Hindley and Frances's Marriage

Traces the brief, passionate marriage of Hindley Earnshaw and Frances, and its catastrophic effect on Hindley's character.

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A Bride at the Funeral

A Strange Homecoming A Wife Unknown to the Family Hindley Earnshaw returns to Wuthering Heights for his father's funeral, astonishing everyone by bringing a wife no one knew he had. The young woman is lively, affectionate, and utterly unsuited to the farm's rough ways, but she delights in the old house. A Marriage Without Explanation Nelly presumes that Frances has neither money nor name, or Hindley would have mentioned the union before. The mystery of the bride and her delicate health foreshadow the tragedy to come.

The Indulgent Idyll

Dolls on the Hearth A Family ABC Hindley, transformed by love, dotes on Frances and lets her rule the house, while Catherine and Heathcliff resent the new mistress. The little family occupies the warm hearth, kissing and chattering like babies, indifferent to the children's misery. The Seeds of Neglect From Frances's casual dislike of Heathcliff grows Hindley's renewed persecution of the boy. The idyll contains its opposite: the love that makes the master happy also makes the foundling's servitude absolute.

The Birth of Hareton

A Son and a Death Sentence The Doctor's Verdict Frances gives birth to Hareton, a fine boy, but the doctor pronounces that she has been in consumption for months and will not survive the winter. Hindley refuses to believe it, insisting she is well even as her coughing shakes her. An Ominous Joy Nelly hurries home to find Hindley at the door, pretending cheerfulness. The household is caught between the beauty of the newborn and the creeping certainty of loss, and the foundation of the family's future is laid on a grave.

The Deathbed Denial

A Face That Changed The End of the Idyll The night Frances declares she will rise tomorrow, a slight cough takes her, and she dies in her husband's arms before he can lay her down. Hindley, who had fancied himself deceived by doctors, is left with his own delusions for company. A Soul Turned to Rage Rather than mourning, Hindley curses and defies God, and hands himself over to reckless dissipation. The love that had humanized him becomes the very engine of his ruin, as he seeks in drink the oblivion he cannot find in faith.

Frances's Long Shadow

The Widower's Hell A Legacy of Wreckage Hindley's grief hardens into a suicidal rage that endangers Hareton, terrorizes the household, and drives every servant away except Joseph and Nelly. The memory of Frances becomes a reproach rather than a consolation, and he speaks of his son with curses and threats. A House Divided Against Itself Nelly later compares Hindley's conduct to Edgar's: one despairing, the other trusting, each receiving the wages of his choice. Frances's brief life thus defines her husband's entire descent, from devoted father to drunkard who nearly kills his only child.

Mr. Earnshaw's funeral, when Hindley returns home

the early months of the marriage, before Hareton's birth

a fine June day, summer of 1778

within a week of Frances's death, when Hareton is weeks old

the years between her death and Hindley's own, 1778-1784