Emily Brontë – Wuthering Heights
Detailed Chapter-wise Notes (34 Chapters)
Wuthering Heights (1847) is Emily Brontë’s only novel. It presents an intense study of passionate love, revenge, social class, and psychological conflict, using a complex narrative structure.
Narrative Technique (Exam Note)
- Frame Narrative – Lockwood narrates Nelly Dean’s story
- Multiple narrators
- Non-linear chronology
- Gothic atmosphere
CHAPTER 1
Mr. Lockwood, tenant of Thrushcross Grange, visits his landlord Heathcliff at Wuthering Heights. He experiences hostility, coldness, and isolation.
Exam Focus: Opening establishes gothic tone, isolation, and social hostility.
CHAPTER 2
Lockwood revisits Wuthering Heights and meets Catherine Linton, Hareton Earnshaw, and Joseph. He senses cruelty, confusion, and suppressed violence.
Exam Focus: Atmosphere of emotional barrenness and conflict.
CHAPTER 3
Lockwood is forced to stay overnight. He dreams of Catherine Earnshaw’s ghost begging to be let in. Heathcliff’s emotional breakdown reveals unresolved grief.
Exam Focus: Supernatural element and Heathcliff’s obsession.
CHAPTER 4
Nelly Dean begins narrating the past. Mr. Earnshaw brings home Heathcliff, an orphan, who is resented by Hindley.
Exam Focus: Heathcliff as outsider and victim of class prejudice.
CHAPTER 5
Catherine and Heathcliff grow inseparable. After Mr. Earnshaw’s death, Hindley reduces Heathcliff to a servant.
Exam Focus: Origin of revenge and humiliation.
CHAPTER 6
Catherine stays at Thrushcross Grange after an injury. She is introduced to refinement and social superiority.
Exam Focus: Contrast between nature (Wuthering Heights) and culture (Thrushcross Grange).
CHAPTER 7
Catherine returns transformed; Heathcliff feels alienated. Class consciousness begins to separate them.
CHAPTER 8
Mrs. Earnshaw dies. Hindley’s tyranny increases. Catherine grows socially ambitious.
CHAPTER 9
Catherine confesses she will marry Edgar Linton for status but loves Heathcliff:
“I am Heathcliff.”
Heathcliff overhears only her rejection and disappears.
Exam Focus: Love vs social ambition.
CHAPTER 10
Heathcliff runs away. Catherine falls seriously ill, showing emotional dependency.
CHAPTER 11
Edgar and Nelly nurse Catherine. Domestic order contrasts emotional chaos.
CHAPTER 12
Catherine recovers. Five years pass, marking a major time shift.
CHAPTER 13
Heathcliff returns wealthy and refined but emotionally hardened.
Exam Focus: Heathcliff as a Byronic anti-hero.
CHAPTER 14
Heathcliff renews his bond with Catherine. Edgar becomes jealous.
CHAPTER 15
Catherine and Heathcliff’s final meeting is passionate and violent.
Exam Focus: Destructive intensity of love.
CHAPTER 16
Catherine gives birth to Cathy and dies. Heathcliff curses her spirit to haunt him.
Exam Focus: Love transcending death.
CHAPTER 17
Isabella narrates her abusive marriage. Hindley dies ruined.
Exam Focus: Marriage as violence and illusion.
CHAPTER 18
Cathy grows up sheltered. The second generation begins.
CHAPTER 19
Linton Heathcliff arrives sickly and weak.
Exam Focus: Contrast between father and son.
CHAPTER 20
Heathcliff gains control over both estates.
Exam Focus: Completion of revenge.
CHAPTER 21
Cathy meets Hareton and Linton.
Exam Focus: Repetition of past conflicts.
CHAPTER 22
Edgar’s health declines. Heathcliff plans forced marriage.
CHAPTER 23
Cathy is emotionally manipulated by Heathcliff.
CHAPTER 24
Nelly warns Cathy, but youthful rebellion continues.
CHAPTER 25
Linton’s cruelty and weakness increase.
CHAPTER 26
Cathy and Nelly are imprisoned at Wuthering Heights.
Exam Focus: Power and confinement.
CHAPTER 27
Cathy is forced to marry Linton.
Exam Focus: Marriage as instrument of domination.
CHAPTER 28
Edgar dies peacefully.
CHAPTER 29
Linton dies soon after marriage.
CHAPTER 30
Cathy lives under Heathcliff’s cruelty.
CHAPTER 31
Hareton begins to change under Cathy’s influence.
Exam Focus: Education and moral growth.
CHAPTER 32
Heathcliff grows obsessed with Catherine’s memory.
CHAPTER 33
Heathcliff dies mysteriously, possibly reunited with Catherine.
Exam Focus: Gothic ambiguity of death.
CHAPTER 34
Cathy and Hareton plan marriage and restoration. Lockwood observes peace at last.
Exam Focus: Healing through the next generation.
Major Themes (Exam Revision)
- Destructive Love
- Revenge
- Nature vs Civilization
- Social Class
- Gothic Elements
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