English Literature books summary

drank morosely. When they heard Heathcliff returning from his watch over

Catherine's grave, Hindley told Isabella he would lock Heathcliff out, and

try to kill him with his bladed pistol if he came in. Isabella would have

liked Heathcliff to die, but refused to help in the scheme, so when

Heathcliff knocked she refused to let him in, saying: "If I were you, I'd

go stretch myself over her grave, and die like a faithful dog... The world

is not worth living in now, is it?" Hindley came close to the window to

kill Heathcliff, but the latter grabbed the weapon so the blade shut on

Hindley's wrist; then he forced his way in. He kicked and trampled Hindley,

who had fainted from the loss of blood, then roughly bound up the wound,

and told Joseph and Isabella to clean up the blood.

The next morning when Isabella came down, Hindley "was sitting by the

fire, deadly sick; his evil genius, almost as gaunt and ghastly, leant by

the chimney." After eating breakfast by herself, she told Hindley how he

had been kicked when he was down, and mocked Heathcliff for having so

mistreated his beloved's brother, saying to Hindley: "everyone knows your

sister would have been living now, had it not been for Mr. Heathcliff."

Heathcliff was so miserable that he could hardly retaliate, so Isabella

went on and said that if Catherine had married him, he would have beaten

her the way he beat Hindley. Heathcliff threw a knife at her, and she fled,

knocking down Hareton, "who was hanging a litter of puppies from a

chairback in the doorway." She ran to the Grange.

That morning, she left, never to return to the neighborhood again.

Later, in her new home, in the south, she gave birth to a son, named

Linton, "an ailing, peevish creature," and died when he was about 12 years

old.

Edgar grew resigned to Catherine's death, and loved his daughter, who

he called Cathy, very much. Ellen points out the difference between his

behavior and Hindley's in a similar situation.

Hindley died, "drunk as a lord," about six months after Catherine. He

was just 27, meaning that Catherine had been 19, Heathcliff was 20, and

Edgar was 21. Ellen grieved deeply for him they had been the same age and

were brought up together. She made sure he was decently buried. She wanted

to take Hareton back to the Grange, but Heathcliff said he would keep him,

to degrade him as much as he himself had been degraded. If Edgar insisted

on taking Hareton, Heathcliff said he would claim his own son Linton, so

Ellen gave the idea up.

Chapter 18, Summary

In the next twelve years, Cathy Linton grew up to be "the most winning

thing that ever brought sunshine into a desolate house." She was fair like

a Linton, except for her mother's dark eyes. High spirited but gentle, she

seemed to combine the good qualities of both the Lintons and the Earnshaws,

though she was a little saucy and was used to getting her way. Her father

kept her within the park of the Grange, but she dreamed of going to see

some cliffs, Penistone Crags, not too far away, on the moor.

When Isabella fell ill, she wrote to Edgar to come visit her, so he

was gone for three weeks. One day Cathy asked Ellen to give her some food

for a ramble around the grounds she was pretending to be an Arabian

merchant going across the desert with her caravan of a pony and three dogs.

She left the grounds, however, and later Ellen went after her on the road

to Penistone Crags, which passed Wuthering Heights. She found Cathy safe

and sound there Heathcliff wasn't home, and the housekeeper had taken her

in chattering to Hareton, now 18 years old. She offended Hareton though by

asking whether he was the master's son, and when he said he wasn't, saying

he was a servant. The housekeeper told her he was her cousin, which made

her cry. Hareton offered her a puppy to console her, which she refused.

Ellen told her that her father didn't want her to go to Wuthering Heights,

and asked her not to tell him of her negligence, to which she agreed.

Chapter 19, Summary

Isabella died, and Edgar returned home with his half-orphaned nephew,

Linton, a "pale, delicate, effeminate, boy," with a "sickly peevishness" in

his appearance. Cathy was excited to see her cousin, and took to babying

him when she saw that he was sickly and childish. That very evening, Joseph

came and demanded the child for Heathcliff he was after all his son. Ellen

told him Edgar was asleep, but he went into his room and insisted on being

given Linton. Edgar wished to keep Linton at the Grange, but could not

legally claim him, so he could only put it off till the next morning.

Chapter 20, Summary

The next morning, Ellen woke Linton early and took him over to

Wuthering Heights, promising dishonestly that it was only for a little

while. He was surprised to hear he had a father, since Isabella had never

spoken of Heathcliff. When they arrived there, Heathcliff and Joseph

expressed their contempt for the delicate boy, and Heathcliff told him that

his mother was a "wicked slut" not to tell him about his father. Ellen

asked Heathcliff to be kind to the boy, and he said that he would indeed

have him carefully tended, mostly because Linton was heir to the Grange, so

he wanted him to live at least until Edgar was dead and he inherited. So

when Linton refused to eat the homely oatmeal Joseph offered him,

Heathcliff ordered that he be given some toast or something instead. When

Ellen left, Linton cried for her not to leave him there.

Chapter 21, Summary

Cathy missed her cousin when she woke up that morning, but time made

her forget him. Linton grew up to be a selfish and disagreeable boy,

continually complaining about his health. On Cathy's sixteenth birthday she

and Ellen went out on the moors, and strayed onto Heathcliff's land, where

he found them. He invited them to come to Wuthering Heights, telling Ellen

that he wanted Linton and Cathy to marry so he would be doubly sure of

inheriting the Grange. Cathy was glad to see her cousin, though she was

somewhat taken back by his invalidish behavior. Hareton, at Heathcliff's

request, showed her around the farm, though he was shy of her and she

teased him unkindly. Linton mocked his ignorance also, showing himself to

be mean-spirited.

Later Cathy told her father where she had been, and asked him why he

had not allowed the cousins to see each other (Heathcliff had told her that

Edgar was still angry at him because he thought him too poor to marry

Isabella). Edgar told her of Heathcliff's wickedness, and forbade her to

return to Wuthering Heights. She was unhappy, and began a secret

correspondence with Linton. By the time Ellen discovered it, they were

writing love letters affected ones on Linton's part. Ellen confronted

Cathy and burned the letters, saying she would tell her father if she

continued.

Chapter 22, Summary

That fall Edgar caught a cold which confined him to the house all

winter. Cathy grew sadder after the end of her little romance, and told

Ellen that she was afraid of being alone when her father and Ellen were

dead. Taking a walk, Cathy ended up briefly stranded outside of the wall of

the park, when Heathcliff rode by. He told her that Linton was dying of a

broken heart, and that she would visit him if she were kind. Ellen told her

that Heathcliff was probably lying and couldn't be trusted, but the next

day she was persuaded to accompany Cathy to Wuthering Heights.

Chapter 23, Summary

Cathy and Ellen heard "a peevish voice" calling Joseph for more hot

coals for the fire; they went in to see Linton, who greeted them rather

ungraciously: "No don't kiss me. It takes my breath dear me!" He

complained that writing to her had been very tiring, and that the servants

didn't take care of him as they ought, and that he hated them. He said that

he wished she would marry him, because wives always loved their husbands,

upon which she answered that they did not always do so. Her father had told

her that Isabella had not loved Heathcliff. Linton was angry and answered

that Catherine's mother hadn't loved her father, but Heathcliff. She pushed

his chair and he coughed for a long time, for which she was very sorry. He

took advantage of her regret and bullied her like a true hypochondriac, and

made her promise to return the next day.

When Cathy and Ellen were on their way home, Ellen expressed her

disapproval of Linton and said he would die young "small loss." Cathy

should on no account marry him. Cathy was not so sure he would die, and was

much more friendly toward him.

Ellen caught a cold and was confined to her room. Cathy spent almost

all her time taking care of her and Edgar, but she was free in the

evenings: then, as Ellen later found out, she visited Linton.

Chapter 24, Summary

Three weeks later, Ellen was much better, and discovered Cathy's

evening visits to Wuthering Heights. Cathy told her what had happened:

She had bribed a servant with her books, to take care of saddling her

pony and not telling about her escapades. On her second visit, she and

Linton had had an argument about the best way of spending a summer

afternoon: he wanted to lie in the heather and dream it away, and she

wanted to rock in a treetop among the birds: "He wanted to lie in an

ecstasy of peace; I wanted all to sparkle, and dance in a glorious

jubilee." They made up and played ball until Linton was unhappy because he

always lost, but she consoled him for that.

She looked forward to her next visit, but that day when she arrived

she met Hareton, who showed her how he had learned to read his name. She

mocked him for it. (Here Ellen rebuked Cathy for having been so rude to her

cousin. Cathy was surprised, and went on.) When she was reading to Linton,

Hareton came in angrily and ordered them into the kitchen. Shut out of his

favorite room, Linton staged a frightening temper tantrum, wearing an

expression of "frantic, powerless fury" and shrieking that he would kill

Hareton. Joseph pointed out that he was showing his father's character.

Linton coughed blood and fainted; Cathy fetched Zillah. Hareton carried the

boy upstairs but wouldn't let Cathy follow; she cried and he was sorry for

it. She struck him with her whip and rode home.

On the third day Linton refused to speak to her except to blame her

for the events of the preceding day, and she left resolving not to return.

She did, however, and took Linton to task for being so rude. He

admitted that he was worthless, but said that she was much happier than he

and should make allowances. Heathcliff hated him, and he was very unhappy.

He loved her however.

Cathy was sorry Linton had such a distorted nature, and felt she had

an obligation to be a friend to him. She had noticed that Heathcliff

avoided her, and rebuked Linton when he did not behave well to her.

Ellen told Edgar about the visits, and he forbade Cathy to return to

Wuthering Heights, but wrote to Linton that he could come to the Grange if

he liked.

Chapter 25, Summary

Ellen points out to Lockwood that these events only happened the year

before, and she hints that Lockwood might become interested in Cathy, who

is not happy at Wuthering Heights. Then she went on with the narrative:

Edgar asked Ellen what Linton was like, and she told him that he was

delicate and had little of his father in him Cathy would probably be able

to control him if they married. Edgar admitted that he was worried about

what would happen to Cathy if he were to die. As spring advanced Edgar

resumed his walks, but although Cathy took his flushed cheeks and bright

eyes for health, Ellen was not so sure. He wrote again to Linton, asking to

see him. Linton answered that his father refused to let him visit the

Grange, but that he hoped to meet Edgar outside sometime. He also wrote

that he would like to see Cathy again, and that his health was improved.

Edgar could not consent, because he could not walk very far, but the

two began a correspondence. Linton wrote well, without complaining (since

Heathcliff carefully censured his letters)and eventually Edgar agreed to

Cathy's going to meet Linton on the moors, with Ellen's supervision. Edgar

wished Cathy to marry Linton so she would not have to leave the Grange when

he died but he would not have wished it if he knew that Linton was dying

as fast as he was.

Chapter 26, Summary

When Ellen and Cathy rode to meet Linton they had to go quite close to

Wuthering Heights to find him. He was evidently very ill, though he said he

was better: "his large blue eyes wandered timidly over her; the hollowness

round them, transforming to haggard wildness, the languid expression they

once possessed." Linton had a hard time making conversation with Cathy, and

was clearly not enjoying their talk, so she said she would leave.

Surprisingly Linton then looked frightenedly towards Wuthering Heights and

begged her to stay longer, and to tell her father he was in "tolerable

health." She half-heartedly agreed, and he soon fell into some kind of

slumber. He woke suddenly and seemed to be terrified that his father might

come. Soon later Cathy and Ellen returned home, perplexed by his strange

behavior.

Chapter 27, Summary

A week later they were to visit Linton again. Edgar was much sicker,

and Cathy didn't want to leave him, but he encouraged her relationship with

Linton, thinking to ensure his daughter's welfare thereby. Linton "received

us with greater animation on this occasion; not the animation of high

spirits though, nor yet of joy; it looked more like fear." Cathy was angry

that she had had to leave her father, and she was disgusted by Linton's

abject admissions of terror. Heathcliff came upon them, and asked Ellen how

much longer Edgar had to live: he was worried that Linton would die before

him. He then ordered Linton to get up and take Cathy in the house, which he

did, against Cathy's will: "Linton... implored her to accompany him, with a

frantic importunity that admitted no denial." Heathcliff pushed Ellen into

the house as well and locked the door behind them. When Cathy protested

that she must get home to her father he slapped her brutally, and made it

clear that she wouldn't leave Wuthering Heights until she married Linton.

Linton showed his true character: as Heathcliff said, "He'll undertake to

torture any number of cats if their teeth be drawn, and their claws pared."

Cathy and Heathcliff declared their mutual hatred. Ellen remained

imprisoned for five days with Hareton as her jailer: he gave her food but

refused to speak to her beyond what was necessary. She did not know what

was happening to Cathy.

Chapter 28, Summary

On the fifth afternoon of the captivity, Zillah released Ellen, and

said that Heathcliff said she could go home and that Catherine would follow

in time to attend her father's funeral. He was not dead yet, but soon would

be. Ellen asked Linton where Catherine was, and he answered that she was

shut upstairs, that they were married, and that he was glad she was being

treated harshly. Apparently he was piqued that she hadn't wished to marry

him. He was annoyed by her crying, and was glad when Heathcliff struck her.

Ellen rebuked him for his selfishness and unkindness, and went to the

Grange to get help. Edgar was glad to hear his daughter was safe, and would

be home soon: he was almost dead, at the age of 39. The men sent to

Wuthering Heights to rescue Catherine returned without her, having believed

Heathcliff's tale that she was too sick to travel. Very early the next

morning, however, Catherine came back by herself, joyful to hear that her

father was still alive. She had forced Linton to help her escape. Ellen

asked her to say she would be happy with Linton, for Edgar's sake, to which

she agreed. Edgar died "blissfully." Catherine was stony-eyed with grief.

Heathcliff's lawyer gave all the servants but Ellen notice to quit, and

hurried the funeral.

Chapter 29, Summary

Heathcliff came to the Grange to fetch Catherine to Wuthering Heights

to take care of Linton, who was dying in terror of his father, and because

he wanted to get a tenant for the Grange (Mr. Lockwood, as it turned out).

Catherine agreed to go, because Linton was all she had to love, and left

the room.

Heathcliff, in a strange mood, told Ellen what he had done the night

before. He had bribed the sexton who was digging Edgar's grave to uncover

his Catherine's coffin, so he could see her face again he said it was hers

yet. The sexton told him that the face would change if air blew on it, so

he tore himself away from contemplating it, and struck one side of the

coffin loose and bribed the sexton to put his body in with Catherine's when

he was dead. Ellen was shocked, and scolded him for disturbing the dead, at

which he replied that on the contrary she had haunted him night and day for

eighteen years, and "yesternight, I was tranquil. I dreamt I was sleeping

my last sleep, by that sleeper, with my heart stopped, and my cheek frozen

against hers."

Then Heathcliff told Ellen what he had done the night after

Catherine's burial (the night he beat up Hindley). He had gone to the

kirkyard and dug up the coffin "to have her in his arms again," but while

he was wrenching at the screws he suddenly felt sure of her living

presence. He was consoled, but tortured as well: from that night for 18

years he constantly felt as though he could almost see her, but not quite.

He tried sleeping in her room, but constantly opened his eyes to see if she

were there, he felt so sure she was.

Heathcliff finished his narrative, and Catherine sadly bade farewell to

Ellen.

Chapter 30, Summary

Ellen has now more or less reached the present time in her narrative,

and tells Lockwood what Zillah told her about Catherine's reception at

Wuthering Heights. She spent all her time in Linton's room, and when she

came out she asked Heathcliff to call a doctor, because Linton was very

sick. Heathcliff replied: "We know that! But his life is not worth a

farthing." Catherine was thus left to care for her dying cousin all by

herself (Zillah, Hareton and Joseph would not help her) and became haggard

and bewildered from lack of sleep. Finally Linton died, and when Heathcliff

asked Catherine how she felt, she said: "He's safe and I'm free. I should

feel very well but you have left me so long to struggle against death,

alone, that I feel and see only death! I feel like death!" Hareton was

sorry for her. Catherine was ill for the next two weeks. Heathcliff

informed her that Linton had left all of his and his wife's property to

himself. One day when Heathcliff was out, Catherine came downstairs.

Hareton made shy, friendly advances, which she angrily rejected. He asked

Zillah to ask her to read for them (he was illiterate, but wished to learn)

but she refused on the grounds that she had been forsaken during Linton's

illness, and had no reason to care for Hareton or Zillah. Hareton said that

he had in fact asked Heathcliff to be allowed to relieve her of some of her

duties, but was denied. She was in no mood to forgive, however, and thus

became the unfriendly Catherine Lockwood had seen at Wuthering Heights.

According to Zillah: "She'll snap at the master himself, and as good dares

him to thrash her; and the more hurt she gets, the more venomous she

grows." Ellen wanted to get a cottage and live there with Catherine, but

Heathcliff would not permit it.

Chapter 31, Summary

Lockwood went to Wuthering Heights to see Heathcliff and tell him he

didn't want to stay at the Grange any longer. He noticed that Hareton was

"as handsome a rustic as need be seen." He gave Catherine a note from

Ellen; she thought it was from him at first and when he made it clear that

it wasn't, Hareton snatched it away, saying that Heathcliff should look at

it first (he wasn't home yet). Catherine tried to hide her tears, but

Hareton noticed and let the letter drop beside her seat. She read it and

expressed her longing for freedom, telling Lockwood that she couldn't even

write Ellen back because Heathcliff had destroyed her books. Hareton had

all the other books in the house: he had been trying to read. Catherine

mocked him for his clumsy attempts at self-education: "Those books, both

prose and verse, were consecrated to me by other associations, and I hate

to hear them debased and profaned in his mouth!" Poor Hareton fetched the

books and threw them into her lap, saying he didn't want to think about

them any longer. She persisted in her mockery, reading aloud in "the

drawling tone of a beginner," following which he slapped her and threw the

books into the fire. Lockwood "read in his countenance what anguish it was

to offer that sacrifice to spleen."

Heathcliff came in and Hareton left, "to enjoy his grief and anger in

solitude." Heathcliff moodily confided to Lockwood that Hareton reminded

him much more of Catherine, than of Hindley. He also told Lockwood that he

would still have to pay his full rent even if he left the Grange, to which

Lockwood, insulted, agreed. Heathcliff invited Lockwood to dinner, and

informed Catherine that she could eat with Joseph in the kitchen. Lockwood

ate the cheerless meal and left, contemplating the possibility of his

courting Catherine and going together "into the stirring atmosphere of the

town."

Chapter 32, Summary

In the fall of 1802, later that year, Lockwood returned to the Grange

because he was passing through the area on a hunting trip. He found the

Grange more or less empty: Ellen was at Wuthering Heights, and an old woman

had replaced her. Lockwood visited Wuthering Heights to see what had

changed. He noticed flowers growing around the old farm house, and

overheard a pleasant lesson from indoors. Catherine, sounding "sweet as a

silver bell," was teaching Hareton, now respectably dressed. The lesson was

interspersed with kisses and very kind words. Lockwood was loth to disturb

them, and went around to the kitchen to find Nelly singing and Joseph

complaining as usual. She was glad to see Lockwood and told them that he

would have to settle the rent with her, since she was acting for Catherine.

Heathcliff had been dead for three months. She told him what had happened.

A fortnight after Lockwood left the Grange the previous spring, Nelly

was summoned to Wuthering Heights, where she gladly went her job was to

keep Catherine out of Heathcliff's way. She was pleased to see Catherine,

but sorry at the way she had changed.

One day when they and Hareton were sitting in the kitchen, Catherine

grew tired of the animosity between herself and the young man, and offered

him a book, which he refused. She left it close to him, but he never

touched it. Hareton was injured in a shooting accident in March, and since

Heathcliff didn't like to see him, he spent a lot of time sitting in the

kitchen, where Catherine found many reasons to go. Finally her efforts at

reconciliation succeeded, and they became loving friends, much to Joseph's

indignation.

Chapter 33, Summary

The next morning Ellen found Catherine with Hareton in the garden,

planning a flower garden in the middle of Joseph's cherished currant

bushes. She warned them that they would be punished, but Hareton said he

would take the blame. At tea, Catherine was careful not to talk to Hareton

too much, but she put flowers into his porridge, which made him laugh,

which made Heathcliff angry. He assumed Catherine had laughed, but Hareton

quietly admitted his fault. Joseph came in and incoherently bewailed the

fate of his bushes. Hareton said he was uprooted some, but would plant them

again, and Catherine said it had been at her instigation. Heathcliff called

her an "insolent slut," and she accused him of having stolen her land and

Hareton's. Heathcliff commanded Hareton to throw her out the poor boy was

torn between his two loyalties and tried to persuade Catherine to leave.

Heathcliff seemed "ready to tear Catherine to pieces" when he suddenly

calmed down and told everyone to leave. Later Hareton asked Catherine not

to accuse Heathcliff in front of him, and she understood his position and

refrained from insulting her oppressor from then on. Ellen was glad to see

her two "children" happy together; Hareton quickly shook off his ignorance

and boorishness and Catherine became sweet again.

When Heathcliff saw them together he was struck by their resemblances

to his Catherine, and told Ellen that he had lost his motivation for

destruction. He no longer took any interest in everyday life; Catherine and

Hareton didn't appear to him to be distinct characters of their own, but

sources of past associations to his beloved. He also felt Hareton to be

very much like himself as a youth. But most importantly, his Catherine

haunted him completely: "The most ordinary faces of men, and women my own

features mock me with a resemblance. The entire world is a dreadful

collection of memoranda that she did exist, and that I have lost her!" He

told Nelly that he felt a change coming that he could no longer exist in

the living world when he felt so close to that of the dead, or the

immortal. Nelly wondered whether he was ill, but decided that he was in

fine health and mind, except for his unworldly obsession.

Chapter 34, Summary

In the next few days Heathcliff all but stopped eating, and spent the

nights walking outside. Catherine, happily working on her garden, came

across him and was surprised to see him looking "very much excited, and

wild, and glad." Ellen told him he should eat, and indeed at dinner he took

a heaped plate, but abruptly lost interest in food, seemed to be watching

something by the window, and went outside. Hareton followed to ask him what

was wrong, and Heathcliff told him to go back to Catherine and not bother

him. He came back an hour or two later, with the same "unnatural appearance

of joy," shivering the way a "tight-stretched cord vibrates a strong

thrilling, rather than trembling." Ellen asked him what was going on, and

he answered that he was within sight of his heaven, hardly three feet away.

Later that evening, Ellen found him sitting in the dark with the windows

all open. She was frightened by the pallor of his face and his black eyes.

Ellen half-wondered if he were a vampire, but told herself that she was

foolish, since she had watched him grow up. The next day he was even more

restless and could hardly speak coherently, and stared fascinatedly at

nothing with an "anguished, yet raptured expression." Early the next

morning having spent the night outside or pacing in his room, he declared

he wanted to settle things with his lawyer. Ellen said he should eat, and

get some sleep, but he replied that he could do neither: "My soul's bliss

kills my body, but does not satisfy itself." Ellen told him to repent his

sins, and he thanked her for the reminder and asked her to make sure he was

buried next to Catherine: "I have nearly attained my heaven; and that of

others is altogether unvalued, and uncoveted by me." He behaved more and

more strangely, talking openly of his Catherine. Ellen called the doctor,

but Heathcliff wouldn't see him. The next morning she found him dead in his

room, by the open window, wet from the rain and cut by the broken window-

pane, with his eyes fiercely open and wearing a savage smile. Hareton

mourned deeply for him. The doctor wondered what could have killed him. He

was buried as he had asked. People said that his ghost roamed the moors

with Catherine: Ellen once came across a little boy crying amid his

panicked lambs, and he said that Heathcliff was "yonder" with a woman and

that he didn't dare pass them.

Catherine and Hareton were to be married, and they would move to the

Grange, leaving Wuthering Heights to Joseph and the ghosts. Lockwood

noticed on his walk home that the kirk was falling apart from neglect, and

he found the three headstones, Catherine's, Edgar's, and Heathcliff's,

covered by varying degrees of heather. He "wondered how anyone could ever

imagine unquiet slumbers, for sleepers in that quiet earth."

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