Wuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë
Contents
Chapter 14
Overview
Nelly carries Edgar's cold refusal of contact to Isabella and finds Isabella already miserable and degraded in Heathcliff's household. Heathcliff openly reveals that he married Isabella without love and uses her suffering as part of his revenge against Edgar.
The chapter shifts the conflict toward a dangerous secret meeting: Heathcliff demands access to the recovering Catherine and coerces Nelly into carrying a letter and helping him avoid a violent confrontation at the Grange. Nelly's reluctant agreement deepens the moral compromise surrounding Catherine's illness and Heathcliff's obsession.
Summary
After reading Isabella's letter, Nelly tells Edgar that Isabella has arrived at Wuthering Heights, regrets Catherine's illness, and wants some sign of Edgar's forgiveness. Edgar says he is not angry but considers himself permanently divided from Isabella because of her marriage to Heathcliff. He refuses to visit or write, asking only that Isabella persuade Heathcliff to leave the country.
Nelly goes to Wuthering Heights and finds the house neglected and Isabella altered: pale, disheveled, and anxious for a letter that has not come. Heathcliff, composed and outwardly gentlemanlike, questions Nelly about Catherine's illness. Nelly urges Heathcliff to avoid Catherine for her health, but Heathcliff rejects the idea and insists that Nelly help him obtain an interview.
Heathcliff argues that his bond with Catherine is deeper than Edgar's and that life without Catherine would be hell. Isabella defends Edgar, but Heathcliff mocks Isabella's abandonment by her brother and openly humiliates Isabella. Heathcliff admits he never loved Isabella, says Isabella married him under romantic delusions, and describes his cruelty as deliberate, including the hanging of Isabella's dog after their elopement.
Isabella angrily warns Nelly not to believe Heathcliff and begs Nelly not to repeat his words to Edgar or Catherine, because Heathcliff wants to provoke Edgar. Heathcliff uses Isabella's outburst as evidence that Isabella is unfit to govern herself and forces Isabella upstairs. Alone with Nelly, Heathcliff declares he has no pity and presses Nelly again to help him see Catherine.
Nelly refuses, arguing that a secret visit would betray Edgar and disturb Catherine's fragile recovery. Heathcliff threatens to enter the Grange by force, with violence against Edgar or the servants if necessary, unless Nelly arranges a safer way. After repeated refusals, Nelly reluctantly agrees to carry a letter to Catherine and, if Catherine consents, inform Heathcliff of Edgar's next absence so Heathcliff can attempt a secret visit.
Nelly returns troubled by the compromise, fearing she has betrayed trust while hoping to prevent worse violence or perhaps help Catherine's disturbed mind. In the frame narrative, Nelly pauses as Doctor Kenneth arrives, and Lockwood reflects uneasily on the grim story, warning himself against being fascinated by the younger Catherine's eyes lest she resemble her mother.
Who Appears
- Ellen Dean / NellyNarrator and messenger; visits Wuthering Heights and reluctantly agrees to help Heathcliff contact Catherine.
- HeathcliffCruel husband to Isabella; obsesses over Catherine and coerces Nelly into arranging access to her.
- Isabella HeathcliffEdgar’s sister and Heathcliff’s wife; miserable, humiliated, and determined not to aid Heathcliff’s revenge.
- Edgar LintonRefuses to visit or write Isabella, declaring permanent separation from Heathcliff’s household.
- Catherine LintonRecovering offstage from illness; the object of Heathcliff’s urgent demand for a secret interview.
- Mr. LockwoodFrame narrator listening to Nelly’s history and reflecting warily on Catherine Heathcliff’s resemblance to her mother.