Wuthering Heights

WUTHERING HEIGHTS

Abridged by Sable Pradhan and Lalremkimi

Originally written by Emily Bronte in 1847.

Mr. Lockwood rushed toward his landlord, Mr. Heathcliff who seemed to radiated an aura of a strict, calm and reserved person. The conversation between the two men did not go as smoothly as Mr. Lockwood had imagined. He did not feel even a little bit welcomed by his landlord. Despite their short and half-hearted interaction, Mr. Lockwood was invited by Mr. Heathcliff into his estate, Thrushcross Grange.

“Walk in!” was his inviting statement. The Grange was home to Mr. Heathcliff's manor named, Wuthering Heights. ‘Wuthering’ was the local adjective used to describe the stormy and disorderly atmosphere of the area that the mansion was stationed in. While passing the threshold of the manor, Mr. Lockwood noticed the date “1500” and the name “Hareton Earnshaw” inscribed on the door. He thought better than to ponder over the inscription, considering his landlord’s surly attitude. The manor was huge and gave off an eerie feeling. Everything in it seemed old, a little rustic. The halls seemed lonely, there was little noise of clanking utensils coming from the kitchen and just under the dresser was a mother hound with a swarm of puppies. Mr. Lockwood took a seat at one end of the hearthstone opposite to Mr. Heathcliff and in order to fill up the awkward silence that had overcome them, he attempted to caress the mother hound, earning a loud snarl from the dog. “You’d better let the dog alone”, Mr. Heathcliff warned and walked out in search of Joseph, one of his servants, leaving Mr. Lockwood alone with the dogs. A little teasing from Mr. Lockwood’s end and the hound, along with her puppies, ferociously jumped at him. After multiple call for help, Mr. Heathcliff and Joseph came in to save the poor man from the animals. This attack made Mr. Lockwood feel extremely disrespected and angry.

The next day, despite the lack of any invitation, Mr. Lockwood decides to visit Wuthering Heights. Upon his arrival to the said manor, he is chased away by Joseph who claims that Mr. Heathcliff was not at home. As he starts walking back, he notices a young, dark-skinned lad waving at him, signaling to approach him. The boy leads Mr. Lockwood into the living where a young, beautiful girl was seated beside the fireplace. She had an unreadable expression and Mr. Lockwood’s attempts to make conversation with her were all in vain. Mr. Heathcliff soon joined the tiny group and rudely, demanded for tea. Any idea that Mr. Heathcliff was mannerly man was erased from Mr. Lockwood’s mind after his sharp words towards the young lady, who Mr. Lockwood assumed was Mr. Heathcliff's wife. “Mrs. Heathcliff is my daughter-in-law”, Mr. Heathcliff clarified. Some understanding dawned upon Mr. Lockwood as he turned towards the young man and asked, “You must be her husband then” Mr. Heathcliff scoffed and wore an expression that was hard to interpret. “This young man is not my son, assuredly. My son, her husband is dead”, Mr. Heathcliff spoke. “My name is Hareton Earnshaw”, growled the young man, “and I’d counsel you to respect it!” After a very silent and awkward dinner, it was time for Mr. Lockwood to return. However, due to the heavy storm outside, it would be easy for any newcomer to lose their way. Nobody is the manor was willing to escort Mr. Lockwood back for various and selfish reasons so he decided to borrow a lantern and started his journey. “Master! Master! He’s stealing the lantern!”, Joseph shouted from the manor and let the dogs out to stop Mr. Lockwood. Immediately, two large hounds rushed out and pounced on him. Zillah, their stout and rosy-cheeked housemaid, was the only person who cared enough to save Mr. Lockwood from the beastly animals. She helped him up and escorted him into the manor. He was in no condition to journey on due to his bleeding nose and dimming consciousness. So, Zillah took him up to one of the abandoned rooms of the manor. “Do not let anybody find out that you’re here”, Zillah warned in a whisper, leaving Mr. Lockwood alone with his thoughts.

The room seemed old, traditional and had the same mysterious aura that lurked about the entire manor. He looked around to find more details of its former owner and found some words inscribed in the ledger where he had placed his candle. He deciphered the words and found the names ‘Catherine Earnshaw’, ‘Catherine Heathcliff’ and ‘Catherine Linton’ repeated multiple times. He also found old diary dating some 25 years back. It bore the inscription ‘Catherine Earnshaw, her book’. It seemed like the diary documented some of the events in Catherine’s childhood. As he read along, Mr. Lockwood understood that Catherine and Heathcliff were mistreated by her cruel older brother, Hindley and his wife for the silliest reason. Tired and unwell from the day’s events, Mr. Lockwood finds himself slowly drifting off to sleep. However, his sleep is not peaceful. His dreams are filled with terrifying images and horrible sounds. This sleep is short-lived as he is woken up by the sound of a fir branch tapping on the window. Irritated and disturbed, he is determined to break off the branch by reaching his arm out of the window. Instead if the branch, he grabs hold of an icy, thin hand. Fear and horror overcame him but he cannot retrieve his hand. The ghostly hand grips his hand tighter while a melancholic voice sob, “Let me in! Let me in!” The sound of the window, the sound of Mr. Lockwood’s terrified screams and the sound of books falling created so much noise that loud enough to awaken Mr. Heathcliff. Mr. Lockwood rushes out in crying that the room is haunted, while Mr. Heathcliff cries out for Catherine to return.

Mr. Lockwood returns home to the relief of his servants who were under the impression that he had died. Curious and lonely, he asks Nelly, his housemaid to tell him about the family that resides in Wuthering Heights. Everything began with the arrival of Heathcliff. A young boy who Mr. Earnshawhad taken in from the streets of Liverpool. Adopting him into the family was not accepted well by Mrs. Earnshaw nor their two children, Catherine and Hindley. In course of time, however, young Catherine and Heathcliff soon grew close and became good friends. “Heathcliff was the quietest child that ever nurse watched over. He was uncomplaining and gave little trouble”, Nelly described young Heathcliff.

Despite his calm nature, Mrs. Earnshaw and Hindley do not learn to trust him. They cannot accept him into their family. So, following the death of Mrs. Earnshaw, HIndley is left without an ally against Heathcliff. Hindley is sent off to college by his father who is disappointed by his behavior towards Heathcliff. Mr. Earnshaw had always been very strict and formal with his children so when his health takes a bad turn, Catherine began acting out. She became very mischievous and caused trouble for all the workers in Wuthering Heights. After the death of her father, Hidnley comes back home with his new wife, Frances. Hindley now becomes the master of the house. This is when the mistreatment of Catherine and Heathcliff began. One day Heathcliff and Catherine had been spying on the Linton children, Edgar and Isabella. Unfortunately, the two of them were caught by the family dog who got a good bite of Catherine’s uncle. Looking at Heathcliff’s shabby and rough appearance, the Lintons did not want him playing around their children but escorted Catherine into Thrushcross Grange where she stayed until she recovered. Catherine returned home just in time for Christmas from the Grange where she learned all the lady-like manners and skills. She appeared in Wuthering Heights, wearing a beautiful dress and walking with grace. Despite her love for Heathcliff, she did not want to be around him because she had grown accustomed to the Linton children and their fine manners. Hurt and offended, Heathcliff cried, “I shall be as dirty as I please: and I like to be dirty, and I will be dirty!” Catherine, who was now referred to as Miss Cathy, failed to understand how her words might have hurt Heathcliff and she left feeling disturbed and confused.

“Nelly”, Catherine whispered one night.

“Yes, Miss Cathy”

“Today, Edgar Linton has asked me to marry him and I’ve given him an answer.

I accepted him, Nelly. Do you think I was wrong?”

“Do you love him?”

“I do, of course.”

“Why?” Cathy then went on to reasons that were not at all satisfactory to Nelly. In the end, she resorted to her final justification as to why she loves him. “He will be rich and I shall like to the greatest woman in the neighborhood, and I shall be proud of having such a husband.” Nelly does not try convincing Cathy out of her decision. She was extremely determined to marry Edgar Linton. However, before their conversation ends, Cathy reveals her final secret to Nelly.

“It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I loved him: and that, not because he is handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

A little movement from the bench outside told Nelly that Heathcliff had been listening to them all alone. He had heard Cathy say that marrying him would degrade her but not the fact that she was deeply in love with him. Around dinner time, when everybody is called, there is no sign of Heathcliff. He is not in his room, nor the shed, not the fields, nor the attic. Cathy and all the other servants of Wuthering Heights immediately set out to look for him but to no avail. However, Cathy does not give up and continues to look for him despite the rain. She grows extremely sick and there is little hope of her recovering. The Lintons immediately took Cathy in and nursed her until her health got better. Mr. and Mrs. Linton fell prey to an infection that had been around and passed away. Three years after the death of Edgar’s parents, he married Cathy, making her the mistress of Thrushcross Grange. Six months later, to Cathy’s delight, Nelly announced the arrival of Heathcliff to Thrushcross Grange. During the three years that he had been away, Heathcliff had groomed himself into a gentleman and acquired a huge amount of wealth, though it is difficult to say how. He claimed that he was invited by Hindley to Wuthering Heights. Soon, Cathy and Isabella spend their afternoons visiting Heathcliff at the Heights, causing Edgar to feel jealous. Isabella Linton, easily, falls in love with Heathcliff and he does not do anything to sway Cathy’s sister- in-law away from him.

One day, Edgar questioned Heathcliff's intentions towards him and his family. He was angry at how Heathcliff treated both his wife and sister, and demanded Heathcliff out of his property but the latter refused to leave. Cathy felt so helpless and stressed that she locked herself and the two men in the kitchen, forcing them to confront of another. Unable to contain himself and his head full of anger and jealousy, Edgar bursts out at Catherine. “Will you give up Heathcliff hereafter, or will you give up me? You cannot have us both. It is dire for you to choose.” Cathy could not make her choice. She chose to run away from the situation and refused to interact with anybody except Nelly. Two days passed since Cathy refused to eat or drink anything that was served to her. Her health began to deteriorate and she constantly spoke of death. She talked about her childhood adventures with Heathcliff and pondered over why Edgar had not come to her as yet. She finally ate some food because she felt like death was nearing her and insisted on leaving the window open. Nelly refused the latter request but Cathy herself went ahead and opened it. Even though Wuthering Heights was a not anywhere along the line of vision, Cathy insisted that she could see it. “Look!” she cried eagerly. “That’s my room with the candle in it and the trees swaying before it, and the other candle is in Joseph’s garret.” Few days later, Edgar came in to visit Catherine. He was shocked to see her so weak and fragile, and immediately demanded for a doctor. The doctor spoke optimistically and gave everybody hope of a speedy recovery. Nobody slept that night. They all looked after Cathy. It was then that a servant girl came rushing in, announcing the fact that Isabella had eloped with Heathcliff. The household was instantly in a panic. They all looked to their master but he had little to say. “Trouble me no more about her. Hereafter she is only my sister in name: not because I disown her, but because she has disowned me.” 

A few weeks later, Nelly found Isabella at Thrushcross Grange, looking helpless and desperate. She had come to see her brother and beg him for forgiveness. “I had sent him a letter too, Nelly, but he hasn't given an answer”, she said. Nelly wanted to help her but it was evident that Edgar wanted nothing to do with her anymore. So, she took the young woman in who was clearly suffering a lot in the hands of her in-laws. Hindley, Hareton (Hindley's son) and Joseph constantly mistreated her and not necessarily under the influence of alcohol. With Cathy being unwell and Edgar not being able to get proper treatment for her, Heathcliff was very angry. It was obvious that he couldn't come to the Grange and fight Edgar so instead, he took his frustrations out on Isabella. Isabella then proceeds to tell Nelly about how Heathcliff has acquired the manor with all the money that he earned when he was away. Heathcliff was now the master of Wuthering Heights and Hindley had developed a certain obsession towards him and his wealth. Hindley was afraid that after his death, Hareton would be reduced to a beggar and mistreated by Heathcliff so he intended to do away with the latter as soon as possible. “Oh, damnation! I will have it back; and I’ll have his gold too; and then his blood; and hell shall have his soul!” were his words. It terrified Isabella to look at the pistol with which he planned to kill Heathcliff. She regrets going against her brother’s wishes and marrying Heathcliff. Before leaving, the Grange she begs Nelly to visit her at Wuthering Heights.

After much contemplation, Nelly made up her mind one day to visit Isabella at the Heights. It was not an easy decision but she goes anyway. Despite his surprise, Heathcliff welcomed Nelly into his manor very warmly. He offered her a chair and asked how she was doing. However, it was clear as day that Heathcliff was dying to know how Cathy was doing. So, in order to relieve the man from his misery, Nelly tell him. “Miss Cathy is doing recovering, sir. She will not be like how she was before but her life is spared. However, it is dire for you to understand that Catherine Linton is no longer the Catherine Earnshaw that you grew up with”, she said. “That is quite possible”, Heathcliff mumbled. “But I must see her, Nelly. Fashion a visit for me, will you? Consent or refuse, I will see her!” His sudden rage and burst of energy terrifies Nelly. She immediately thinks of a middle ground for him. She accepts to deliver a letter from him to Catherine. With that and a short encounter with Isabella, Nelly leaves the Heights for the Grange.

Catherine passes away two hours after giving birth to a baby girl. The child was named after her mother. She is the lady that Mr. Lockwood met at Wuthering Heights, widow of Linton Heathcliff, the son of Heathcliff and Isabella. Her death drives Heathcliff mad and he pleads her soul to stay with him in any form. The locket on Catherine contained the locks of Heathcliff and Edgar. It became her way of keeping them with her forever. Cathy was not buried in her family estate nor the Linton estate. Edgar insisted that he was to be buried in the moors that she loved so much. Years later, he was to be buried beside her as well. It is her soul that haunts both the estates of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights.

The three children, Catherine, Hareton and Linton grow up far away from each other. Hindley has died and Isabella succumbs to her illness twelve years after Linton’s birth. Heathcliff does not care about his son at all and does not even pretend to love him. Despite that fact, he hopes that Linton and Catherine would be married someday. Edgar refuses to allow Cathy to visit Wuthering Heights at all due to all the violent events that occurred there. The only time he allows her to go there is when Linton is very weak and almost nearing death. Heathcliff, in his rage and obsession over Catherine’s dead mother forces marriage between the two of them. With his daughter married to Heathcliff's son, Edgar’s health slowly fails. In his final days, he requested to be buried beside his wife at the moors. Not long after their wedding, Linton too passes away, leaving Catherine with Heathcliff and Hareton. Heathcliff cannot bear to look at Hareton because of how much he resembles his aunt, Catherine. However, the two young children grow to love each other Nelly proud announces their marriage to Mr. Lockwood. Heathcliff grew weaker day by day. He was no longer the man he was. His obsession of Catherine drove him mad and he longed for nothing but her. Soon he too gave in to the forces that were taking him away from the world, leaving everything he owned to the newly married couple. Mr. Lockwood does not stay for much longer. He realizes that it is finally time for him to leave. As he leaves, the Grange and the Heights forever, he looks at the graves of Edgar, Catherine and Heathcliff, and wishes them the peace that they never got in this world.