Wuthering Heights (Annotated Keynote Classics)

By Emily Brontë and Michelle M. White

A haunting tale of Gothic romance and bitter vengeance entwines two families in a life and death drama spanning three generations. The windswept landscape of the Yorkshire moors is a fitting backdrop to the equally stormy inhabitants of the bleak farmhouse, Wuthering Hei

• Language: English
• Publisher: MMW Books, LLC
• Release date: Sep 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781949611335

Emily Brontë

Emily Brontë (1818–1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights. The novel’s violence and passion shocked the Victorian public and led to the belief that it was written by a man. Although Emily died young (at the age of 30), her sole complete work is now considered a masterpiece of English literature.

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Wuthering Heights

by

Emily Brontë

With Annotations by

Michelle M. White

Table of Contents

Introductory Key to Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights

Topics for Discussion or Essays

Works of Emily Brontë

Bibliography

Introductory Key to

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights, first published in 1847, is considered one of the best English novels of all time. Emily Brontë’s talent is not surprising given the literary family she was born into. Her father and brother and two of her sisters were all writers. Her sister Charlotte is best known for her novels, Jane Eyre and Shirley, and her younger sister, Anne, wrote The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey. Writing was one of the few means of income acceptable for women at the time. Novels were gaining popularity and becoming recognized as a virtuous and respectable form of entertainment. In the unstable and increasingly secular society brought on by the Industrial Revolution, novels were meant to be uplifting and morally inspiring. Into this literary environment, Emily’s dark, intense novel of passion and revenge came crashing against Victorian norms. Wuthering Heights seemed to come out of nowhere. Contemporary readers found its story of a tormented family — one we would now refer to as highly dysfunctional — to be on the one hand, perplexing and disturbing and on the other, captivating and exhilarating. The novel may provoke the same contradictory appraisal today. It is often said to be one of the greatest love stories of all time, and the many film adaptations of the book highlight that aspect of it. However, the multi-generational epic has themes that go much deeper than the story of Heathcliff and Catherine. This Introductory Key seeks to provide background, context, and literary guidance to help you read beneath the surface of the plot and appreciate the layers of treasure to be found.

Emily Brontë was born in 1818 as the fifth of six children in the Brontë family. Her father, Patrick Brontë, was a country parson while she was growing up in the small mill town of Haworth, in Yorkshire, England. You will find several orphans in this novel, which may be related to the fact that Emily was only three years old when her mother died of ovarian cancer. The children were subsequently raised with the help of their maternal aunt, Elizabeth Branwell. Emily had limited formal education as a child. At the age of six, she joined her three older sisters at a boarding school for the children of clergy, called Cowan Bridge School. The school was later found guilty of neglect and abuse of children in its care, a situation tragically experienced by the Brontë family. Within a year of arriving, the two oldest daughters, Maria and Elizabeth, were sent home with tuberculosis and soon died. After this, Emily and Charlotte continued their education at home along with their youngest sister, Anne.

Books and news magazines were greatly revered in their literary household. Patrick Brontë, in addition to his drawing and painting talents, had written several books, including a novel and a collection of poems. The children were encouraged to read from local libraries and institutions as well as from their father’s extensive collection of history, philosophy, theology, poetry, fiction, and drama. The Brontë siblings aspired to be authors one day, and a large part of their play included the creation of a fantasy world called Angria. They wrote stories about this land and acted them out with toy soldiers and dolls as characters. Emily and her younger sister, Anne, later created their own literary land called Gondal. They wrote extensively about the adventures of its inhabitants from childhood on and continued to act out scenes as young adults. These extended narratives grew to a large collection of miniature books with tiny handwritten stories. One of Emily’s favorite characters created for Gondal was the powerful queen who was beautiful and charming enough to compel men to fall in love with her, but her selfish and cruel treatment of them brought only tragedy. Many other Gondal characters are motherless, orphaned, or abandoned children. As you follow the storyline of Wuthering Heights, you may find parallels to the world of Gondal.

If you are aware of some of the literature that the Brontë family read in their home education, you will find other parallels as well. An important early influence was Blackwood’s Magazine, which was a popular periodical with political commentary, satire, and book reviews. Emily was particularly enamored by Walter Scott’s novels, which included themes of dynastic borders, feuding, and violence and featured spirited independent women. Brontë was said to be reading Shakespeare’s King Lear while she was writing Wuthering Heights. If you’re familiar with these works, you may find interesting similarities between them and this novel. In addition, the work of Romantic poets like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge was widely circulated and popular at the time, and Emily drew on their emphasis on nature and the imagination in her writing. Lord Byron’s stories featuring heroic outcasts, piracy, and Gothic castles were also favorites. Wuthering Heights has recognizable inspiration from his poetry, including The Dream and Manfred. The Byronic hero, an important trope in nineteenth century literature, will be discussed later in more detail.

As a parson’s daughter, it is fitting that Emily’s novel also contains parallels with Paradise Lost, by John Milton, an epic Christian poem from the seventeenth century that remained popular during Emily’s time. It is about Adam and Eve’s fall from grace and has heaven and hell as it’s central theme as well as a sympathetic characterization of Satan. Emily was also intimately familiar with the seventeenth century Christian allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress, by the puritan John Bunyan, a novel of a man’s journey to heaven and the evils he encounters along the way. If you’ve read these books, you will recognize intertextual references to them throughout Emily’s work. For example, one of the morals portrayed in The Pilgrim’s Progress is that taking appearances for reality is sinful. This is satirized when the narrator of Wuthering Heights makes some comical misinterpretations. Another character in this novel is a satirical self-righteous Christian. This is not surprising, since as a child, whenever Emily found her father’s austere preaching disagreeable, she was known to turn her back on him during his sermon.

Emily resisted the pressure to conform to social norms and was said to be reserved to the point of rudeness. She briefly went away to a few different schools at various times, but she was notably introverted and more comfortable learning at home in Haworth. Charlotte was a teacher at Roe Head Girl’s School in nearby Mirfield, and Emily attended there for a short time. She later tried teaching for about six months but found herself unsuited to it. The very private young woman was known to have a razor-sharp intellect and to revere the freedom she had when she was away from social pressures. Recent scholars have speculated that she exhibited symptoms consistent with the autism spectrum, such as her social discomfort, obsessive need for routine, and difficulty regulating her emotions.¹ Emily is known to have had a deep and abiding love for the animals and landscape of the Yorkshire Moors where she grew up, a sentiment that comes through in her poetry as well as this novel. At the end of this book there is a list of her poetry that you may be interested in reading, particularly her poem, Remembrance, while keeping the character of Heathcliff in mind. Much of her poetry revolves around themes of nature and death, which is also reflected in Wuthering Heights. This is understandable given the loss of her mother and two sisters during her childhood.

Charlotte, as the oldest of the remaining siblings, took on a role of nurturer. It was she who, upon discovering Emily’s poetry, suggested submitting it to a publisher. Anne wanted to include her work as well, but it took a while to convince Emily to go along with the plan because she was averse to potential public attention. But, with limited career options available, she finally relented. They decided to use male-sounding pseudonyms to avoid discrimination, and Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell was published in 1846. Poetry books generally did not sell well at the time, and accordingly, Poems’ sales were paltry. Nevertheless, reviews were complimentary for a first attempt by unknown authors, and Emily’s poems earned particularly high praise.

Once the Brontë sisters had experience in publishing, they were inspired to begin writing novels. The following year, the same pseudonyms were used when Wuthering Heights was published in two-volumes along with a third volume containing Anne’s novel, Agnes Grey, making a three-volume set. Charlotte’s novel Jane Eyre was published a few months earlier with widespread success. Emily and Anne struggled to find a publisher, and they finally settled on an agreement with Thomas Cautley Newby whereby they would have to share the production costs. This publisher turned out to be disreputable and produced a low-quality book with many errors. To promote the book, he encouraged the rumor that the author of Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey was all the same person. Wuthering Heights sold fairly well, but reviews were mixed. It was described as powerful, original, and remarkable as well as profane, disgusting, and repellent.² To clear up the misinformation put out by Newby that Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell’s books were all written by Charlotte, Anne and Charlotte took a trip to London in 1848 to reveal their true identities to Charlotte’s publisher, Smith, Elder. When the news got out, reviews of Wuthering Heights became hostile. For a man to write such immoral and violent characters was unsettling, but for a woman it was downright indecent.

Shortly after their identities were revealed, both Emily and Anne died, and Charlotte was very concerned with their reputation, given the public reaction to the revelation that they were female. In her Biographical Notice included in the 1850 version, to counteract critics’ accusations of coarseness, Charlotte effectively re-branded her sisters as innocent, uneducated country parson’s daughters. To appeal to the prejudice that women were more intuitive than intellectual, she portrayed Emily as having written the book from purely mystical inspiration. Though she praised the work, she also made Emily sound childish and implied that the depth of her talent came from supernatural or divine revelations. She intended to show how Emily could be a dutiful Christian woman and still create sympathetic yet sinful characters. Charlotte described her as stronger than a man but simpler than a child. She also dramatized Emily’s death, portraying her as courageous and accepting of death with a strong faith in God’s will. Elizabeth Gaskell’s 1857 biography, The Life of Charlotte Brontë, published after Charlotte’s death, perpetuated the myth of the pious, self-sacrificing, uneducated sisters, raised in a secluded village on the desolate windswept moors. The mythologized version of Emily Brontë persisted well into the twentieth century before her talent was recognized as stemming from a strong literary education and hard work. In 1850, Charlotte also published several of Emily and Anne’s poems along with Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey in one volume. She corrected some typographical errors and edited and rewrote portions of Emily’s work to make it more palatable for Victorian readers.

The year after the publication of Wuthering Heights, Emily died from tuberculosis at the age of 30. Tuberculosis had contributed to her brother Branwell’s death a few months earlier, and Anne also succumbed to this endemic disease the following year. Tuberculosis, also known as consumption, was the scourge of the nineteenth century, and it devastated the Brontë family, causing the deaths of five of the six Brontë children. In the early 1800s, it was so prevalent that it was responsible for nearly 25 percent of all deaths in Europe. The signs would have been readily apparent to nineteenth century readers, so the disease is not always identified by name when it occurs in this novel. To help you recognize it, a description of Tuberculosis may be helpful. It is a bacterial infection transmitted by close physical contact through respiratory droplets from sneezes and coughs. However, it could take years to manifest symptoms and culminate in illness, and since it spread easily among close family members, up until the 1880s, it was thought to stem from genetics. It mainly affects the lungs, causing a chronic cough, lack of appetite, and severe weight loss. Patients suffer from a slow deterioration of strength and a low-grade fever, which results in a flushed appearance and glassy eyes, frequently described in Victorian literature as beautiful. Tuberculosis developed a reputation as an illness that culminated in a heroic death as people slowly wasted away. Think about this as you read about how characters in this novel deal with the affliction.

There are a number of other aspects of this novel that will be better understood with some background about the time period. For example, the stratification of English society may be unfamiliar to twenty-first century readers. Class divisions, which were thought to be ordained by God, progressed up from the uncivilized at the lowest level, to the poor and destitute, through workers, farmers, etc., on up to the wealthy aristocracy. Foreigners from undeveloped countries were stereotypically seen by Westerners as a lower form of humanity with a savage nature. Pay attention to the adjectives used to describe the appearance and actions of outsiders, which are representative of their class. For example, words that stem from nature or animals may be used when referring to lower class people, highlighting the idea that they are closer to the natural world. It is important to understand this as the characters are introduced. When someone meets a new person, they want to know where they came from, so their status can be determined and so that they know what to expect and how to treat them. People would naturally be suspicious of a foreigner whose status is unknown. If a family remained on the same land and lived in the same home through many generations, it would indicate higher social position. Servants and their families commonly stayed with a family from one generation to the next, and working for a family with higher status raised their own ranking as well.

People accepted the social position they were born in as a matter of responsibility. The various classes had different rights and duties. For example, hard work was considered a virtue for the lower classes, but for an upper-class man, working for a living was unacceptable. The gentry would be educated and well-read while their social inferiors would remain illiterate. Keep this in mind when you come across characters who can and cannot read, and note whether things change as they learn. The gentry felt the responsibility to help people of the lower classes as they saw fit and sometimes took the liberty to make important choices for them. You’ll notice some examples of this in which people take it upon themselves to care for the children of others in ways that modern readers would find to be impinging upon parental rights.

Adults’ expectations and treatment of children as well as the conduct of children in this novel may strike you as odd. It was a common belief at the time that children were born sinful and exhibited animal-like behaviors, and it was the parents’ responsibility to teach them civilized and righteous ways. They were to be kept busy to avoid allowing them time to find mischief, and they were taught to obey the will of their elders rather than make requests of their own. Parents were not expected to be empathetic to a child’s feelings as it was more important for the child to learn obedience. Physical punishment was considered an appropriate tool. In fact, the proverb, spare the rod, spoil the child, was taken quite seriously. Nevertheless, the extent of abuse in this novel should not be taken as ordinary practice for the time. In addition, you’ll notice children are often referred to as it, rather than he or she, which should be recognized as evidence of the speaker’s character rather than an accepted nineteenth century practice.

It may also be helpful if you are aware of some points of English inheritance laws of the time. When an estate owner died, unless a will stipulated otherwise, the land and buildings he owned passed to his oldest male heir. The property, including furniture, livestock, and other possessions was divided equally among his children. If there were debts, possessions would be sold to pay them. If a daughter married, either before or after the death of her father, then her portion of inheritance became the property of her husband unless her father legally willed a portion to her for life. Males were always favored over female descendants. To help clarify, let’s take an example in which a man had a son, a daughter, a granddaughter from his son, and a grandson from his daughter. His son would be first in line to inherit. If that son passed, then the next person in line would be the grandson, the son of his daughter. If the grandson was still a child, then his father would have control of the inheritance until he was of age. The granddaughter would get nothing unless her own father willed it to her. Understanding the line of inheritance will help you to decipher some of the motivations and choices of the characters in Wuthering Heights.

It is easy to get the characters of this novel confused because there are many duplicate names. For example, there are two Catherines, both also referred to as Cathy, several characters with the last names of Earnshaw and Linton, and one with the first name of Linton. The family relationships between characters can also be difficult to follow. A character map is a good tool to create as you read a novel to keep relationships clear. To do this, write the names of the characters as they are introduced and draw lines between them to label their connections, similar to a family tree, but in addition to things like mother/daughter, it may also say master/servant or neighbors. When you read a meaningful literary work, it is also sometimes helpful to make a diagram in which symbols and themes are written or drawn with lines linking them to characters, events, and locations. This story goes back and forth in time, and it can be difficult to keep track of the order of events and the time between them, so it could also be worthwhile to keep a timeline of major events. As you read, make use of the blank pages at the back of the book for these visual organizers. Having them handy to refer to will help you make sense of this complex story. You may be tempted to search for diagrams like these online, but this is not recommended because they will give away plot details prematurely, like who gets married and who dies, and mystery and suspense are key to the enjoyment of this book.

Mystery and suspense are common characteristics of Gothic novels, which were quite popular during the nineteenth century, and this book is a good example. Gothic literature is characterized by supernatural or unexplained forces and features remote locations with dark and gloomy atmospheres. The Gothic novel pushes up against the boundaries between life and death, and characters, settings, and events often have a deep and mysterious connection to the past.

There is ambiguity in a Gothic novel, and the reader might be compelled to question the reliability of the narrator. When the story is told to us from the perspective of a character in the novel, it is called framing, a device that was common in nineteenth century novels. Brontë takes this a step further by adding additional layers. For example, the narrator relays to us what a woman told him was in a letter that she received from someone else. When reading these conveyances, it is important to question the motives, perspectives, and trustworthiness of the narrator and other characters. Notice when characters withhold and reveal certain information from people in ways that drive the plot. 

The weather and the surrounding landscape also may drive the action, which is another feature of Gothic novels. The environment may be used to create an atmosphere or provide symbols that deepen the impact of events. For example, a storm or a bright sunny day can symbolize, reflect, or foreshadow events. Natural imagery and animals can also be used to emphasize strong emotions. When you notice these things, take a minute to think about their place and purpose in the narrative and make a note in the margin.

You will also notice many elements of Romanticism, which has a lot in common with Gothic literature. They both include exotic remote settings, an emphasis on nature, and passionate emotional currents. Romantic literature does not necessarily mean romance in the form of a love relationship although that can be a part of it. Romanticism was a movement in art as well as literature, beginning in the late 1700s and extending through the 1800s. It is concerned with feelings more than intellectual or practical matters, and the plot is driven by emotional rather than rational choices. Romanticism also focuses on individuals and their unique perspectives, with isolation and melancholy being important themes. This melancholy is often played out in a character who can be described as a Byronic hero, named for the poet, Lord Byron. Usually a dark, brooding male character, he is often a rebellious social outcast who is passionate and charismatic but deeply flawed. You’ll recognize this tragic character as you read this novel.

In addition to Gothic and Romantic traditions, this novel is also a tragedy and was a forerunner of the literary movement called Realism. Wuthering Heights is often compared to Shakespeare’s tragedy, King Lear. Elements of tragedy include a plot that revolves around revenge and the downfall of a hero through no fault of his own. There is often a clear cause and effect chain of events that leads to the suffering of innocent people. The things children experience, for example, affect the adults they become. This determinism is also an attribute of Realism. Wuthering Heights was groundbreaking in its use of this form, which became more prevalent in the decades following this book. As its name implies, Realism is concerned with realistic characters, locations, and situations and deals with problems of ordinary life through the use of plausible plots. One aspect of Realism in this novel is the character Joseph’s speech, which is written in a North Yorkshire dialect. It can be difficult to understand, so footnotes are included to help. Characters in Realism are more well-rounded and show both good and bad character traits, making choices that drive the action. The use of framing and the participant narrator mentioned earlier are also common in Realism.

There are many other literary devices used in this novel, and it may deepen your understanding if you are able to spot them as you read. Authors often use symbolism to add depth to a story and present meaning beyond what is literally happening. If you notice recurring motifs, like a certain color or animal, make a note because they are usually there to tell us something more than what is on the surface. Symbols can be found in things like words, events, or settings. Think about the names of places in this novel, like Wuthering Heights, and consider whether it might have multiple meanings. Another common literary device that is often used is that of pairing or duality. This is when similarities or contrasts are used to highlight important themes. These doubles could be two characters, locations, or events that parallel each other in some way or reflect opposing ideas. This book has spacious margins so that you can jot down notes about this type of thing as you read. You might make a note when something reminds you of another book or a favorite movie. Record your observations and highlight passages that strike you as particularly interesting, ironic, or insightful, so that you’ll be able to refer back to them. These notes will be important tools to help you remember what you’ve read and to discuss or write about it later. If you are writing a paper about the book, you’ll need to cite specific quotes to support your thesis. This is a complex novel, so even if you’re not writing about it, taking notes will help you to understand and fully grasp its depths.

Wuthering Heights was a cutting-edge book that was ahead of its time. When it came out, it was often compared to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and considered the lesser of the two novels. Despite Charlotte’s attempts at improving Emily’s reputation and increasing sales with her introduction to the 1850 edition of Wuthering Heights, readership waned in the decades that followed. At a time when novels were expected to be moralistic, nineteenth century readers found it perplexing and unhealthy, a judgment that may be understandable once you read it. Emily’s reputation as a naive country girl fueled continuing rumors about the true authorship of the novel. Although they are now long debunked, conspiracy theories persisted into the twentieth century that either Branwell or Charlotte wrote the book. Mary Robinson’s biography entitled Emily Brontë, written in 1880, revived interest in her work, and by the 1890s, readers were more open to and sought out stories by forward-thinking female writers. Respect and readership grew throughout the twentieth century, and film adaptations popularized the story. In the mid-1900s, critics begin to truly appreciate the novel’s sophistication, complex structure, and literary qualities. The myriad interpretations and analytical approaches taken by modern scholars place it in the top lexicon of classic literature. It has become clear that Brontë was not a simple, transcendentally inspired mystic but a highly perceptive and talented writer who drew on her extensive literary education to create something unique and enduring.

Despite its popular appeal, when many modern readers first begin Wuthering Heights, they find it difficult to appreciate. The first two chapters establish the atmosphere and setting and introduce some characters while the ambiguity of the narrator’s observations builds tension. By the third and fourth chapters, the real action begins and the enigmatic characters and mysterious plot will pull you in. Take your time reading, draw some helpful graphic organizers to refer to, and make use of the space in the margins to jot down your observations. Questions to help spark ideas for thought, discussion, or writing thesis papers are included at the end of the book, placed there to avoid giving away spoilers. With the background provided in this Introductory Key about Emily Brontë and the world of books that Wuthering Heights broke ground in, you will see why it is considered to be a masterpiece of literature and one of the most original English novels of all time.

Wuthering Heights

by

Emily Brontë

CHAPTER I

1801.—I have just returned from a visit to my landlord—the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with. This is certainly a beautiful country! In all England, I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of society. A perfect misanthropist’s heaven: and Mr. Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us. A capital fellow! He little imagined how my heart warmed towards him when I beheld his black eyes withdraw so suspiciously under their brows, as I rode up, and when his fingers sheltered themselves, with a jealous resolution, still further in his waistcoat, as I announced my name.

‘Mr. Heathcliff?’ I said.

A nod was the answer.

‘Mr. Lockwood, your new tenant, sir. I do myself the honour of calling as soon as possible after my arrival, to express the hope that I have not inconvenienced you by my perseverance in soliciting the occupation of Thrushcross Grange:³ I heard yesterday you had had some thoughts—’

‘Thrushcross Grange is my own, sir,’ he interrupted, wincing. ‘I should not allow any one to inconvenience me, if I could hinder it—walk in!’

The ‘walk in’ was uttered with closed teeth, and expressed the sentiment, ‘Go to the Deuce:’ even the gate over which he leant manifested no sympathising movement to the words; and I think that circumstance determined me to accept the invitation: I felt interested in a man who seemed more exaggeratedly reserved than myself.

When he saw my horse’s breast fairly pushing the barrier, he did put out his hand to unchain it, and then sullenly preceded me up the causeway, calling, as we entered the court,—‘Joseph, take Mr. Lockwood’s horse; and bring up some wine.’

‘Here we have the whole establishment of domestics, I suppose,’ was the reflection suggested by this compound order. ‘No wonder the grass grows up between the flags,⁴ and cattle are the only hedge-cutters.’

Joseph was an elderly, nay, an old man: very old, perhaps, though hale and sinewy. ‘The Lord help us!’ he soliloquised in an undertone of peevish displeasure, while relieving me of my horse: looking, meantime, in my face so sourly that I charitably conjectured he must have need of divine aid to digest his dinner, and his pious ejaculation had no reference to my unexpected advent.

Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff’s dwelling. ‘Wuthering’ being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather. Pure, bracing ventilation they must have up there at all times, indeed: one may guess the power of the north wind blowing over the edge, by the excessive slant of a few stunted firs at the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the sun. Happily, the architect had foresight to build it strong: the narrow windows are deeply set in the wall, and the corners defended with large jutting stones.

Before passing the threshold, I paused to admire a quantity of grotesque carving lavished over the front, and especially about the principal door; above which, among a wilderness of crumbling griffins and shameless little boys, I detected the date ‘1500,’ and the name ‘Hareton Earnshaw.’ I would have made a few comments, and requested a short history of the place from the surly owner; but his attitude at the door appeared to demand my speedy entrance, or complete departure, and I had no desire to aggravate his impatience previous to inspecting the penetralium.

One stop brought us into the family sitting-room, without any introductory lobby or passage: they call it here ‘the house’ pre-eminently. It includes kitchen and parlour, generally; but I believe at Wuthering Heights the kitchen is forced to retreat altogether into another quarter: at least I distinguished a chatter of tongues, and a clatter of culinary utensils, deep within; and I observed no signs of roasting, boiling, or baking, about the huge fireplace; nor any glitter of copper saucepans and tin cullenders on the walls. One end, indeed, reflected splendidly both light and heat from ranks of immense pewter dishes, interspersed with silver jugs and tankards, towering row after row, on a vast oak dresser, to the very roof. The latter had never been under-drawn: its entire anatomy lay bare to an inquiring eye, except where a frame of wood laden with oatcakes and clusters of legs of beef, mutton, and ham, concealed it. Above the chimney were sundry villainous old guns, and a couple of horse-pistols: and, by way of ornament, three gaudily-painted canisters disposed along its ledge. The floor was of smooth, white stone; the chairs, high-backed, primitive structures, painted green: one or two heavy black ones lurking in the shade. In an arch under the dresser reposed a huge, liver-coloured bitch pointer, surrounded by a swarm of squealing puppies; and other dogs haunted other recesses.

The apartment and furniture would have been nothing extraordinary as belonging to a homely, northern farmer, with a stubborn countenance, and stalwart limbs set out to advantage in knee-breeches and gaiters.⁵ Such an individual seated in his arm-chair, his mug of ale frothing on the round table before him, is to be seen in any circuit of five or six miles among these hills, if you go at the right time after dinner. But Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast to his abode and style of living. He is a dark-skinned gipsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman: that is, as much a gentleman as many a country squire: rather slovenly, perhaps, yet not looking amiss with his negligence, because he has an erect and handsome figure; and rather morose. Possibly, some people might suspect him of a degree of under-bred pride; I have a sympathetic chord within that tells me it is nothing of the sort: I know, by instinct, his reserve springs from an aversion to showy displays of feeling—to manifestations of mutual kindliness. He’ll love and hate equally under cover, and esteem it a species of impertinence to be loved or hated again. No, I’m running on too fast: I bestow my own attributes over-liberally on him. Mr. Heathcliff may have entirely dissimilar reasons for keeping his hand out of the way when he meets a would-be acquaintance, to those which actuate me. Let me hope my constitution is almost peculiar: my dear mother used to say I should never have a comfortable home; and only last summer I proved myself perfectly unworthy of one.

While enjoying a month of fine weather at the sea-coast, I was thrown into the company of a most fascinating creature: a real goddess in my eyes, as long as she took no notice of me. I ‘never told my love’ vocally; still, if looks have language, the merest idiot might have guessed I was over head and ears: she understood me at last, and looked a return—the sweetest of all imaginable looks. And what did I do? I confess it with shame—shrunk icily into myself, like a snail; at every glance retired colder and farther; till finally the poor innocent was led to doubt her own senses, and, overwhelmed with confusion at her supposed mistake, persuaded her mamma to decamp. By this curious turn of disposition I have gained the reputation of deliberate heartlessness; how undeserved, I alone can appreciate.

I took a seat at the end of the hearthstone opposite that towards which my landlord advanced, and filled up an interval of silence by attempting to caress the canine mother, who had left her nursery, and was sneaking wolfishly to the back of my legs, her lip curled up, and her white teeth watering for a snatch. My caress provoked a long, guttural gnarl.

‘You’d better let the dog alone,’ growled Mr. Heathcliff in unison, checking fiercer demonstrations with a punch of his foot. ‘She’s not accustomed to be spoiled—not kept for a pet.’ Then, striding to a side door, he shouted again, ‘Joseph!’

Joseph mumbled indistinctly in the depths of the cellar, but gave no intimation of ascending; so his master dived down to him, leaving me vis-à-vis the ruffianly bitch and a pair of grim shaggy sheep-dogs, who shared with her a jealous guardianship over all my movements. Not anxious to come in contact with their fangs, I sat still; but, imagining they would scarcely understand tacit insults, I unfortunately indulged in winking and making faces at the trio, and some turn of my physiognomy so irritated madam, that she suddenly broke into a fury and leapt on my knees. I flung her back, and hastened to interpose the table between us. This proceeding aroused the whole hive: half-a-dozen four-footed fiends, of various sizes and ages, issued from hidden dens to the common centre. I felt my heels and coat-laps peculiar subjects of assault; and parrying off the larger combatants as effectually as I could with the