Chapter 1-8
1. Who lives in Wuthering Heights?
Heathcliff, a hostile, reserved gentleman, lives in Wuthering Heights with two young orphans - his widowed daughter-in-law and niece Catherine with a ‘cool, regardless’ and ‘disagreeable’ manner and his nephew Hareton, a ‘rude’ ‘uncultivated’ young man with a sullen attitude. There are also two servants dwelling there: Joseph, a ‘sour’-faced moody old man and Zillah a ‘stout housewife’.
2. Who is Heathcliff and what is his role?
Heathcliff is the master of Wuthering Heights, a ‘dark-skinned gipsey in aspect’ and ‘a gentleman in dress and manners’. As a young child, he was found ‘starving and houseless’ in the streets of Liverpool by Mr Earnshaw – a farmer and the former master of Wuthering Heights, who brought the ‘dirty, ragged, black-haired’ child home and raised him as one of his own. Favoured by Mr Earnshaw and rejected by everyone else, he becomes ‘a sullen, patient child; hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment’. After running away for three years, he returns an aggressive, hostile and solitary gentleman who made his fortune as a capitalist rather mysteriously. He is the antagonist of the novel, seeking to destroy everyone else’s lives to get revenge on his enemies, but he is also the main love-interest or romantic figure – a Byronic hero – a mysterious man with a fierce passion for Catherine.
3. Who is Mr Lockwood? How is he involved at Wuthering Heights?
Mr Lockwood is a tenant of Thrushcross Grange, a rather vain and pompous man who is fascinated by the strange atmosphere of Wuthering Heights and its hostile occupants when he visits the old house to meet his landlord Heathcliff. Lockwood narrates the novel to us and serves as mediator of all that Nelly Dean tells him about Wuthering Heights’ history, occasionally bringing the narrative back to the present to tell of his own doings as the story progresses. His role is to essentially shed the light on the obscure mysterious history of Wuthering Heights or at least initiate the process through his curiosity. Yes, good link to character as a plot device
4. How would you describe Catherine and Hindley?
I would describe Catherine and Hindley as the spoilt, self-centred children of a rich farmer. Their primary concern when their father returns with this poor orphan are the presents he promised to bring back to them. Instead of showing compassion towards the small, frightened boy, they mourn the loss of their presents and show their contempt of the boy for spoiling their gifts by cruelly ‘grinning and spitting at the stupid little thing’ and ‘refusing to have it in bed with them’. Effective quotes here
5. In the story, we come to understand that Hindley does not like Heathcliff. Why do you think this is?
Nelly describes Hindley as ‘hating’ his new adopted brother. This hatred could be narrowed down to the fact that Hindley’s father, Mr Earnshaw, ‘took to Heathcliff strangely, believing all he said (…) and petting him’. He is also ‘furious’ with Hindley when he ‘discovers his son persecuting the poor, fatherless child, as he called him’. We can see that Mr Earnshaw is favouring Heathcliff as a son when Hindley is the first-born biological son and Heathcliff just an orphan from a foreign land. Hindley would have certainly felt jealous and upset to lose his father’s attention to this strange, foreign child and therefore strongly despised this intruder.
Chapters 9-13
1. Catherine must make a decision when Edgar proposes to her. Why did she choose Edgar over Heathcliff?
There are two main reasons for her decision to marry Edgar. The first one is because she is aware of the social differences between herself and Heathcliff, stating that to marry Heathcliff would ‘degrade’ her even though she loves him more than Edgar. Indeed, her older brother Hindley ensures that Heathcliff does not receive an education, ‘depriving him of the instructions of the curate’, and instead, grow up as a common labourer, ‘driving him from their company to the servants’ and ‘insisting that he should labour out of doors instead; compelling him to do so as hard as any other lad on the farm’. Catherine’s social ambition grows after she stays with the Lintons and becomes aware of the importance of wealth and society, returning as a ‘very dignified’ young lady clad in ‘splendid garments’. She wants to match the Lintons in social status - the traditional power-holding gentry. Marrying Heathcliff would mean she would indeed have to ‘degrade’ herself socially, losing the comfort and luxury of a high-class marriage. Furthermore, she ends up having no choice. Heathcliff overhears her say that ‘it would degrade her to marry him’ and runs out off the house into the night, disappearing for the next three years. Catherine is left alone in despair at his disappearance and has no choice but to marry Edgar as her true love is gone.
2. During this section of the book, Heathcliff disappears. Why? How did he change?
Heathcliff overhears Catherine saying that ‘it would degrade her to marry him’ and does not ‘stay to hear no further’, undoubtedly feeling betrayed by her and also hurt by her declaration that he is not good enough for her. He must have felt tremendously crushed to hear his passionate love for her was unrequited and the impact of hearing this was strong enough to make him leave instantly, instead of staying to hear the rest of her speech, which ironically described her passionate love for him. He was ‘never heard of since the evening of the thunder-storm’. But then three years later, he returns and Nelly is ‘amazed to behold’ his incredible transformation: ‘he had grown a tall, athletic, well-formed man’, ‘his upright carriage suggested the idea of his having been in the army’ ‘his countenance was much older in expression and decision of feature (…); it looked intelligent, and retained no marks of former degradation’ ‘his manner was even quite dignified: quite divested of roughness, though too stern for grace’. He has become an imposing gentleman though ‘a subdued half-civilised ferocity still lurks yet in the depressed brows and eyes full of black fire’. He also returns ‘plentifully supplied’ with money – he has earned a mysterious fortune during his three-year absence: ‘He has, nobody knows what money, and every year it increases’. Nelly believes he has been in the army but how he earned his money is never explained. Yes, think about why Bronte may have left it vague...
3. Who is Isabella and who is she interested in?
Isabella Linton is Edgar’s younger sister – a ‘charming young lady of eighteen; infantile in manners, though possessed of keen wit, keen feelings, and a keen temper, too if irritated’. She is a pretty girl who is loved by her family as Catherine divulges when insisting she ‘never feels hurt at the brightness of Isabella’s yellow hair and the whiteness of her skin, at her dainty elegance, and the fondness all the family exhibit for her’. Isabella ‘evinces a sudden and irresistible attraction’ towards Heathcliff and declares to Catherine when having a tantrum: ‘I love him (Heathcliff) more than ever you loved Edgar; and he might love me if you would let him!’.
4. How did Edgar respond when Isabella left with Heathcliff?
Edgar is ‘appalled’ by her interest in Heathcliff and gives her ‘a solemn warning, that if she were so insane as to encourage that worthless suitor, it would dissolve all bonds of relationship between herself and him’. When she ends up eloping with Heathcliff, Edgar calmly tells Nelly that ‘she went of her own accord’ and therefore ‘she is only [his] sister in name: not because [he] disowns her, but because she disowned [him]’. He is very subdued, clearly hurt by his sister’s actions but unwilling to let his emotions get the best of him. Instead he does not ‘make a single inquiry further or mention her in any way, except directing [Nelly] to send what property she had in the house to her fresh home’. Yes, were you surprised he cut her off so completely?
Perfect! Effective PEE throughout, well done.