Instead of trying to solve the mystery surrounding Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights manor, chapter three only made everything more confusing. It’s as is the story was this huge puzzle that keeps getting larger and larger. I made tons of notes while I was reading, and unlike my notes from the previous chapters, these notes were extremely chaotic because the reader is exposed to a lot of intriguing information and a few new and crucial characters. On the other hand, as more information and new characters were presented, just like Lockwood said, “an immediate interest kindled within me for the unknown Catherine” (20) and the other residents of Wuthering Heights. So to try to organize things a little more I made sort of a time line of the events that have occurred in Wuthering Height. Of course there were lots of gaps, but it helped me “picture” the story better. It also gave me a “direction”; it made me aware of what I need to look out for while reading.
So after reading chapter four, I was able to identify four different “stages” or “phases” in the history of Wuthering Heights manor. The first period took place about a “quarter of a century back” (20), when the father of Catherine Earnshaw was the master of Wuthering Heights. At the time, we know for sure that at least four people, besides Mr. Earnshaw, used to live in the house: Joseph, the servant who the reader already knows; Catherine Earnshaw, who supposedly used to occupy the room in which Mr. Lockwood is in and who kept the “diaries” which Lockwood is reading; Hindley Earnshaw, the older son of Mr. Earnshaw and brother of Catherine Earnshaw; and Heathcliff, who seemed to be well-treated in the house and a good friend of Catherine. But here the first question arises: what is Heathcliff’s connection with the rest of the residents of Wuthering Heights? Why is he there? Because it seems that he doesn’t belong on the family, both because he is of different ethnicity and background and because of his name. Regardless of how he got there, the point is that during this period, Heathcliff was very well treated by Mr. Earnshaw. In fact many times, Catherine makes it clear that her father was very nice and good.
The second “phase” of Wuthering Heights is when Hindley became the new master of the manor. Making us wonder what happened to his father. Did he die? How? Was he killed? Is it important? Even with this change, Joseph, Catherine, and Heathcliff remained in the house and were joined by Hindley’s wife, Frances. But now, it was made clear that Joseph was quite mean, maybe not mean, but it seemed as if he had a certain repressed anger which he released upon young Mrs. Earnshaw and especially on Heathcliff, who was treated by everyone in the house except Catherine as the child of a slave or something of that nature. Catherine’s attitude towards Joseph were also made clear when she drew an amusing caricature of him, showing that she probably disliked him as well, but was still in a position of mocking him. Hindley also showed to be quite cruel with both Heathcliff – “his conduct to Heathcliff is atrocious” (20) - and his sister, Catherine, who even wrote in her “diary” that “Hindley is a detestable substitute” (20) for her father. Catherine goes on and gives a few examples of how cruel Hindley and Joseph could be. The events she wrote about also show how Hindley was disrespectful regarding their father, which may hint about what happened to Mr. Earnshaw. Maybe Hindley had something to do with Earnshaw’s death, if he died at all, but I could be exaggerating here. Heathcliff and Catherine seemed to remain good friends, actually very close friends. Catherine even mentions that they were planning to rebel. This made me ponder about whether if they did end up rebelling. Did it work? Was that why suddenly Heathcliff wasn’t allowed to even sit with the rest of the people? If it is, what exactly did he do? I also had a doubt about vocabulary when this “phase” is narrated. At one point, Joseph was really angry at Catherine and Heathcliff and asseverated that “‘owd Nick’ would fetch us as sure as we were living”. It could be nothing but an expression, but I still wonder, who is “owd Nick”?
Then the third “stage” took place when Catherine left the house unwillingly. That’s basically where everything starts to get confusing and lots of questions emerge. What happened to her? Did she die? How? Or did she marry Linton? A started to think about Linton because of the small summary at the back cover of the book, and because before it was mentioned that someone scratched the names Catherine Earnshaw, Catherine Heathcliff, and Catherine Linton in the ledge of the room where Lockwood is staying. So since then I kept trying to connect the names and think of why she kept “changing” her name and it seems quite plausible that she left Wuthering Heights manor after marrying a man named Linton. But then again, who is Linton? And why did she leave the house unwillingly? Was she forced to marry Linton, if she married him at all? And if she was forced to marry him, why didn’t she like him? Is it simply because it was a forced and arranged marriage or is it because she loved someone else? And if she loved someone else, was it Heathcliff? If it was Heathcliff, and assuming he loved her as well, what did he do when Catherine got married? What happened? What about Hindley? Is he still the master of the house? Was he the one who arranged the marriage?
These are only a few of the various questions and observations I have made concerning chapter three, since I don’t have much time, I will continue this post later.
So after reading chapter four, I was able to identify four different “stages” or “phases” in the history of Wuthering Heights manor. The first period took place about a “quarter of a century back” (20), when the father of Catherine Earnshaw was the master of Wuthering Heights. At the time, we know for sure that at least four people, besides Mr. Earnshaw, used to live in the house: Joseph, the servant who the reader already knows; Catherine Earnshaw, who supposedly used to occupy the room in which Mr. Lockwood is in and who kept the “diaries” which Lockwood is reading; Hindley Earnshaw, the older son of Mr. Earnshaw and brother of Catherine Earnshaw; and Heathcliff, who seemed to be well-treated in the house and a good friend of Catherine. But here the first question arises: what is Heathcliff’s connection with the rest of the residents of Wuthering Heights? Why is he there? Because it seems that he doesn’t belong on the family, both because he is of different ethnicity and background and because of his name. Regardless of how he got there, the point is that during this period, Heathcliff was very well treated by Mr. Earnshaw. In fact many times, Catherine makes it clear that her father was very nice and good.
The second “phase” of Wuthering Heights is when Hindley became the new master of the manor. Making us wonder what happened to his father. Did he die? How? Was he killed? Is it important? Even with this change, Joseph, Catherine, and Heathcliff remained in the house and were joined by Hindley’s wife, Frances. But now, it was made clear that Joseph was quite mean, maybe not mean, but it seemed as if he had a certain repressed anger which he released upon young Mrs. Earnshaw and especially on Heathcliff, who was treated by everyone in the house except Catherine as the child of a slave or something of that nature. Catherine’s attitude towards Joseph were also made clear when she drew an amusing caricature of him, showing that she probably disliked him as well, but was still in a position of mocking him. Hindley also showed to be quite cruel with both Heathcliff – “his conduct to Heathcliff is atrocious” (20) - and his sister, Catherine, who even wrote in her “diary” that “Hindley is a detestable substitute” (20) for her father. Catherine goes on and gives a few examples of how cruel Hindley and Joseph could be. The events she wrote about also show how Hindley was disrespectful regarding their father, which may hint about what happened to Mr. Earnshaw. Maybe Hindley had something to do with Earnshaw’s death, if he died at all, but I could be exaggerating here. Heathcliff and Catherine seemed to remain good friends, actually very close friends. Catherine even mentions that they were planning to rebel. This made me ponder about whether if they did end up rebelling. Did it work? Was that why suddenly Heathcliff wasn’t allowed to even sit with the rest of the people? If it is, what exactly did he do? I also had a doubt about vocabulary when this “phase” is narrated. At one point, Joseph was really angry at Catherine and Heathcliff and asseverated that “‘owd Nick’ would fetch us as sure as we were living”. It could be nothing but an expression, but I still wonder, who is “owd Nick”?
Then the third “stage” took place when Catherine left the house unwillingly. That’s basically where everything starts to get confusing and lots of questions emerge. What happened to her? Did she die? How? Or did she marry Linton? A started to think about Linton because of the small summary at the back cover of the book, and because before it was mentioned that someone scratched the names Catherine Earnshaw, Catherine Heathcliff, and Catherine Linton in the ledge of the room where Lockwood is staying. So since then I kept trying to connect the names and think of why she kept “changing” her name and it seems quite plausible that she left Wuthering Heights manor after marrying a man named Linton. But then again, who is Linton? And why did she leave the house unwillingly? Was she forced to marry Linton, if she married him at all? And if she was forced to marry him, why didn’t she like him? Is it simply because it was a forced and arranged marriage or is it because she loved someone else? And if she loved someone else, was it Heathcliff? If it was Heathcliff, and assuming he loved her as well, what did he do when Catherine got married? What happened? What about Hindley? Is he still the master of the house? Was he the one who arranged the marriage?
These are only a few of the various questions and observations I have made concerning chapter three, since I don’t have much time, I will continue this post later.
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