Heathcliff throws applesauce

Heathcliff throws applesauce at Edgar Linton during a Christmas visit to Wuthering Heights, an eruption of violent jealousy that exposes the raw rivalry between the two young men and deepens the social and emotional divisions within the household. The incident marks a turning point in Heathcliff's relationship with Catherine Earnshaw, as his humiliation before the refined Lintons hardens his resolve to seek revenge, and it foreshadows the lifelong conflict between the passionate, degraded foundling and the genteel heir of Thrushcross Grange.

Background and Context

Catherine Earnshaw had just returned from a five-week stay at Thrushcross Grange, transformed from a wild, hatless little savage into a dignified young lady with brown ringlets, a feathered beaver hat, and a long cloth habit. Her improved manners and fine clothes delighted her brother Hindley Earnshaw and his wife Frances, who watched anxiously for the meeting between Catherine and Heathcliff, hoping to judge whether they could succeed in separating the two friends. Heathcliff, by contrast, had become even more neglected during Catherine's absence: his clothes had seen three months' service in mire and dust, his thick hair was uncombed, and his face and hands were dismally beclouded. When Catherine entered the house, she found him skulking behind the settle, and though she flew to embrace him and bestowed seven or eight kisses on his cheek within the second, she drew back and burst into a laugh, exclaiming, "Why, how very black and cross you look! and how—how funny and grim!" Heathcliff, stung by shame and pride, declared he would not stand to be laughed at and dashed headforemost out of the room.

The Incident

The next day, Christmas, the Lintons arrived for their visit. Heathcliff, having been coaxed by Nelly Dean into washing and dressing himself, appeared clean and cheerful, but Hindley, irritated at seeing him so, shoved him back with a sudden thrust and angrily bade Joseph keep the fellow out of the room. Edgar Linton, peeping from the doorway, ventured the remark that Heathcliff's hair was "like a colt's mane over his eyes." Heathcliff, whose violent nature was not prepared to endure the appearance of impertinence from one he already hated as a rival, seized a tureen of hot apple sauce—the first thing that came under his grip—and dashed it full against Edgar's face and neck. Edgar instantly commenced a lament that brought Isabella and Catherine hurrying to the place. Hindley snatched up the culprit directly and conveyed him to his chamber, where he administered a rough remedy to cool the fit of passion.

Consequences and Reactions

Catherine stood by confounded, blushing for all, and expostulated with Edgar: "You should not have spoken to him! He was in a bad temper, and now you've spoilt your visit; and he'll be flogged: I hate him to be flogged!" Edgar sobbed that he had promised his mother he would not say one word to Heathcliff, and he had not. Catherine replied contemptuously, "Well, don't cry; you're not killed." The little party recovered its equanimity at the sight of the fragrant feast, but Catherine, with dry eyes and an indifferent air, began cutting up the wing of a goose before her, then set it down again, her cheeks flushed and tears gushing over them. Nelly Dean, who had thought her unfeeling, perceived she was in purgatory throughout the day, wearying to find an opportunity of getting by herself or paying a visit to Heathcliff, who had been locked up by the master.

Thematic Significance

The applesauce incident crystallizes the central conflict between Heathcliff and Edgar Linton as rivals for Catherine's affection and as representatives of two opposed worlds: the raw, passionate, degraded existence of Wuthering Heights and the refined, wealthy, civilized order of Thrushcross Grange. Heathcliff's violent response to Edgar's casual remark reveals his deep insecurity about his appearance and social standing, as well as his inability to tolerate any sign of superiority from the boy he already hates. The episode also demonstrates Catherine's divided loyalties: she is drawn to Edgar's world of elegance and status, yet her emotional life remains bound to Heathcliff, whose suffering she cannot bear to witness. The incident deepens Hindley's determination to keep Heathcliff degraded, and it plants in Heathcliff the seeds of a revenge that will consume his life. As he later tells Nelly, "I'm trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back. I don't care how long I wait, if I can only do it at last." The applesauce, a trivial domestic substance, becomes the vehicle for an explosion of class resentment, sexual jealousy, and the first open act of violence in the long war between the houses.