2025/08/18 Wuthering Heights
Today’s story starts with Mr. Lockwood, a gentleman who rents Thrushcross Grange in Yorkshire. Mr Lockwood is fascinated by Heathcliff, the mysterious landlord of Thrushcross Grange, as well as the gloomy, foreboding manor called Wuthering Heights where Heathcliff resides. Upon his visit to the manor, Lockwood encounters a young woman named Cathy (whom he mistakenly assumes to be Mrs. Heathcliff), a ruffian man Hareton, and two servants.
Curiously, he asks his house-help at the Grange , Nelly, to narrate the events of both the houses as she knows these people closely. Nelly begins her narration with the Earnshaw family lineage forty years back.
Heathcliff, an orphan brought to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw out of pity, grows up as a member of the family like his own two children, Catherine and Hindley. His introduction disrupts the household, particularly antagonizing Catherine’s brother, Hindley, who treats Heathcliff with cruelty, especially after their father’s death.
As children, Heathcliff and Catherine form an inseparable bond, united in their rebellion against Hindley’s tyrannical behavior. Heathcliff and Catherine’s personalities are ruthless and their love, passionate and tumultuous. However, as they grow older, Catherine’s exposure to the genteel Linton family of Thrushcross Grange leads her to desire social elevation. She becomes infatuated with Edgar Linton, whose mild manners and social status contrast sharply with Heathcliff’s rough and wild nature. Despite confessing to Nelly that her true love is Heathcliff, Catherine decides to marry Edgar for his status, setting in motion a chain of events fueled by betrayal and vengeance.
Heathcliff, heartbroken and humiliated, leaves Wuthering Heights only to return years later as a wealthy man. His return is marked by a calculated revenge against those he believes have wronged him. He exploits Hindley’s weaknesses of alcoholism to gain ownership of Wuthering Heights and mistreats Hindley’s child to make him an uncultured brat. Then he marries Edgar’s sister, Isabella Linton, and eventually tortures her to the point of fleeing, in a mere act of spite. Catherine, on the other side, deranged by her unresolved feelings for Heathcliff and constant dilemma between two men in her life, goes mad and eventually dies during childbirth.
The second half of the novel explores the consequences of Heathcliff’s revenge on the next generation—the children of Edgar, Isabella, and Hindley. Heathcliff’s obsession with Catherine transcends her death, as he exerts control over her daughter, Cathy Linton, and Hindley’s son, Hareton Earnshaw. Heathcliff forces Cathy into a marriage with his and Isabella’s own sickly dying son, Linton Heathcliff, in a bid to secure the ownership of Thrushcross Grange. Cathy is house arrested at Wuthering Heights for the marriage while Edgar dies of illness and anguish, and his house which was owed to Cathy by law, is given to Heathcliff by manipulation of legal records.
Yet, the cycle of hatred and revenge begins to break with the burgeoning relationship between the young Cathy and Hareton after Linton dies. Their budding romance offers a glimmer of hope and redemption, contrasting sharply with the destructive passions of the older generation. In the end, Heathcliff’s obsession with Catherine leads him to his own demise. He becomes increasingly haunted by visions of Catherine, losing interest in his revenge and eventually dying.
The story concludes with the deaths of the older generation, and the younger one seems poised to find happiness away from the shadow of the past. After some time, Lockwood leaves Yorkshire, and Nelly reports that Cathy and Hareton plan to marry and begin anew at Thrushcross Grange.
An adaptation of the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.
Adapted by Pragati Singh.