Wuthering Heights

Lockwood, the tenant of Thrushcross Grange, becomes curious about his landlord Heathcliff and the hostile household at Wuthering Heights. After an unsettling night there, he asks his housekeeper, Nelly Dean, for the family's history. Nelly begins with Mr. Earnshaw's return from Liverpool carrying a starving, homeless child whose family cannot be identified. Earnshaw brings the boy into the household and gives him the name Heathcliff. Hindley Earnshaw resents him, while Catherine Earnshaw becomes his closest companion. After Mr. Earnshaw dies, Hindley removes Heathcliff from instruction and reduces him to farm labor. Catherine later spends time with the Lintons and accepts Edgar Linton's proposal. She tells Nelly that Hindley has brought Heathcliff so low that marrying him would degrade her, but also says Heathcliff is more herself than she is and imagines using Edgar's position to help him. Heathcliff overhears only the degrading remark and disappears.

Three years later Heathcliff returns, transformed in appearance and manner, and resumes contact with Catherine after her marriage to Edgar. Isabella Linton becomes infatuated with him despite Catherine's warnings. Heathcliff elopes with Isabella and treats her cruelly, while his renewed relationship with Catherine intensifies conflict at Thrushcross Grange. Catherine becomes gravely ill and dies shortly after giving birth to a daughter, Cathy. Heathcliff responds by begging Catherine's spirit to haunt him rather than leave him. Isabella eventually escapes and raises their son Linton away from Heathcliff. Hindley meanwhile sinks into gambling and mortgages his property to Heathcliff; after Hindley's death, Heathcliff possesses Wuthering Heights and keeps Hareton Earnshaw dependent and largely uneducated. When Isabella dies years later, Edgar brings Linton to the Grange, but Heathcliff immediately claims his son and takes him to Wuthering Heights.

Heathcliff values the sickly Linton chiefly because the boy is the prospective heir to Thrushcross Grange. As Cathy grows up, Heathcliff encourages contact between the cousins and intends them to marry. When Edgar is dying, Heathcliff coerces the terrified Linton into luring Cathy and Nelly to Wuthering Heights, locks them inside, and refuses to release Cathy until she marries Linton. Cathy eventually escapes with Linton's help and returns in time to be with Edgar before he dies. After Edgar's death Heathcliff takes Cathy back to the Heights. Linton soon dies after having been pressured into leaving his movable property, including what had become Cathy's, to Heathcliff. Heathcliff also retains possession of the land, leaving the widowed Cathy isolated and financially dependent in his household.

Cathy initially scorns Hareton for the ignorance Heathcliff imposed on him, but she comes to regret her cruelty, apologizes, and begins teaching him to read. Their friendship develops into affection. Watching them together, Heathcliff is increasingly disturbed by Hareton's resemblance to Catherine Earnshaw and admits to Nelly that he has lost the desire to continue destroying the descendants of his enemies. He becomes absorbed in thoughts of Catherine, eats and sleeps very little, and behaves as though he sees a presence invisible to the others. He dies in Catherine's old room beside an open window after a night of rain and is buried beside Catherine and Edgar. Local people later report seeing Heathcliff, sometimes with a woman, on the moors and near the house; Nelly calls such reports idle tales while admitting that they make her uneasy. Cathy and Hareton plan to marry on New Year's Day and move to Thrushcross Grange. Lockwood closes the story by visiting the three graves and wondering how anyone could imagine unrest beneath the quiet earth.