Wuthering Heights - Essay Example

However, before embarking upon the middle chapters, it would be advisable to throw light on the circumstances leading towards the middle part of the work. The story of the novel under examination revolves round the Earnshaw and Linton families on the one hand, and the cruel and wild villain-protagonist Heathcliff on the other. Brought and sheltered by Mr. Earnshaw, the wild boy Heathcliff was abhorred by his son Hindley Earnshaw, though was recognized by her daughter Catherine Earnshaw as her playmate.

Hindley had inflicted punishments and pains on Heathcliff after the demise of Mr. Earnshaw, which turned this wild boy vindictive and revengeful for the future years to come. The Earnshaw family was the owner of the Wuthering Heights; consequently, Catherine got married to Edgar Linton, the estate owner of Thruchcross Grange. Since Heathcliff was also in love with Catherine, he could not endure unpleasant words about him from the mouth of Catherine in the presence of her attendant Nelly. As a result, he ran away from the Heights to return as a rich man after few years.

Chapter 15 opens with the Heathcliff’s visit to Catherine (now Mrs. Edgar Linton) in Thrushcross Grange, where he finds her combating with serious illness. Nelly is attending her at there, while Edgar is out of the house. Since Edgar does not have any good opinion of the wild man, he would not tolerate Heathcliff’s presence in his house and bedroom. Consequently, Nelly requests him to leave the place without delay. Somehow, he turns a deaf ear, and has shower of kisses on Cathy’s face. In return, she blames him and Edgar as the main reason behind her fall health.

In the meanwhile, Edgar enters and rebukes Heathcliff, leading the way towards scuffle between the two. It turns Cathy pale and fainted, and she turns unconscious. The next day, Cathy dies after giving birth to her daughter Catherine Linton. On the one side, Edgar appears to be mourning the death of his wife and by keeping him recluse for many days, and on the other side, Heathcliff expresses his extreme grief for the loss of his childhood friend and beloved playmate. The next month Isabella Linton calls at Nelly at Thrushcross Grange and narrated the pathetic circumstances she has been undergoing at the hands of Heathcliff.

Since, she seeks fears her life at the hands of his beast-like husband, so she leaves the Grange for good. The next chapters elucidate Catherine’s life as a young girl and the birth of Isabella’s son Linton. Catherine pays an accidental visit of Wuthering Heights where she has an encounter with her cousin Hareton Earnshaw, the son of Hindley. However both of them are unable to recognize each other as cousins. Hareton treats Catherine in a respectable manner. Since Isabella has also passed away when Linton is only few years old and the child comes under the supervision of his uncle Edgar.

Although Catherine feels happy and delighted to find a play in the person of his cousin, yet the boy is taken by his father Heathcliff. Chapter 17 also discusses the conflict between Hindley and Heathcliff, where the latter turned out to be triumphant in the scuffle and inflicted the former with serious injury in the wrist. Being a regular heavy drinker, Hindley’s health started falling very fast; as a result, he also died the same year six months after the death of her sister Catherine Earnshaw.

Consequently, Heathcliff became the owner of the entire Wuthering Heights estate. Heathcliff’s ill intentions have not found satiety as yet; on the contrary, he reveals his plan before Nelly that he would take away the Thrushcross Grange from the Linton family through his son Linton; and he applied the