Catherine bitten by Skulker

Catherine Earnshaw's encounter with the Lintons' bulldog Skulker is the pivotal event that first draws her into the orbit of Thrushcross Grange and its inhabitants, marking the beginning of her separation from Heathcliff and her absorption into a world of refinement and social ambition. The bite itself is a physical wound that becomes the catalyst for a five-week stay at the Grange, during which Catherine's manners, appearance, and sense of self are fundamentally reshaped. This single night of trespass and injury fractures the childhood unity of Catherine and Heathcliff, introduces the Lintons as rivals and alternatives, and sets the stage for the love triangle and class conflict that drive the rest of the narrative.

Causes and Background

On a Sunday evening, Catherine and Heathcliff, banished from the sitting-room at Wuthering Heights for making a noise, escape from the wash-house to ramble freely. They catch a glimpse of the lights at Thrushcross Grange and, driven by curiosity and a spirit of rebellion, decide to see how the Lintons spend their Sunday evenings. Heathcliff later recounts to Nelly Dean that they ran from the top of the Heights to the park without stopping, Catherine completely beaten in the race because she was barefoot. They creep through a broken hedge, grope their way up the path, and plant themselves on a flower-plot under the drawing-room window, where they look in on Edgar and Isabella Linton. The children inside are quarreling over a little dog, pulling it nearly in two between them, and both are crying. Heathcliff and Catherine laugh outright at the "petted things," despising them for their petty squabbling. Heathcliff declares he would not exchange his condition for Edgar Linton's at Thrushcross Grange, not even for the privilege of flinging Joseph off the highest gable and painting the house-front with Hindley's blood.

What Happens

As Heathcliff and Catherine laugh, the Lintons hear them and rush to the door. The children inside cry out for their parents in fright. Heathcliff and Catherine make frightful noises to terrify them further, then drop off the ledge when someone begins drawing the bars. Heathcliff has Catherine by the hand and is urging her on when she suddenly falls. She whispers to him to run, saying the Lintons have let the bulldog loose and it holds her. The dog, Skulker, has seized her ankle. Heathcliff does not run; instead, he vociferates curses and gets a stone, thrusting it between the dog's jaws and trying to cram it down its throat. A servant named Robert comes up with a lantern, shouting at the dog to keep fast. When he sees Skulker's game, he changes his note and throttles the dog off; its huge, purple tongue hangs half a foot out of its mouth, and its pendent lips stream with bloody slaver. Robert takes Catherine up; she is sick, not from fear but from pain. He carries her in, and Heathcliff follows, grumbling execrations and vengeance. Mr. Linton halloos from the entrance, and Robert reports that Skulker has caught a little girl and that there is a lad with her who looks like an out-and-outer. He suggests the robbers were trying to put them through the window to open the doors to the gang. Mr. Linton, an old fool according to Heathcliff, thinks the rascals knew it was his rent-day and planned to have him cleverly. He pulls Heathcliff under the chandelier, and Mrs. Linton places her spectacles on her nose and raises her hands in horror. The cowardly children creep nearer, Isabella lisping that Heathcliff is exactly like the son of the fortune-teller who stole her tame pheasant. While they examine Heathcliff, Catherine comes round. She hears the last speech and laughs. Edgar Linton, after an inquisitive stare, recognizes her as Miss Earnshaw and whispers to his mother, pointing out how Skulker has bitten her and how her foot bleeds. Mrs. Linton exclaims that Miss Earnshaw is scouring the country with a gipsy, and Mr. Linton blames her brother's culpable carelessness, saying he lets her grow up in absolute heathenism. He identifies Heathcliff as the strange acquisition his late neighbour made in Liverpool, calling him a little Lascar or an American or Spanish castaway. Mrs. Linton remarks that Heathcliff is a wicked boy, quite unfit for a decent house, and is shocked that her children should have heard his language. Heathcliff recommences cursing, and Robert is ordered to take him off. He refuses to go without Cathy, but Robert drags him into the garden, pushes the lantern into his hand, assures him that Mr. Earnshaw shall be informed of his behaviour, and bids him march directly, securing the door again. Heathcliff resumes his station as a spy, intending to shatter the great glass panes to a million fragments unless they let Catherine out. He sees her sit on the sofa quietly. Mrs. Linton takes off the grey cloak of the dairy-maid which they had borrowed, shaking her head and expostulating with her. The woman-servant brings a basin of warm water and washes Catherine's feet. Mr. Linton mixes a tumbler of negus, and Isabella empties a plateful of cakes into her lap. Edgar stands gaping at a distance. Afterwards, they dry and comb her beautiful hair, give her a pair of enormous slippers, and wheel her to the fire. Heathcliff leaves her, as merry as she can be, dividing her food between the little dog and Skulker, whose nose she pinches as he eats, kindling a spark of spirit in the vacant blue eyes of the Lintons.

Consequences and Aftermath

The immediate consequence is that Catherine stays at Thrushcross Grange for five weeks, until Christmas. During this time, her ankle is thoroughly cured, and her manners are much improved. Mrs. Linton visits her often and commences a plan of reform, trying to raise her self-respect with fine clothes and flattery, which Catherine takes readily. When she returns to Wuthering Heights, she is a very dignified person, lighting from a handsome black pony with brown ringlets and a long cloth habit. Hindley exclaims that she is quite a beauty and looks like a lady now. The transformation is complete: she dares hardly touch the dogs lest they should fawn upon her splendid garments, and she kisses Nelly gently because Nelly is all flour making the Christmas cake. She looks round for Heathcliff, but when she finds him, he is dirty and unkempt, and she cannot help laughing at how black and cross he looks. Heathcliff, humiliated, declares he will be as dirty as he pleases and dashes out of the room. The event also leads to Mr. Linton paying a visit to Wuthering Heights the next day, reading Hindley a lecture on how he guides his family, which stirs Hindley to look about him in earnest. Heathcliff receives no flogging, but he is told that the first word he speaks to Miss Catherine shall ensure a dismissal. The bite thus not only physically wounds Catherine but also severs the easy intimacy between her and Heathcliff, introducing the social distance that will define their future relationship. The Lintons, having seen Catherine as a lady in need of rescue, become a permanent alternative to the rough world of the Heights, and Catherine's five-week stay plants the seeds of her eventual marriage to Edgar Linton and the lifelong conflict between the two households.