Wuthering Heights & Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë & Emily Brontë
Contents
Wuthering Heights — CHAPTER IX
Overview
Hindley’s drunken violence nearly kills Hareton, but Heathcliff saves the child, thwarting his own revenge. Catherine accepts Edgar’s proposal yet declares her soul one with Heathcliff; Heathcliff overhears only her slight and disappears. A storm leaves Catherine feverish; the elder Lintons die. Catherine marries Edgar, and Nelly leaves with her.
Summary
Hindley staggers in drunk, assaults Nelly with a knife, and manhandles Hareton, hauling the child to the stair-rail. Distracted, Hindley lets Hareton slip; Hareton falls but is caught by Heathcliff at the last moment, to Heathcliff’s anguish at having saved Hindley’s son and foiled his revenge.
After Hindley drives them off and drinks, Catherine approaches Nelly, confessing she has accepted Edgar Linton’s proposal. Nelly presses her motives; Catherine admits love for Edgar’s charms and position but reveals a deeper, immutable bond with Heathcliff, declaring, “I am Heathcliff,” while saying it would now degrade her to marry him.
Heathcliff, hidden nearby, hears only Catherine’s remark about degradation and slips away, wounded. As night falls, Catherine anxiously searches and waits for Heathcliff in a storm, refusing shelter until she is drenched. The household endures a violent tempest; by morning Catherine is chilled and ill, and Hindley threatens to dismiss Heathcliff.
Catherine denies seeing Heathcliff, breaks down, and collapses into feverish delirium. Mr. Kenneth treats her; Mrs. Linton takes Catherine to Thrushcross Grange to convalesce, but both Mr. and Mrs. Linton catch the fever and die. Heathcliff remains missing.
Catherine returns prouder and more volatile. Months pass; Hindley indulges her to secure a Linton match. Edgar, infatuated, marries Catherine at Gimmerton Chapel three years after his father’s death. Nelly, dismissed by Hindley and entreated by Catherine, leaves Wuthering Heights for Thrushcross Grange, parting sadly from young Hareton. The frame narrator notes the late hour and pauses the tale.
Who Appears
- Catherine EarnshawAccepts Edgar’s proposal yet avows an inseparable bond with Heathcliff; waits in a storm, falls ill, later marries Edgar.
- HeathcliffSaves Hareton from a fatal fall; overhears Catherine call marrying him degrading and disappears, thwarting his own revenge.
- Hindley EarnshawDrunkenly threatens Nelly, endangers Hareton, and plans to dismiss Heathcliff; later tolerates Catherine to secure her Linton match.
- Ellen (Nelly) DeanNarrates events, protects Hareton, questions Catherine’s motives, nurses Catherine’s fever, and later leaves with her to Thrushcross.
- Hareton EarnshawNearly dropped from the stairs by Hindley; saved by Heathcliff; later left behind when Nelly departs.
- Edgar LintonProposes to Catherine and later marries her; his parents die before the wedding.
- JosephSanctimonious servant; prays during the storm and tattles about Catherine’s movements.
- Mr. KennethDoctor who treats Catherine’s fever and warns of her fragile condition.
- Mrs. LintonTakes Catherine to Thrushcross Grange to recover; catches the fever and dies.
- Mr. LintonContracts Catherine’s fever at Thrushcross Grange and dies shortly after his wife.
- LockwoodFrame narrator who notes the late hour and pauses Nelly’s story.