At the beginning of
the book we meet Mr Lockwood but
soon we realize that he is not one
of the main characters. The important things begun thirty years
before his visit in Wuthering Hights and the most interesting people
from that time are Heathcliff and Cathrine Earnshaw. A reader first
get to know them when the are about six years old. Heathcliff is just
a boy that Mr Earnshaw found on the street. Cathrine''s brother,
Hindley, did not like that at all, he felt that this boy would take
away his father''s love. He was not wrong about this, the two boys
hated eachother.
The story was
different when it comes to Cathrine. She liked Heathcliff a lot and
soon they become inseparable. For them every minute alone was like a
nightmare. They spent long hours running on the moors and they were
closest friend. As they grew older, this friendship transformed into
love. It was not easy for them with Hindley hating Heathcliff so much
and Edgar, their neighbour, that fell in
love with Cathrine. The girl
knew that although she
loved Heathcliff so much it would not be
appropriate for her to marry him. She struggled with herself.
Heathcliff loved
Cathrine as much as she loved him. He could not imagine his live
without her. When she decided to marry Edgar he run away and
disappeared. When he came back after few years their love was still
very strong and very emaciating. When we look at Cathrine''s and
Heathcliff''s love it seems true that love is a mental disease. They
acted in a strange way, like they loved and hated each other at one
time. In one minute they were talking calmly, in another they were
arguing and accusing each other of being heartless. It was truly
passionate love.
When Cathrine died
after giving birth to her daughter, Heathcliff could not deal with
her absence on this world and cursed her for leaving him alone. He
would rather die too or be haunted by her ghost.
Cathrine''s and
Edgar''s daughter was named after her mother – Cathrine. She was
usually called Cathy and she was completely different from her when
it comes to character but very similar when it comes to external
appearance. She lived with his
father in Thrushcross Grange unaware
of Heathcliff living so near her. She had a peaceful life but one day
it occured that her cousin Linton would live with them. Linton, son
of Edgar''s sister Isabella and Heathcliff, was to live in Thrushcross
Grange after his mother death. Unfortunately, his father wanted to
have him in his house, he used him to gain control of Thrushcross
Grange.
One day young Cathy met Heathcliff in
person and she visited
Wuthernig Heights. She met her cousin Linton and she also got to know
her another cousin Hareton – son of Hindley. Heathcliff was a
crafty person and he knew that marriage between Linton and Cathy
would give him profit and after Linton''s death he would be the owner
of both mansions. It is interesting how from a boy full of love and
passion he transformed into a cruel man without a twinge of
conscience.
At first, Cathrine
liked Linton a lot, she thought she was in love with him. They
exchanged some love letters and he wanted her to visit him as often
as it is possible. He could not visit her because he was both
physically and mentally weak. Cathy did not know that the letters
were dictated by Heathcliff and Linton was only doing what he was
ordered to do. The only person the boy liked was himself but he was
afraid to disobey his father.
One
day when Cathy came to Wuthering Hights she was forced to stay there
and marry Linton. It was awful for her because her father was very
ill at that time and he was dying. Cathy married Linton and went to
see her father as soon as possible. She got home in time to say
goodbye to him. Than she had to go back to her new husband. Linton
was also very ill and he died soon after marriage. Cathy was the only
person that cared about him in his last days. His own father show no
interest in him, after the marriage Linton was completely useless for
Hithcliff.
Cathrine
fet anger and hatred for every person living in Withering Heights.
She felt lonely and cheated. Surprisingly, her cousin Hareton
occurred to be her friend and she found some peace in their
friendship. She learnt him to read and she found a new companion.
Heathcliff at first was against this relationship but he was haunted
by Cathrine''s ghost and soon he did not care about anything. He died
alone, looking for relief in Cathrine''s cold arms. He payed the
grave-digger to put his and hers coffin together. Hithcliff and
Cathrine could be together once and for all.
More reviews about the Wuthering Heights – love and passion, hate and violence.