine resists and apparently privately assures Linton she will return. Ellen threatens disclosure to Edgar, but her subsequent illness impairs her supervision.
  • Catherine evades the restrictions through secret visits. Ellen informs Edgar, who forbids further visits despite Catherine's pleas but offers contact at the Grange.
  • Catherine initially obeys the restrictions and Edgar maintains them conditionally, but her persuasion and Linton's repeated appeals lead him to permit supervised meetings on the moors.
  • Edgar reluctantly permits an accompanied visit, allowing contact to resume; Catherine promises another meeting.
  • Ellen cannot protect Catherine from Heathcliff: both are imprisoned, her physical intervention fails, and he separates Catherine from her.

• Catherine proposes regular visits to Linton, then proposes bringing him to the Grange when she learns of the fathers' quarrel; Linton instead asks her to visit him because he cannot manage the walk.

  • The previously proposed visit becomes an immediate undertaking: Catherine and Ellen depart for Wuthering Heights.
  • Catherine proposes spending half her time with Linton if Edgar permits, intends to avoid Heathcliff, and apparently promises another visit despite Ellen's prohibition.
  • Catherine establishes repeated visits and renews them after quarrels, but Edgar's explicit prohibition blocks their continuation; he promises instead to invite Linton to the Grange.
  • After an immediate meeting is refused, Catherine obtains permission for approximately weekly meetings with Linton near the Grange under Ellen's supervision.

• Catherine's trust in Ellen deteriorates over concealed information, Ellen's condemnation of the Heights household, and her coercive destruction of Catherine's letters.

  • Catherine resists Ellen's attempt to discredit Heathcliff, and they part on hostile terms before Ellen yields to the proposed visit.
  • Ellen's prohibition and threat of disclosure deepen their disagreement, while her careless prediction of Linton's death hurts Catherine.
  • Ellen is hurt by Catherine's deception and contempt for Hareton. Catherine confides in her and requests secrecy, but Ellen discloses the visits to Edgar, betraying her confidence.

• Ellen undertakes to stop the correspondence, obtains Catherine's promise to exchange nothing further with Linton, destroys the confiscated letters and directs Linton to stop writing; further letters nevertheless arrive through the messenger.

• Catherine and Linton sustain forbidden correspondence through the milk-fetcher; Ellen discovers and confiscates the letters, then conceals the affair from Edgar in exchange for Catherine's promise to stop.

  • Heathcliff reveals his ability and willingness to expose the forbidden letters to Edgar, making the concealed correspondence a means of coercion.

• Catherine seeks to recover or preserve Linton's letters without Edgar learning of them, but Ellen's threats compel her to surrender even the fragments she rescues.

• Edgar seeks to improve Catherine's health and spirits through less reading and more exercise; Ellen undertakes to accompany her and cheer her during his illness.

  • Ellen's illness prevents her from performing her duties for three weeks, obstructing her undertaking to accompany Catherine.

• Catherine vows never knowingly to distress her father and shows concern for his illness.

  • Catherine continues attending her ill father while also nursing Ellen.
  • Catherine feels sorrow over concealing her visits from Edgar, yet continues them; their eventual disclosure alarms and distresses him, exposing the conflict between her conduct and her vow.
  • Knowing Edgar is dying, Catherine repeatedly seeks to return or send reassurance, but Heathcliff prevents her from doing so.
  • Catherine promises not to complain to Edgar and restrains her grief during their final reunion.

• Heathcliff threatens to disclose Catherine's letters to Edgar to enforce her compliance.

• Catherine resolves to establish Linton's actual condition and reassure him that her affection continues and her silence was imposed.

  • Catherine sees Linton's physical frailty herself, learns that Heathcliff has represented her absence as contempt, and explicitly assures Linton of her love; their friendship is renewed after the quarrel.

• Ellen agrees to accompany Catherine to Linton, hoping his reception will disprove Heathcliff's account of his suffering.

  • Ellen accompanies Catherine and completes the visit. Its outcome does not establish Heathcliff's account as true: Ellen concludes that Linton deliberately harasses Catherine.

• Catherine and Linton quarrel over their parents; Catherine injures him with a push, and his subsequent distress and insistence that she repair the harm draw her back into attending him.

  • Further disagreements and Linton's accusations nearly make Catherine end the visits. She returns from duty, then accepts his professions of love and remorse and forgives him.

• Ellen resolves to prevent further visits by repairing the lock and threatens to inform Edgar if Catherine returns, making continued intimacy dependent on his permission.

  • Ellen's attempted prevention fails during her illness, but after discovering the visits she carries out her threatened disclosure and obtains Edgar's explicit prohibition.

• During Ellen's three-week illness, Catherine nurses and comforts her alongside attending her father.

  • As Ellen recovers enough to leave her chamber, Catherine continues attending her by agreeing to read aloud.

• Catherine conceals repeated evening visits to Linton from Edgar and Ellen, obtaining a park-door key and securing Michael's assistance with her pony through gifts; Ellen discovers the arrangement and discloses it to Edgar.

• Catherine and Linton plan summer outings together and agree to try both of their contrasting forms of outdoor pleasure.

  • Linton has no horse and appears too weak for walking, preventing the proposed shared ride. Catherine proposes a conditional ride to Grange Park the following week.

• Hareton seeks Catherine's recognition of his progress in reading, but her contempt humiliates him.

  • Hareton's private reading practice meets renewed ridicule rather than recognition. He renounces the books and burns them in anguish; Lockwood interprets Catherine's hoped-for approval as a motive for his efforts.
  • After ridicule drives Hareton to abandon reading, Catherine offers instruction and becomes his affectionate teacher, supplying the recognition previously denied him.

• Hareton forcibly excludes Linton and Catherine from the sitting room; Linton's furious resistance ends in a physical collapse, after which Hareton helps carry him upstairs.

• Edgar promises to invite Linton to the Grange as an alternative to Catherine's forbidden visits to Wuthering Heights.

  • Edgar renews his invitation, but Linton's instructed reply alleges paternal prohibition; correspondence continues and supervised moorland meetings become the agreed alternative.

• Facing declining health, Edgar seeks to assess whether Linton can be trusted with Catherine's future welfare; concern for her makes him fear death.

  • Despite the visit, Edgar receives only a restrained account and little clarification from Ellen, leaving him without a reliable assessment of Linton's condition or Catherine's prospects with him.
  • Edgar declines rapidly while trusting Linton with Catherine's welfare; Ellen withholds correction, and his letter's appeal for kindness does not give him an accurate assessment.
  • Linton's inability to sympathise with Catherine becomes clear to Ellen. Edgar attempts a financial safeguard, but dies without securing the intended protection.

• Ellen promises to remain Catherine's lifelong friend and adviser if Edgar dies.

  • Ellen attempts to protect and advise Catherine, but continued imprisonment and their forced separation obstruct her promised support.
  • Ellen acts to rescue and care for Catherine through Edgar's death and remains at the Grange when the other servants receive notice.
  • Ellen seeks to accompany Catherine and Catherine asks her to visit, but Heathcliff forbids visits and removes Catherine from the Grange.
  • Ellen obtains only an indirect account of Catherine's circumstances and cannot provide sustained companionship; her proposed cottage offers a new means of fulfilling her promise, but she expects Heathcliff's opposition.
  • Ellen resumes living with Catherine, restores her amusements and helps mediate her reconciliation with Hareton.
  • Ellen remains closely involved in Catherine's domestic life as Catherine and Hareton prepare their shared future.

• Heathcliff controls Linton's correspondence and coerces his dying son into appearing eager for meetings, concealing the pressure behind his appeals and misleading Ellen about his prospects of recovery.

  • Linton requests reassuring reports despite visible weakness and reveals fear of Heathcliff's anger. His terror and efforts to retain Catherine expose signs of coercion, but its full circumstances remain undisclosed and Edgar receives little clarification.
  • Linton discloses threats and his obligation to bring Catherine home; Ellen recognizes the lure, and both women learn the marriage scheme. Heathcliff's coercion continues despite this disclosure.

• Catherine's pleasure in seeing Linton gives way to disappointment at his indifference, then pity and uncertainty about his suffering and circumstances.

  • Catherine moves from impatience to renewed compassion, then discovers Linton's involvement in her detention and has to contest his efforts to keep her there.
  • Linton's pleasure in her punishment leads Catherine to stop speaking to him, but he subsequently responds to her anguish by enabling her escape and suffers for it.

• Linton seeks to prolong Catherine's visit and secure her return, becoming frightened when she proposes leaving and clinging to her as he warns that Heathcliff approaches.

  • Linton secures Catherine's continued company and brings her into the Heights as his father requires; his immediate terror subsides once she is inside.

• Ellen deliberately leaves Edgar's favorable misconception of Linton uncorrected, preserving his comfort about Catherine's future companionship.

  • Ellen gives Edgar a selective account and asks Catherine to reassure him about her marriage. Catherine agrees not to complain, preserving his comfort until death.

• Catherine seeks to return to her dying father, offering immediate marriage to Linton in exchange for release and asking that Ellen at least be allowed to reassure him.

  • After offering her possessions for release, Catherine escapes and reaches Edgar while he is still alive.

• Linton's dependence on Heathcliff makes him an accomplice in Catherine's captivity: he lures her inside and then urges her to remain despite her need to return to Edgar.

  • Linton initially endorses confinement and summons Heathcliff against Catherine, but her anguish eventually moves him to defy his father and assist her escape despite the consequences.
  • Linton's assistance in Catherine's escape establishes resistance to his earlier complicity, but Heathcliff discovers it and punishes him into enduring terror; his expressed retaliation remains conditional on strength he lacks.
  • Linton's death ends his capacity to assist Heathcliff in controlling Catherine.

• Heathcliff imprisons Catherine and Ellen to compel Catherine's marriage to Linton, using violence, threats and separation to defeat their resistance.

  • Heathcliff releases Ellen but continues Catherine's violent confinement after the marriage. Catherine eventually escapes with Linton's help.

• Catherine and Ellen seek an escape from Wuthering Heights through doors, windows or the garret; Catherine proposes breaking or burning an exit.

  • Linton unlocks Catherine's room, allowing her to find an escape route through her mother's window and descend by the fir-tree.

• Ellen seeks outside intervention against the detention and forced marriage, threatening to inform the authorities and repeatedly appealing to Hareton for justice or compassion.

  • Ellen sends armed rescuers, whose attempt fails, and plans a larger intervention. Catherine's independent return removes the immediate need for rescue; Heathcliff has not been held accountable.

• Grange servants search for the missing Catherine and Ellen, reaching Wuthering Heights without securing their release.

  • Ellen returns and reports Catherine alive; Catherine subsequently reaches the Grange herself, ending their disappearance.

• Heathcliff conceals Ellen and Catherine's detention behind a story that they were found after being lost, while village rumours place them in the marsh.

• Linton asserts ownership of Catherine's possessions and supports her confinement; their dispute over her parents' portraits brings Heathcliff's violence and Catherine's refusal to speak to Linton.

  • Linton's death ends their direct dispute, while his coerced bequest transfers the property he claimed to Heathcliff and leaves Catherine dispossessed.

• Edgar seeks to protect Catherine's personal fortune from Heathcliff by placing it in trust, but Mr. Green delays until after Edgar's death, leaving the intended alteration uncompleted.

  • Edgar's uncompleted protective arrangement fails in its purpose: Catherine's former property passes to Heathcliff, and she lacks the money to challenge his possession.

• Catherine reaches her father's bedside before his death, bringing him joy while she confronts his loss in silent despair.

• Mr. Green enters Heathcliff's corrupt service and assumes control of the Grange's affairs, dismissing its servants except Ellen.

• Mr. Green would divert Edgar's burial to the family chapel, but Edgar's will and Ellen's protests prevent the change.

• Ellen seeks to keep Catherine and Linton at the Grange, then proposes exchanging posts with Zillah so she can accompany Catherine to the Heights.

  • Catherine remains at the Heights through Linton's final illness and death, with Zillah still serving there; Ellen turns instead to a plan for a separate cottage.
  • Zillah's departure and Heathcliff's summons allow Ellen to accompany Catherine at the Heights.

• Heathcliff forces Catherine to leave the Grange for Wuthering Heights, overriding her wish to escape him and restricting her departure.

  • Catherine is established at the Heights and deprived of independent means; Ellen expects Heathcliff to obstruct an alternative home.
  • Heathcliff continues restricting Catherine and limiting contact with her, but his death ends their coercive household conflict.

• Heathcliff punishes Linton for helping Catherine escape, deepening Linton's terror; Linton expresses a wish to retaliate if he were stronger.

  • Linton's death ends both his exposure to further punishment and his conditional hope of retaliating against Heathcliff.

• Heathcliff intends to let the Grange and make Catherine work after Linton's death.

• Catherine intends to go to Linton and protect him from Heathcliff.

  • Catherine reaches Linton and nurses him, but cannot secure assistance or medical treatment before his death.

• Catherine prepares to face her hostile future household by taking pleasure in her enemies' grief.

  • Catherine meets the household's overtures with contempt and withdrawal, provoking Hareton's anger and Zillah's coldness; no pleasure in their grief is established.
  • Catherine moves away from antagonizing her household toward repairing harm, acknowledging Hareton's kindness and forming a loving alliance.
  • Catherine qualifies her retaliatory stance by regretting her attempt to turn Hareton against Heathcliff and restraining herself for Hareton's sake.

• Heathcliff intends to have Catherine's portrait sent to Wuthering Heights.

• Heathcliff bribes the sexton to arrange his burial beside Catherine with their adjoining coffin sides removed.

  • Heathcliff entrusts Ellen with his burial instructions, including the two coffins, and is subsequently buried according to his wishes.

• Catherine seeks help nursing the dying Linton and asks for a doctor, but Heathcliff refuses treatment and Zillah avoids intervening; Catherine nurses him alone until his death.

• Catherine and Zillah become mutually hostile: Catherine resents the withheld help during Linton's decline, rejects later friendliness as hypocrisy, and meets renewed coldness.

• Heathcliff takes Linton's movable estate, including Catherine's former property, through a coerced will and retains the lands, leaving Catherine without money to challenge his possession.

  • Catherine declares her intention to expose Heathcliff's appropriation of her and Hareton's property to Hareton; no restoration is established.
  • Heathcliff's death ends his personal control over Catherine's property and residence; her announced future at the Grange establishes her release from his domination, although no legal accounting is supplied.

• Ellen resolves to leave service, obtain a cottage and bring Catherine to live with her, while expecting Heathcliff to prevent the arrangement.

  • Ellen secures shared residence and renewed care of Catherine through a different arrangement. Initial hopes of comfort prove premature, but Heathcliff's death removes his prospective obstruction; the cottage plan is not shown as fulfilled.

• Lockwood plans to visit Heathcliff and announce a six-month stay in London; he rejects another winter at the Grange and will allow a replacement tenant after October.

  • Lockwood gives Heathcliff notice that he will leave for London next week and relinquish the Grange when his twelve-month tenancy ends. Heathcliff declines immediate settlement, and Lockwood departs the Heights.
  • Lockwood returns to settle the tenancy's business and announces departure the next day, learning that payment must now be arranged with Catherine or Ellen.

• Catherine wishes to answer Ellen's letter but lacks writing materials; Lockwood delivers Ellen's message despite Hareton's brief attempt to reserve it for Heathcliff's inspection.

• Catherine seeks access to reading after Heathcliff destroys her books, searching Joseph's books and discovering Hareton's collection; her rejection of the returned books ends with Hareton burning them.

  • Ellen restores Catherine's access to books from the Grange, and Catherine can supply books and teach Hareton despite Joseph's subsequent threats.

• Lockwood returns to settle his rent, lodge at the Grange overnight and depart the following day; Heathcliff's death redirects the settlement to Catherine or Ellen acting for her.

• Catherine seeks to repair the harm her ridicule caused Hareton's education by offering books and reading lessons; his initial refusals eventually give way to acceptance.

  • Catherine's accepted teaching now produces rapid intellectual progress in Hareton.
  • Their cooperative domestic activity and announced marriage show that Catherine's attempted reconciliation has developed into an enduring partnership.

• Heathcliff increasingly withdraws his companionship from Hareton, whose defenses of Catherine have angered him.

  • Hareton remains deeply loyal despite Heathcliff's hostility; Heathcliff finds his resemblance to Catherine and his embodiment of their shared past disturbing, then relinquishes interference.
  • Heathcliff withdraws from shared meals and dismisses Hareton's concerned approach; his death ends the withdrawal, while Hareton's vigil demonstrates continuing attachment.

• Joseph opposes Catherine and Hareton's intimacy, orders Hareton away and threatens to conceal Catherine's books; Catherine threatens retaliation against his library.

  • Joseph's opposition to the cousins intensifies after their gardening destroys his shrubs, prompting a threat to leave and Hareton's promise of restitution.

• Catherine and Hareton plan a flower bed stocked with plants from the Grange, uprooting Joseph's established bushes to make room.

  • The garden is relocated in response to Joseph's complaints, and Catherine and Hareton continue planting and arranging it.

• Joseph protests the destruction of his garden and threatens to leave service; Hareton undertakes to replant the bushes.

  • Relocating the garden accommodates Joseph's complaints; the events do not establish whether Hareton replants the original bushes.

• Catherine's defiance brings Heathcliff's order for her expulsion from the room and a physical assault, which he abandons before sending her away.

  • Heathcliff continues to order Catherine away but increasingly withdraws himself, later seeks her company with an assurance against harm, and dies, ending his power to assault or expel her.

• Hareton's attachment to Heathcliff limits his alliance with Catherine: he refuses disparagement, and she learns to respect his loyalty rather than try to divide them.

  • Hareton maintains concern and profound affection for Heathcliff while his relationship with Catherine progresses toward marriage.

• Heathcliff awaits the imminent fulfilment of a consuming wish, while obsessive reminders of the earlier Catherine displace his interest in ordinary life and revenge; the precise expected fulfilment remains undisclosed.

  • Heathcliff's consuming anticipation dominates his final days and ends with his death. His apparent attention to Catherine suggests the wish's object, but its actual fulfilment remains unverified.

• Ellen seeks to understand Heathcliff's altered behavior, then to preserve his health through food, rest and medical attention; he resists her interventions and dies without examination.

• Ellen seeks to persuade Heathcliff to receive religious counsel before death, but he refuses.

• Ellen withholds Heathcliff's four days without food from Kenneth, concealing information relevant to his unexplained death.

• Catherine and Hareton intend to marry and live at the Grange, with arrangements made for the Heights.

Places

Thrushcross Grange, Wuthering Heights, London, The chapel of Gimmerden Sough, Thrushcross Park, Liverpool, Gimmerton, Penistone Crags, Gimmerton Chapel, Fairy Cave, Gimmerton kirkyard, Blackhorse marsh