Thrushcross Grange

Thrushcross Grange is the elegant, sheltered estate that stands in stark contrast to the wild Wuthering Heights, serving as the primary residence of the Linton family and later as the home of the younger Catherine. Its refined atmosphere and domestic peace represent the civilized world that both attracts and confines the characters, and its fate becomes a central prize in Heathcliff's revenge.

Identity and Setting

Thrushcross Grange is a handsome country house situated four miles from Wuthering Heights, deep in a sheltered valley. The distance from the gate to the house is two miles, and the approach winds through a park with trees. The interior is marked by crimson carpets, crimson-covered chairs and tables, a pure white ceiling bordered with gold, and a chandelier of glass drops hanging in silver chains. The drawing-room windows look out over the garden trees and the wild green park toward the valley of Gimmerton. The house is described as a place of comfort and elegance, with a library, a parlour, and well-furnished bedrooms. It is the home of the Linton family, and its atmosphere of civility and order is the opposite of the rough, storm-exposed Wuthering Heights.

History and Ownership

The Grange originally belonged to the Linton family. Edgar Linton inherited it after his father's death and lived there with his wife Catherine Earnshaw and later with his daughter Catherine Linton. After Edgar's death, the property passed to his daughter, but through her forced marriage to Linton Heathcliff and the subsequent deaths of both Linton and Heathcliff, the Grange ultimately came under the control of Heathcliff, who rented it to Lockwood. After Heathcliff's death, the younger Catherine and Hareton Earnshaw plan to marry and move to the Grange, restoring it as the home of the next generation.

Key Events and Scenes

The Grange is the setting for many of the novel's most important scenes. It is where Catherine Earnshaw stays for five weeks after being bitten by the Lintons' bulldog, an experience that transforms her manners and appearance. It is where she marries Edgar Linton and where she later dies after giving birth to her daughter. It is the scene of Heathcliff's return after three years, his dramatic reunion with Catherine, and the subsequent deterioration of her health. It is also where the younger Catherine grows up in sheltered seclusion, where she secretly corresponds with Linton Heathcliff, and where she is tricked into visiting Wuthering Heights and forced into marriage. After Edgar's death, the Grange becomes a place of mourning and loss, and Lockwood's visits frame the entire narrative.

Symbolic Significance

Thrushcross Grange symbolizes the civilized, orderly, and refined world of the Lintons, in contrast to the wild, passionate, and stormy world of Wuthering Heights. It represents social status, wealth, and respectability, but also confinement, artificiality, and emotional repression. Catherine Earnshaw is torn between the two worlds, and her inability to reconcile them leads to her destruction. The Grange is also a prize in Heathcliff's revenge: by gaining control of it, he symbolically destroys the Linton family and asserts his dominance over the society that once rejected him. In the end, the Grange is reclaimed by the younger Catherine and Hareton, suggesting a possible reconciliation between the two worlds.

Changes and Fate

After Edgar Linton's death, the Grange falls under Heathcliff's control and is rented to Lockwood. The housekeeper Nelly Dean moves to Wuthering Heights, and the Grange is left in the care of a new housekeeper. When Lockwood returns in 1802, he finds the house unprepared for his arrival, and he learns that Heathcliff has died and that the younger Catherine and Hareton are to be married and move to the Grange. The novel ends with Lockwood visiting the graves of Catherine Earnshaw, Edgar Linton, and Heathcliff in the churchyard near the Grange, and reflecting on the peace of the scene.