Wuthering Heights
(Emily Brontë)

In 1801 Mr. Lockwood writes in his diary of his visit to Wuthering Heights. He is leasing Thrushcross Grange, a neighboring estate, from the owner of Wuthering Heights, an ill-tempered man named Heathcliff. During his first two visits at Wuthering Heights, he encounters Heathcliff, a beautiful young woman named Catherine and a muscled youth named Hareton. Lockwood incorrectly understands their relations, and the entangled family ties catch his interest. Back at Thrushcross Grange, Lockwood asks the maid, Mrs. Ellen Dean, to tell him the tale of the families of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross.

Mrs. Dean's story begins when she is just a girl serving in Wuthering Heights, which was, at that time, owned by Mr. Earnshaw. Close to Ellen's age are Earnshaw's children, Hindley Earnshaw (the eldest) and Catherine Earnshaw (the youngest). One day, Mr. Earnshaw brings back a homeless gypsy boy he found in the streets of town, naming him Heathcliff and deciding to raise him as his own son. Hindley kindles a hatred toward the dark boy, but Catherine, with her wild nature, quickly grew fond of him. The two spent all their time together out wandering the moors and getting into trouble.

During their play, Catherine and Heathcliff travel the four miles or so the Thrushcross Grange, the neighboring estate. There they see Edgar and Isabella Linton, who are opposite in nature to them. Where Catherine and Heathcliff are wild and willful, Edgar and Isabella are spoiled and soft. Catherine is hurt, and tended by the Linton family, who shun Heathcliff for his unruly appearance.

From that point on, Catherine begins spending time with both Heathcliff and Edgar. Eventually, Edgar proposes to Catherine, and she accepts because Edgar is handsome and wealthy. She acknowledges that Heathcliff will always share her soul, but that Edgar is the right choice for marriage because of his social standing. When Heathcliff finds out, he runs away from Wuthering Heights and is not seen again for three years.

In the space of time where Heathcliff is away, Catherine marries Edgar and moves to Thrushcross Grange. Ellen believes the two will be content and happy together, and then, one day, Heathcliff travels back. He has an immense fortune, although none know its source, and makes his mind to take revenge on Hindley Earnshaw and Edgar Linton. He begins his revenge by marrying Isabella Linton and making her miserable.

Eventually, being torn between the two jealous men, Edgar and Heathcliff, drives Catherine to madness. She becomes delusional and ill, and the doctor says she will never recover. She is pregnant with Edgar's child, however, and manages to live long enough to give birth to a baby girl, also named Catherine, or Cathy, for short.

After Catherine dies, Hindley dies, as well. Upon his death, Heathcliff seizes all his properties, as well as his son, Hareton, because Hindley owed Heathcliff so much in debt. Isabella runs away and has Heathcliff's son named Linton.

The story's second half begins when Cathy is thirteen. She has never heard of Wuthering Heights or Heathcliff, because of Edgar's hatred for the man. She wanders into Wuthering Heights one day, and becomes aware of her cousin Hareton, whom she mistakes for a common servant since Heathcliff didn't allow the boy an education.

Later, Edgar receives a letter that Isabella is dying and wishes him to take Linton to live at Thrushcross Grange. Edgar fetches the boy, only to have Heathcliff take him away. He has no love for the weakling child, but wants him because he is heir of Thrushcross.

When Cathy is sixteen, she ends up at Wuthering Heights again and becomes reacquainted with her cousin Linton. Although he is sickly and spoiled, she develops a soft spot for him. Heathcliff wishes them to marry so as to have her inheritance. Eventually he forces their union, and Edgar dies soon after. Following closely behind is Linton, who was never expected to reach adulthood because of his poor health. Heathcliff now owns both the Heights and the Granges and makes Cathy miserable.

Upon hearing the end of Ellen's tale, Lockwood decides not to spend any more time in the country and heads to town. Six months later, however, he returns to find Hareton and Cathy getting along well, and Ellen working at Wuthering Heights. When he asks Ellen to fill him in on how this impossible situation came to be, she continues where she left off.

After Lockwood left, Ellen was invited to the Heights to work. She gladly accepts and watches as Cathy and Hareton begin to form a friendship. Around this time, Heathcliff begins acting strangely, seeing apparitions and talking to himself. One night, Heathcliff dies in his sleep and is buried beside Catherine. The townspeople tell of two ghosts, male and female, haunting the moors. Cathy and Hareton are to be wed and plan on living at Thrushcross Grange.