Mr.Alaa

Wuthering Heights
Introduction :
Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë, written between October 1845 and June 1846,[1] and published in 1847 under thepseudonym "Ellis Bell." It was her first and only published novel: she died aged 30 the following year. The decision to publish came after the success of her sister Charlotte's novel, Jane Eyre. After Emily's death, Charlotte edited the manuscript of Wuthering Heights, and arranged for the edited version to be published as a posthumous second edition in 1850.[2]
Wuthering Heights is the eponymous farmhouse on the Yorkshire moors where the story unfolds. Its core theme is the enduring love between the heroine, Catherine Earnshaw, and her father's adopted son, Heathcliff and how it eventually destroys their lives and the lives of those around them.
Although Wuthering Heights became a classic of English literature, it received mixed reviews when first published, and was considered controversial because its depiction of mental and physical cruelty was so unusually stark.[3][4] In the second half of the 19th century, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre was considered the best of the Brontë sisters' works, but later critics argued that Wuthering Heights was superior.[5] Wuthering Heights has inspired adaptations, including film, radio and television dramatisations, a musical by Bernard J. Taylor, a ballet, operas (by Bernard Herrmann, Carlisle Floyd, and Frédéric Chaslin), a role-playing game, and the 1978 chart-toppingsong by Kate Bush.

Plot:

In 1801, Mr Lockwood, a wealthy man from the south of England, rented Thrushcross Grange in the north for peace and recuperation. He visited his landlord, Mr Heathcliff, who lives in a remote moorland farmhouse, "Wuthering Heights" where he finds an odd assemblage: Mr Heathcliff seems to be a gentleman, but his manners are uncouth; the reserved mistress of the house is in her mid-teens; and a young man who seems to be a family member yet dresses and speaks like a servant.
Snowed in, Lockwood is grudgingly allowed to stay and is shown to a chamber where he notices books and graffiti left by a former inhabitant, Catherine. He falls asleep and has a nightmare in which he sees the ghostly Catherine trying to enter through the window. He cries out in fear rousing Mr Heathcliff who rushes to the room. Lockwood was convinced that what he saw was real. Mr Heathcliff, believing Lockwood to be right, examines the window and opens it hoping to allow Catherine's spirit to enter. When nothing happens, Mr Heathcliff shows Lockwood to his own bedroom and returned to keep watch at the window.
At sun rise, Mr Heathcliff escorts Lockwood back to Thrushcross Grange. Lockwood asks the housekeeper, Nelly Dean, about the family at Wuthering Heights.

Heathcliff's Childhood:

Thirty years earlier, Wuthering Heights was occupied by Mr Earnshaw, his teenage son Hindley, and daughter Catherine. On a trip to Liverpool, Earnshaw encountered a homeless boy, "dark-skinned gypsy in aspect". He adopted the boy and named him Heathcliff. Hindley felt Heathcliff supplanted him in his father's affections and became bitterly jealous. Catherine and Heathcliff became friends and spent hours playing on the moors. They grew attached and hated every moment they were apart.
As a result of the sibling rivalry, Hindley was sent to college. Three years later Earnshaw died and Hindley became the master of Wuthering Heights. He returned to live there with his new wife, Frances. He allowed Heathcliff to stay, but only as a servant.
A few months after Hindley's return, Heathcliff and Catherine walked to Thrushcross Grange to spy on the Lintons who lived there. On being discovered, they tried to run away, but were caught. Catherine was injured by the Lintons' dog and taken into the house to have her injuries tended, and Heathcliff was sent home. Catherine stayed with the Lintons and was influenced by their fine appearance and genteel manners. When she returned to Wuthering Heights, her appearance and manners were more ladylike and she laughed at Heathcliff's unkempt appearance. The next day, knowing the Lintons would visit, Heathcliff tried to dress up in an effort to impress Catherine but he and Edgar Linton get into an argument and Hindley humiliated him by locking him in the attic. Catherine tried to comfort him, but he vowed revenge on Hindley.
The following year, Frances gave birth to a son, Hareton and a few months later died and Hindley descended into drunkenness. Two years pass and Catherine and Edgar Linton became friends and she was more distant toward Heathcliff. While Hindley was away, Edgar visited Catherine who had argued with Nelly. Edgar, drawn into the argument starts to leave, but Catherine stopped him. Before long, they declared themselves lovers.
Catherine confessed to Nelly that Edgar proposed and she accepted even though she did not love him, she loved Heathcliff but could not marry him because of his low birth and lack of education. She hoped to use her position as Edgar's wife to raise Heathcliff's standing. Heathcliff overheard and in despair ran away and disappeared without trace. Three years later, Edgar and Catherine marry and live at Thruscross Grange.
Six months later, Heathcliff returned, a gentleman. Catherine was delighted; Edgar not so keen. Edgar's sister, Isabella fell in love with Heathcliff who despised her, but encouraged the infatuation as a chance for revenge on Edgar. One day, he embraced Isabella which led to an argument with Edgar. Catherine, upset, locked herself in her room.
Heathcliff took up residence at Wuthering Heights and spent his time gambling with Hindley and teaching Hareton bad habits. Hindley dissipated his wealth and mortgaged the farmhouse to Heathcliff to pay his debts. Heathcliff eloped with Isabella. They marry and two months later return to Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff heard Catherine was ill and with Nelly's help visited her secretly. Catherine was not only ill, but pregnant, and the following day gave birth to a daughter, Cathy, and shortly after died.
The day after Catherine's funeral, Isabella left Heathcliff and took refuge in the south of England. She too was pregnant, and gave birth to a son, Linton. Hindley died six months after Catherine and Heathcliff found himself master of Wuthering Heights.

The Maturity of Heathcliff:
After twelve years, Catherine's daughter, Cathy, had grown into a beautiful, high-spirited girl. Edgar learnt his sister Isabella was dying, and set out to bring back her son, Linton to adopt and educate. Cathy, who had rarely left the borders of the Grange, took advantage of her father's absence to venture farther afield. She walked to the moors where she met Hareton and from him learnt about Wuthering Heights and discovers she has a cousin, Linton.
When Edgar returned with Linton, a weak and sickly boy, Cathy wanted him to stay but Heathcliff insisted on him living at Wuthering Heights.
Three years pass. Nelly and Cathy walking on the moors ran into Heathcliff and he took them to Wuthering Heights to meet Linton and Hareton. He hoped Linton and Cathy would marry so Linton would become the heir to Thrushcross Grange. Linton and Cathy began a secret friendship, echoing the childhood friendship between his father and her mother.
The following year, Edgar became very ill and when he is dying Nelly and Cathy visit Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff prevents them from leaving and keeps them captive to encourage the courtship of Cathy and Linton, and deny Edgar seeing his daughter before he dies. After five days Nelly was released, and with Linton's help Cathy escaped. She returned to the Grange to see her father after which he died.
Heathcliff, the master of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, gave Cathy no choice but to leave Nelly and go to live with Heathcliff and Hareton. Soon after she arrives, Linton dies. Hareton tries to be kind to her, but she retreats into herself.
At this the point in the story Lockwood arrives, and Nelly's tale ends. After being ill for some time, Lockwood decided he had had enough of the moors and went to Wuthering Heights to let Heathcliff know he was returning to the south.

Characters:
• Heathcliff: Found, presumably orphaned on the streets of Liverpool and taken to Wuthering Heights by Mr Earnshaw and reluctantly cared for by the family. He and Catherine grew close. Their love is the central theme of the first volume. His revenge against the man she chose to marry and its consequences are the central theme of the second volume. Heathcliff has been considered as a Byronic hero, but critics have pointed out that he re-invents himself at various points, making his character hard to fit into any single "type." Because of his ambiguous position in society and his lack of status--underlined by the fact that "Heathcliff" serves as his given name; he has no surname--his character has been a favourite subject of Marxist criticism.[6]
• Catherine Earnshaw: First introduced to the reader after her death, through Lockwood's discovery of her diary and carvings. The description of her life is confined almost entirely to the first volume. She seems unsure whether she is--or wants to become--more like Heathcliff, or more like Edgar. It is as if she wants both, even perhaps cannot be fully herself without both, and yet society or human nature makes that impossible. Forced to choose between them is like being forced to choose between nature and culture. Some critics have argued that her decision to marry Edgar Linton is allegorically a rejection of nature and a surrender to culture--a choice with fateful consequences for all the other characters. Literary critics have examined her character through many different lenses, including those of psychoanalytic theory and feminist theory.[7]
• Edgar Linton: Introduced as a child in the Linton family, he resides at Thrushcross Grange. Edgar's style and manners are in sharp contrast to Heathcliff's, who instantly dislikes him, and Catherine, who is drawn to him. Catherine marries him instead of Heathcliff because of his higher social status, with disastrous results. From the perspective of feminist theory, this exemplifies the problems inherent in a social structure in which women can gain prestige and financial security only through marriage.
• Nelly Dean: The main narrator of the novel, Nelly is a servant for all three generations of the Earnshaw and Linton families. In a sense, she straddles the "culture versus nature" divide. She is humbly born and has lived and worked amid the rough manners of Wuthering Heights, but is an educated woman who has experienced the more genteel manners of Thrushcross Grange. She is referred to as Ellen—her given name--to show respect, and as Nelly among those close to her. Nelly comes across as an unbiased narrator. Critics have discussed how far her actions (as an apparent bystander) affect the other characters..[8]
• Isabella Linton: Introduced as part of the Linton family, Isabella is only shown in relation to other characters. She views Heathcliff as a romantic hero, despite Catherine warning her against such a view, and becomes an unwitting participant in his plot for revenge against Edgar. Heathcliff marries her, but treats her abusively. Pregnant, she escapes to London and gives birth to a son, Linton. Because she, unlike Catherine, suffered such abuse from her husband and ultimately escaped from it, many critics--particularly feminist-theory critics--consider Isabella the true (conventional ) "tragic-romantic" heroine of Wuthering Heights.
• Hindley Earnshaw: Catherine's brother, married Frances. After Frances' death Hindley is caught in a downward spiral of destructive behaviour, and ruins the Earnshaw family by drinking and gambling to excess.
• Hareton Earnshaw: The son of Hindley and Frances, at first raised by Nelly, but soon by Heathcliff. Nelly works to instill a sense of pride in the Earnshaw heritage (even though Hareton will not inherit Earnshaw property, because Mr Earnshaw mortgaged it to Heathcliff. Heathcliff, in contrast, taught him vulgarities as a way of avenging himself on his father, Hindley. Hareton speaks with an accent similar to Joseph's, and works as a servant at Wuthering Heights, unaware of his true rights. His appearance reminds Heathcliff of Catherine.
• Cathy Linton: The daughter of Catherine Earnshaw and Edgar Linton is a spirited girl unaware of her parents' history. Edgar is very protective of her and as a result she is constantly wanting to discover what lies beyond the confines of the Grange.
• Linton Heathcliff: The son of Heathcliff and Isabella is a weak child. His character resembles Heathcliff's, but without its only redeeming feature, the capacity to love. He marries Cathy Linton because his father directs him to do so. His early years are spent with his mother in the south of England. He learns of his father's identity and existence only after his mother dies, as he enters his teens.
• Joseph: A servant at Wuthering Heights who is a devout Christian. He speaks with a very thick Yorkshire accent.
• Lockwood: The first narrator, he rents Thrushcross Grange to escape society, but in the end decides that socety is preferable to a sitution in which one might ending up being like Heathcliff. He narrates the book until Chapter 4, when the main narrator, Nelly, picks up the tale.
• Frances: A generally amiable character and is Hindley's wife and gives birth to Hareton Earnshaw.
• Kenneth: A doctor in the nearby village of Gimmertons.
• Zillah: A servant to Heathcliff at Wuthering Heights during the period following Catherine's death.

Relationships map:

Ending:

Lockwood returned to the area eight months later and as his tenancy at Thrushcross Grange was still valid, decided to remain. He found Nelly living at Wuthering Heights and made his way there to hear what had happened since he left.
She had moved to Wuthering Heights soon after Lockwood left to replace the housekeeper who had departed. In March, Hareton had an accident and was confined to the farmhouse. During his convalescence, he and Cathy became close. In April, while their friendship developed, Heathcliff began to act strangely and had visions of Catherine. He stopped eating and after four days was found dead in Catherine's old room. He was buried next to Catherine. Lockwood learned that Hareton and Cathy planned to marry on New Year's Day. As he is getting ready to leave he passes by the graves of Catherine, Edgar and Heathcliff, and pauses to contemplate the quiet of the moors.