The Class Conflict Between Heights and Grange

Follows the novel's treatment of social rank, showing how birth, money, and manners determine the fates of the characters at both houses.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Gipsy Brat

A Name Given, An Origin Hidden A Child Without a Place Heathcliff is called a gipsy brat by Mrs. Earnshaw and a Lascar or castaway by old Mr. Linton, names that deny him any legitimate social identity. His dark skin marks him as an outsider in a world where race and rank are written on the face. A Wealth of Absence Without parentage, without money, without even a surname of his own, he holds his place in the Earnshaw household purely by the old master's will. The contingency of his position is the foundation of his resentment.

The Lady and the Dirty Boy

A Fine Lady's Laughter The First Intimation of Shame Catherine, returning from five weeks at Thrushcross Grange, laughs at Heathcliff's dirty face and grim clothing, calling him funny and grim. He answers with a furious boast: he likes to be dirty, and will be dirty as he pleases. Class Inscribed on the Body Heathcliff's poverty has become visible, and Catherine's new refinement makes her ashamed of what she loves. The division between the two houses is no longer just geographical; it is a division of value.

The Princess and the Clown

An Heir in Rags The Mistake of Rank Catherine Linton (younger) mistakes Hareton for a servant, orders him to bring her pony, and is horrified to learn he is her cousin. Her scorn is the first honest reflection of the class system that has degraded the Heights' heir. A Brutal Education Hareton's cursing reply, "I'll see thee damned before I be thy servant!" is the protest of a man who has been robbed of his birthright. The meeting reveals how completely Heathcliff's revenge has turned the social order inside out.

The Chair of the Servant

A Lady in a Kitchen Reduced to Equality Cathy, once the Grange's heiress, is reduced to penury at Wuthering Heights, forced to sit with the very servants she once disdained. Her pride is the last fortress of her old rank, and she guards it ferociously. The Leveling of Misery Heathcliff's cruelty makes no distinctions of class; his daughter-in-law is stripped to the condition of a dependant. Yet the humiliation prepares the ground for her relationship with Hareton, built on shared suffering rather than inherited privilege.

The Scholar and the Lady

Teaching an Heir to Rise A Reversal of the Old Order Cathy, now penniless, holds the one possession that matters in a world of rank: learning. Her instruction of Hareton transforms him from a brute into a gentleman, even as his sturdy honesty rebukes her for her former cruelty. A Marriage Beyond Rank The marriage of the once-ignorant Earnshaw and the once-haughty Linton dissolves the categories that had wounded them all. Class conflict gives way to cooperation, and the hereditary curses of both houses are quietly retired.

Heathcliff's arrival at Wuthering Heights

Christmas, when Catherine returns from the Grange

Cathy's first meeting with Hareton Earnshaw, summer 1784

the months of Cathy's widowhood at the Heights, 1801-1802

spring to autumn 1802