Wuthering Heights-Characters

Four main characters (and one-sentence description of each)
1. Heathcliff - He is a bitter man tormented by the loss of his love Catherine and the abuse of his stepbrother, Hindley. He gains the Earnshaw inheritance and sets out to ruin Edgar Linton.
2. Catherine Earnshaw - She falls in love with Heathcliff, marries Edgar Linton because of financial and social advantages and dies after giving birth to Catherine Linton.
3. Hindley Earnshaw - He is the son and heir to the Earnshaw inheritance but abuses Heathcliff and seeks to degrade Heathcliff for winning the love of Mr. Earnshaw.
4. Hareton Earnshaw - He is the son of Hindley, yet cared for by Heathcliff. In his plot to ruin Hindley and Edgar, he becomes like Heathcliff but falls in love and marries Catherine Linton.
Two minor characters
1. Isabella Linton - She is the naive sister of Edgar and the wife of Heathcliff but later runs off to London and remains in hiding after Heathcliff throws a knife at her.
2. Linton Heathcliff - He was born in London but his mother died and he was given to his Uncle, but Heathcliff later get custody of him and marries him off to Little Cathy.
Three main settings
1. Wuthering Heights - It was once the estate of the Earnshaws but falls into the hands of Heathcliff and mirrors his cold and grim state of mind.
2. Thrushcross Grange - It is the ostentatious home of the Lintons and impresses Catherine and transforms her into a lady.
3. London - Isabella Heathcliff runs there after having a knife thrown at her head. There she gives birth to Linton Heathcliff.
One paragraph plot outline
Heathcliff was a waif taken in by Mr. Earnshaw and his household. He grows bitter as he grows older falling in love with and losing Catherine. He seeks to destroy Hindley and Edgar Linton blaming them for losing Catherine. He believe that Hindley caused his loss of Catherine by degrading him. Through her marriage to Edgar Linton, Catherine becomes introduced to a world of materialism. She dies and her death fuels Heathcliff’s rage against Hindley and Edgar. However, soon after, Hindley also dies and the Earnshaw estate and Hareton fall into the hands of Heathcliff. Later, Heathcliff wins the custody of his son, Linton. He forces Cathy to marry Linton and plans to steal the Grange from Edgar through Linton. Both Linton and Edgar dies and the Grange goes to Heathcliff who now owns both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Heathcliff marries Hareton to Cathy trying to make Hareton fit his image. Cathy is loving to Hareton and when Heathcliff dies, both Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights go to them.
Two symbols and references
1. Wuthering Heights - This house symbolizes anger, hatred and jealousy. As in the shown by the name, there is lot of tension within that house. The Heights mirror the conditions of its inhabitants, especially Hindley and Heathcliff.
2. Thrushcross Grange - This house contrasts with Wuthering Heights since it has the appearance one would expect from a pleasing worldly lifestyle. This appearance of this house also symbolizes the feelings of the inhabitants. Like the house, the Lintons are materialistic and superficial.
3. Hareton and Cathy - These two symbolize Heathcliff and Catherine showing what they could have become if their situations were slightly different. Both couples live in similar situations and allow for the comparison.


Two or three sentences on style
Bronte write in a dreary, melancholy style that provides the dark atmosphere to the story. She write the book making use of a frame since most of the story is conveyed through the narration of Nelly.
One or two sentences on dominant philosophy
This book contrasts the effects of love and hate contrasting the two feelings. It shows hatred through Heathcliff and displays how that leads to destruction while contrasting it with the love of Cathy and Hareton displaying how that builds.
Four short quotations typical of the work (include speaker, occasion)
“Cathy, do come. Oh do-once more! Oh! my heart’s darling! hear me this time, Catherine, at last!” Heathcliff calls for Catherine after Mr. Lockwood confessed he saw an apparition outside his window.
“I’m trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back. I don’t care how long I wait, if I can only do it at last. I hope he will not die before I do.” Heathcliff swears revenge against Hindley after Hindley had locked Heathcliff in the attic.
“’Here! and here!’ replied Catherine, striking one hand on her forehead and the other on her breast, ‘in which ever place the soul lives. In my soul and in my heart, I’m convinced I’m wrong!’” Catherine acknowledges that her marriage to Edgar cannot be one of love because she knows that Heathcliff is her true love.
“Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil?” Isabella writes to Ellen.

Sources: summarycentral.tripod.com/wutheringhe-01.04.2011

D.N. Aloysius
Lecturer in English
Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
Rajarata University of Sri Lanka
03.02.2011