Wuthering Heights Chapter 7 - 12

 Cathy stayed for five weeks at Thrushcross Grange, and during this time she grew quite close with the Linton children. Frances would often go to see her and work to shape a lady out of the savage that she had been through flattery and artifice rather than force. This was certainly an effective stratagem for when Cathy returned to Thrushcross Grange, it was evident that she had begun to appreciate the beauty of finer things. The degree of change in Cathy was much similar to what had occurred with Heathcliff but in the opposite direction since he now resembled the meanest and dirtiest creature ever made. Cathy greeted him with just as much love as she had ever had for him, but Heathcliff noticed that she did not wish to have her clothes dirtied by his hands. Heathcliff remained sullen and chose to exclude himself from Cathy’s company, but later confided in Nelly that he felt he could never be as handsome as Edgar Linton. Nelly attempted to encourage Heathcliff and it seemed to work until Edgar Linton, who was visiting Wuthering Heights, made a rude comment about Heathcliff’s hair which caused him to throw a pan of hot sauce at Edgar. Heathcliff was severely punished for his behavior, and while Catherine outwardly appeared to be unconcerned about his misery, Nelly noticed the pain she felt for him, and thus aided her in rescuing Heathcliff from his punishment.

Heathcliff informed Nelly that he only ever stopped experiencing pain when he thought of how he would repay Hindley for the evil treatment, and hoped that Hindley would remain alive long enough for him to exact his revenge. Nelly then shows Lockwood a portrait of the handsome Linton that still hangs in Thrushcross Grange, while informing him that Catherine’s portrait had been removed. Wuthering Heights was soon filled with the cries of the last scion of the Earnshaws as Hareton was born to the ailing Frances. Nelly was selected as the nurse for the little boy and learned that the doctor had proclaimed her end to be imminent owing to a consumption. This was an apt diagnosis for Frances did not linger long, but departed quickly and took with herself the little decency that Hindley had once possessed. He became a deplorable man, as he steeped himself in drink and forced all servants except Nelly and Joseph to depart in disgust. No one took as much pleasure in watching Hindley ruin himself as Heathcliff, while Cathy’s association with Edgar continued to deepen. Sometime in her 16th year, she invited Edgar to visit her when Hindley wasn’t at home, but Heathcliff decided that he would spend some time with her and so asked her to dismiss Edgar before he could visit. Catherine wished to do no such thing and remained adamant even when Heathcliff showed her that he had counted the number of evenings she spent with Edgar, which were far more than those with him. Catherine’s retort about Heathcliff’s poor conversation ability stung him quite deeply, and it put Cathy in a foul mood.

This foul mood resulted in her slapping both Nelly and Edgar, but the fight only seemed to bring the couple closer together. That night, Hindley came home very drunk, and he nearly killed Hareton as he held him over a landing. The child was only spared due to the intervention of Heathcliff who happened to be passing under the landing, yet it was evident that his action had been instinctive and he would have let the child die if he had known it was Hindley who had dropped him. Catherine confided in Nelly that Edgar had asked her to marry him, and she had agreed though she felt that she had made the wrong choice for she loved Heathcliff. She admitted that marrying Heathcliff would be beneath her and that she could use Hindley’s wealth and influence to raise Heathcliff by shielding him from Hindley. Heathcliff had happened to hear Catherine admit that marrying him would be beneath her, and had departed Wuthering Heights that very night. Catherine came to know that he had left because of her words and spent that whole first night waiting up for him in the rain which resulted in her catching a severe fever. She recovered slowly, and the doctor recommended that she be prevented from being worked into a passion lest she loses her sanity or life. She soon married the infatuated Edgar Linton and bore a reluctant Nelly to Thrushcross Grange for she had desired to remain at Wuthering Heights to care for little Hareton who was now a stranger to her.

Lockwood had fallen to a cold from his excursion to Wuthering Heights and had now lain in bed for nearly four weeks. Heathcliff had visited him to distract him from the vexations of illness and Lockwood grew eager to learn the history of his landlord. He asked Nelly Dean to recommence her tale of Heathcliff who had been gone from Wuthering Heights for nearly three years at the last telling. Nelly continued by first giving him an account of the first few pleasant months of Catherine’s marriage to Edgar Linton, and observed how dotingly the couple treated the young Miss Isabella Linton. Their blissful marriage period ended with the arrival of Heathcliff who had transformed from a savage plowboy to a dashing and athletic gentleman. The night he visited Thrushcross Grange, Catherine and Edgar got into a disagreement over Catherine’s exuberant mood at welcoming Heathcliff since Edgar felt envious of the welcome that Catherine bestowed on him. Nelly learned that Heathcliff had found lodgings at Wuthering Heights under the roof of Hindley Earnshaw, a man Heathcliff considered to be his enemy. Nelly learned from Joseph that Heathcliff spent every night gambling with Hindley, and won over ever more of his fortune.

Heathcliff’s presence at Thrushcross Grange slowly grew to be tolerated by Mr. Linton, until his sister began to be infatuated with the reserved and dark Heathcliff. She confessed her feelings for him to Catherine in a fit of passion as she accused Catherine of desiring to hoard Heathcliff for herself. Catherine did not mince words in berating the ruthless nature of Heathcliff as she counseled Isabella to be careful of her feelings for Heathcliff, and Nelly reinforced Catherine’s assertions but Isabella seemed to heed none of them. Catherine sought to crush the feelings of infatuation by humiliating Isabella in front of Heathcliff when he visited the grange. She told Heathcliff plainly that Isabella was infatuated with him while holding a struggling Isabella in an iron grip. Isabella managed to free herself and escape from the room, while Heathcliff enquired about the details of the incident with Isabella. Nelly observed the grin that played across his face as he learned that Isabella was the heir to her brother. Nelly observed Heathcliff embracing Isabella in secret as he visited the grange next, and when Catherine questioned him about his feelings, he confronted her with a most venomous declaration of how Catherine had infernally wronged him.

He wished to have revenge but could do nothing to her and so aimed his actions at the likes of Edgar Linton. Catherine admonished him for attempting to harm Edgar and realized that Heathcliff was angered by Catherine’s lack of jealousy on his designs for Isabella Linton. Nelly left the two of them arguing to report the details of their conversation to Edgar Linton who at once lay the blame on Catherine. He stormed into the parlor and accused her of allowing Heathcliff to speak evil of him but Catherine mistook his interruption to mean that he had been listening to their conversation. When Edgar threatened to have Heathcliff thrown out of the property, she prevented him from getting from the servants. Edgar struck the stronger man in the throat by surprise and escaped to bring servants as reinforcements, while Heathcliff escaped through another door. Catherine then took Nelly away and asked her to intercede on her behalf and prevent Linton from arguing with her. She claimed that she would be certain to have a fit, but Nelly looked on with apathy believing that her mistress only played the part of a patient for the special treatment it brought her. Edgar confronted the visibly affected Catherine to choose between being his friend or Heathcliff’s but she would answer none of his questions. Catherine escapes to her room and locks herself up for the following three nights and shuns food.

On the third day, Catherine exits the room for some food and enquires about what Edgar had been doing while she had barricaded herself. Nelly had kept the truth of her condition from Edgar for she felt that Catherine had been pretending, but Nelly discovers that Catherine’s condition had deteriorated significantly. Catherine appeared to be delirious and believed that she was having a conversation with Heathcliff. Edgar is shocked to discover the crazed state of his wife, and he lays the blame on Nelly for keeping the information of Catherine’s condition a secret. Nelly leaves to seek the doctor but finds Isabella’s yapper hug from the neck by a handkerchief in the garden. She later learns from the doctor that Heathcliff had met with Isabella Linton in the dark of night and proposed to whisk her away on a horse, but the other had put off the plan for the following night. Nelly discovers Isabelle has eloped and this suspicion is confirmed when Isabella’s maid claims to have heard a tale of how Heathcliff and Isabella had been spotted at a blacksmith’s shop in the middle of the night when they had replaced a horseshoe for one of their mounts. Edgar refused to send any riders after them for he felt that his sister had chosen to disown him.

Analysis

Wuthering Heights deals with the primary themes of love and revenge, as one half of the book is focussed on the love story between Heathcliff and Catherine, while the other is focussed on Hareton and the young Catherine. In addition to love and revenge, Wuthering Heights also examines the 18th-century class system through characters like Heathcliff, Nelly Dean, and Hareton. The problems that arise in the plot are chiefly sourced from Heathcliff's poor background, one that he has little power to change at that point in the book. Heathcliff is adopted by the elder Mr. Earnshaw to be a gentleman's son but is then reduced to the status of a servant within that very household by Hindley Earnshaw. The cruel treatment that Hindley enacts on Heathcliff out of sheer jealousy makes him the antagonist of the novel. However, the final stroke that sets Heathcliff on a path of destruction is Catherine's belief that Heathcliff is too low for her to marry.

Catherine's character is severely criticized by Nelly Dean, who ascribes a lot of the calamities that occur at Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange to be Catherine's fault. It is important to remember that Nelly Dean was nearly the same age as Catherine and grew up serving her. She had never intended to quit Wuthering Heights as a nurse but had been compelled to do so. Furthermore, her attitude towards Edgar Linton has always been depicted as being rather tender and thus it could be conjectured that her poor description of Catherine was due to a sense of jealousy rather than the actual contents of her character. These unique psychological portraits of characters like Nelly Dean demonstrate the careful thought that Anne Brontë employed in writing Wuthering Heights.

Heathcliff eventually returns to Wuthering Heights, but he is now perceived as a gentleman, due to his newly acquired wealth and manners. He does not hide his intentions of seeking revenge from those that caused him to be separated from Catherine, though he understands that Catherine herself had chosen to marry Edgar, he chiefly lays the blame of their separation on Hindley and Edgar.