Wuthering Heights
by Emily Bronte
Table of Contents
Chapter 13 to Chapter 18
Chapter 13
Two months pass. Catherine’s brain fever subsides. Edgar renews his devotion to her. Catherine is revealed to be pregnant. Edgar hopes for a male heir.
A letter to Nelly arrives from Isabella. Here the narrative switches voices, as Nelly recalls (seemingly verbatim) Isabella’s letter for Lockwood.
Isabella recounts her elopement with Heathcliff and wants to know whether he is a man, a madman, or a devil. She also tells of her life at Wuthering Heights, how Heathcliff has essentially rejected her, and how Joseph, Hareton, and Hindley are all nearly as devilish as Heathcliff.
At the end of the letter, Isabella asks for a visit from Nelly and hopes that her brother Edgar will send some sort of sign of forgiveness.
This chapter briefly catches the reader up on those events not privy to Nelly. To accomplish this, Bronte allows a new narrator to convey some of the historical points that go unobserved by the housemaid, such as a finer analysis of Heathcliff’s interior life, the lives of the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights, and the agony of its master, who cannot accept fault for Catherine’s fever any more than Catherine or her husband can. Everyone wishes to be blameless, and no one wishes to forgive.
Chapter 14
Nelly tells Edgar of the news that she has received from Isabella. She asks for a token of forgiveness, but Linton responds, “I have nothing to forgive her...” Edgar attempts to remain indifferent to his sister’s position; he does so by simply viewing her as something that he has lost, not as a relation who has chosen poorly and is in need of help. Linton is the same proud little boy fighting over a dog, whom Catherine and Heathcliff first spied so many years ago.
Nelly’s visit to Wuthering Heights is somewhat disappointing for Isabella, since she brings no token from her brother. Heathcliff is told that Catherine is recovering, but that he should not attempt to see her lest he cause her...
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