Joseph's Sabbath rule

Joseph's Sabbath rule was a harsh religious regimen imposed on the children of Wuthering Heights after Mr. Earnshaw's death, transforming Sunday from a day of rest into an instrument of oppression. It represents the tyrannical piety that Joseph wielded to control Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, and it directly sparked their first act of open rebellion against the new order established by Hindley Earnshaw.

Origins and Enforcement

After Mr. Earnshaw's death, Hindley Earnshaw became master of Wuthering Heights and immediately began mistreating Heathcliff. On a rainy Sunday that prevented the household from attending church, Joseph took it upon himself to "get up a congregation in the garret." While Hindley and his wife Frances basked downstairs before a comfortable fire, Joseph commanded Heathcliff, Catherine, and an unhappy ploughboy to take their prayer-books and mount to the garret. There they were ranged in a row on a sack of corn, groaning and shivering, hoping that Joseph would shiver too and give them a short homily for his own sake. The service lasted precisely three hours, yet when they descended, Hindley had the face to exclaim, "What, done already?"

The Children's Rebellion

The Sabbath rule also altered the children's permitted Sunday evening activities. Previously they had been allowed to play if they made little noise, but now a mere titter was sufficient to send them into corners. Catherine and Heathcliff responded by making themselves as snug as their means allowed in the arch of the dresser, fastening their pinafores together and hanging them up for a curtain. When Joseph discovered them, he tore down their handiwork, boxed Catherine's ears, and croaked that the master was "nobbut just buried, and Sabbath not o'ered, und t' sound o' t' gospel still i' yer lugs, and ye darr be laiking!" He compelled them to sit and read good books by the dull ray of the far-off fire. Catherine could not bear the employment: she took her dingy volume by the scroop and hurled it into the dog-kennel, vowing she hated a good book. Heathcliff kicked his to the same place. Joseph raised a hubbub, calling for Hindley, who seized one by the collar and the other by the arm and hurled both into the back-kitchen, where Joseph asseverated that "owd Nick" would fetch them as sure as they were living.

Catherine's Diary and Its Consequences

Catherine recorded this incident in her diary, which she wrote in the margins of a Testament. She described how, after being thrown into the back-kitchen, she reached the book and a pot of ink from a shelf, pushed the house-door ajar to give herself light, and spent twenty minutes writing. Her companion, Heathcliff, grew impatient and proposed that they appropriate the dairywoman's cloak and have a scamper on the moors under its shelter. Catherine noted that if the surly old man came in, he might believe his prophecy verified, for they could not be damper or colder in the rain than they were already. This diary entry, discovered by Lockwood in the oak-panelled bed at Wuthering Heights, provides the only direct account of Joseph's Sabbath rule and the children's defiance of it.

Significance

Joseph's Sabbath rule exemplifies the religious hypocrisy and cruelty that pervaded Wuthering Heights under Hindley's governance. It served as a catalyst for Catherine and Heathcliff's rebellion, strengthening their bond against a common oppressor. The rule also reveals Joseph's character as a self-righteous Pharisee who used religion to assert authority and inflict suffering, a pattern that continued throughout the novel. The diary entry itself becomes a crucial piece of evidence for Lockwood, awakening his interest in the mysterious Catherine and setting the stage for Nelly Dean's full narrative.