Wuthering Heights Chapter 1 - 6

In 1801, Mr. Lockwood relocates to the cold and desolate moors of Yorkshire, a region of Northern England, and takes up residence at the Thrushcross Grange, whose landlord is a forty-year-old gentleman with the physical attributes of a ‘Gypsy’. Lockwood visits the foul-tempered landlord at his home of Wuthering Heights, an impressive building marked with the inscription of “1500 - Hareton Earnshaw.” Lockwood is beset by Heathcliff’s ill-behaved dogs but receives no aid from the master of the house or the rude old servant, Joseph. He is rescued by a healthy maidservant, and despite the poor treatment by his host, Mr. Lockwood returns to visit Heathcliff the next day. Just as he reaches the gates of Wuthering Heights, a fierce snow shower begins to fall, and Mr. Lockwood is escorted to the living room by a poorly dressed young man, Hareton Earnshaw, as Lockwood later learns his name. He finds a young woman in the chambers who behaves most ungraciously with him, and yet he is moved by her physical beauty.

Lockwood, Hareton, and the young lady spend some uncomfortable minutes in silence that end with the entry of the master of the house. Heathcliff informs Lockwood that the snow is unlikely to halt anytime soon, and he would thus be forced to remain as his guest for the night. Lockwood protests wishing not to be a burden and insists that he would return that very night. In their conversation, Lockwood learns that the young lady in the room wasn’t Heathcliff’s wife but rather his widowed daughter-in-law. No explanation is provided of the relationship that exists between Hareton and the other two occupants of the room. After the meal, Lockwood tries to elicit help from the members of the household but receives no reply. He approaches Mrs. Heathcliff and asks her for directions but she proves of little help. Lockwood observes the odd relationship she was with Joseph, the house servant, who accuses her of always being idle and practicing witchcraft, while she tells him that she’ll curse him with her magic. 

Lockwood fails to get help and so decides to set out on his own, but he overhears Hareton telling Heathcliff that he would accompany the visitor to the edge of the park. Heathcliff refuses to allow Hareton claiming that the horses needed his attention first, but Lockwood never manages to leave the property as Joseph sets the dogs on him when he attempts to leave with a lantern. The scene causes both Heathcliff and Hareton much amusement, but Lockwood is rescued by the servant, Zillah. She puts him in an old room and cautions him that the master acted oddly in regards to the room as he never truly allowed people to remain there. Lockwood climbs into an old wooden case whose table is scribbled with the names of Catherine Earnshaw, Catherine Linton, and Catherine Heathcliff. He goes through the musty old books on the table and finds them all scribbled in the same hand dated a quarter of a century ago. One page has an accurately offensive picture of the old servant Joseph, and Lockwood begins to read the scribblings in the book.

Catherine describes how her brother Hindley has begun to behave since the death of their father. Catherine and Heathcliff are forced to attend a Sunday service administered by Joseph in the numbing cold while Hindley sits near a fire with his wife Frances. Catherine and Heathcliff escape to explore the moors despite the rain when Hindley punishes them due to Joseph’s complaint. In the next entry, Catherine describes Hindley’s poor behavior with Heathcliff whom he claims was spoiled by their father, and so Hindley now wishes to teach Heathcliff his true place as a servant of the house. Lockwood falls asleep while reading but has a horrible dream of Catherine Linton begging to be let inside the house as she claims that she has been homeless for many years. The nightmare causes Lockwood to scream and that brings Heathcliff to the room. He is infuriated that Lockwood has been allowed to sleep in that room, but Lockwood is still quite affected by the nightmare and tells Heathcliff of it as he dresses. He then decides that he has had enough sleep for the night and resolves to wait for the dawn elsewhere in the house, as he is leaving the room, he sees Heathcliff go to the window. He calls for a “Cathy” with such agony and begs her to return to him with a passion that stirs Lockwood’s soul. The next morning he sees Heathcliff nearly strike his daughter-in-law as he tells her to stop being idle while she refuses to do anything. Heathcliff then escorts Lockwood to the gate of his property, where he begins to recover from the disastrous ordeal.

Lockwood begins to learn of Heathcliff’s background from his housekeeper, Mrs. Dean, as she reveals that the widowed Mrs. Heathcliff, Catherine, is the daughter of her late master, Mr. Edgar Linton. She informs him that Mr. Heathcliff is a rich man, but no one is quite aware of how he had made his fortune initially. He learns that Hareton Earnshaw is the son of Hindley Earnshaw, and thus a cousin to Catherine Heathcliff, who had married her cousin, Heathcliff’s son, as he had been related to her from her mother’s side since Heathcliff had married Edgar Linton’s sister. Mrs. Dean had grown up in the household of the Earnshaw’s along with Hindley, Catherine, and Heathcliff. The old Mr. Earnshaw had rescued Heathcliff from the street while he had been visiting Liverpool, at that time, Hindley was fourteen years old and Catherine was barely six.

Mr. Earnshaw had been extremely fond of Heathcliff, but Hindley had resented and maltreated him from the very first day for he was jealous of the attention Heathcliff received. Heathcliff had borne all the punishments of Hindley with barely a word but as he had grown older, Heathcliff had learned of the influence he bore on the old master. He would always try to get his way, and she recounts a story of how Heathcliff had taken Hindley’s horse by threatening to tell Mr. Earnshaw about the beatings he had received from Hindley. This conflict between Heathcliff and Hindley had caused Hindley to view his father as an oppressor after the death of his mother. Catherine and Heathcliff were as thick as thieves, so much so that the mischievous girl would flaunt to her father that her influence over Heathcliff was stronger than that of her father’s. She enjoyed vexing others and mocking her father even as his health begin to deteriorate as he grew severely ill. Hindley was sent away to college, and so Mr. Earnshaw passed away without meeting his son. However, Hindley arrived soon after his father’s death bearing a wife, Frances, whose background he never revealed. She was an interesting woman, who delighted in odd things but was rather jumpy. Frances was very fond of Catherine at first, but this regard soon faded, and she never quite liked Heathcliff. Hindley paid little attention to his sister’s upbringing and treated Heathcliff like a servant, but this persecution only brought Heathcliff and Catherine closer. They would escape Hindley’s punishment to roam the moors all by themselves, while Nelly worried that they were beginning to resemble savages in their manners. 

Heathcliff returned home late one night without Cathy, and Nelly learned that the pair of them had gone to spy on the Lintons of Thrushcross Grange. Both of them had been mistaken for thieves and a bulldog had injured Cathy, the Linton’s had kept Cathy with them while they had sent Heathcliff back. Heathcliff had observed how enamored they all had been of Catherine, but the next day, Mr. Linton came to Wuthering Heights to admonish Hindley for his carelessness over the upbringing of his sister. Following that day, Frances had taken charge of Cathy and kept her from misbehaving by careful art rather than force.

Analysis

Wuthering Heights is a Gothic novel set at the turn of the nineteenth century in Yorkshire, a northern part of England, characterized by its wide expansive landscape of the infertile moors. The whole book is set in the confines of a small region of the moors that are edged by the two central estates of the book, that are Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. The plot of the novel revolves around the complicated family history of the Gentry in the region, especially the families of Earnshaw and Linton. The events of the book are presented in the form of journal entries of Mr. Lockwood, who is an unreliable narrator, evidenced by his desire to gossip about his landlord despite his claims that he wished to avoid socializing. The narration is also second-hand since he is detailing the account as it has been presented to him by Nelly Dean, the housekeeper of the Gange. Mr. Lockwood looks down on the residents of both estates, believing himself to be far more cultured than any of the people around him. He ridiculously believes the young Catherine will feel bad about her choice in marriage after having one look at him, and this view continues to permeate his thoughts throughout the course of the book despite her indifferent behavior towards him.

The first few chapters are rife with foreshadowing as the author indicates the complicated history of the main characters of the book through the interaction of their descendants. Catherine's complicated love life is foreshadowed by the scribbles that Lockwood discovers on her table. It is evident from this first section of the book, that Heathcliff is the protagonist of the novel since the very first paragraph begins with a description of his physical attributes, and Nelly's account begins with the introduction of Heathcliff in the Earnshaw household.