Fiction | Book Chatter

Welcome to Wuthering Heights Wednesday! Softdrink is hosting a read-along of this classic novel, and we’re reading (and posting about) 3 chapters a week.

Chapters 7 through 9

My Synopsis:

Let me tell you, Wuthering Heights is a happening place.

After five weeks with the Lintons, Cathy returns home on Christmas Eve. In her absence, Heathcliff has been shunned by the rest of the family and in turn, is quite disheveled in appearance. So much so that Cathy does not recognize him at first and actually has the audacity to laugh in his face.

Mr. Earnshaw invites the Lintons over for Christmas dinner. Everyone is in great spirits over the promise of guests except for Heathcliff. Mrs. Dean, forever looking after him, convinces him to clean-up a bit. He cleans up so well that Earnshaw orders him to be confined to his room. After receiving her guests, Cathy leaves the table to go visit Heathcliff in confinement. Mrs. Dean allows the two of them to visit with each other in the kitchen. It is there that Heathcliff vows to get revenge upon Hindley.

Flash forward to the summer of 1778.

Frances, Hindley’s wife gives birth to a baby boy named Hareton. She dies from consumption so Mrs. Dean ends up nursing Hareton and raising him as her own. Hindley becomes more of a tyrant, Cathy’s demeanor increases in haughtiness and Heathcliff becomes “possessed and diabolical”. In the mean time, Edgar Linton starts to hang around Cathy quite a bit more.

One day, Heathcliff decides to spend some time with Cathy only to find out that she has invited Edgar over for a visit. This is an interesting visit because during the visit Cathy acts appallingly bad and slaps Mrs. Dean. Edgar ends up leaving after seeing Cathy in such a disagreeable state and Cathy pretty much tells him that if he leaves, that will be the end of them. Edgar does leave the house but ends up returning to Cathy (to Mrs. Dean’s surprise) and proposes to her.

After the proposal, Cathy asks Mrs. Dean what she should do. Should she accept the proposal, or decline it? Mrs. Dean asks her to explain her love for Edgar and Cathy has great difficulty doing so. She admits to Mrs. Dean that she has accepted the marriage proposal but secretly loves Heathcliff, but that their love could never work. They would be beggars! She would have nothing to show for it. Heathcliff hears this part of it and leaves the grounds.

Cathy, in a terrified fit goes looking for the missing Heathcliff and comes down with a terrible fever. After spending sometime in bed at home, she is invited to stay with the Lintons for a bit, which ends up being a very bad idea as her fever spreads to Mr. and Mrs. Linton and the end result is not good. When she has fully recovered, Cathy marries Edgar, moves to Thrushcross Grange and Edgar manages to persuade Mrs. Dean to move in with them.

So the newlyweds are now living at Thrushcross Grange and Heathcliff is still nowhere to be found.

My Thoughts:

That Cathy is a real pill. She started off rather sweet but has turned into quite a piece of work. When she slapped Mrs. Dean, all her childlike qualities came out, but none of the good ones. Just the bratty, nasty bits that you see when a child does not get her way. I’m not sure what to make of Heathcliff. I want him to stand-up for himself but he hasn’t really done so as of yet. He seems a bit above all the nonsense though, but we’ll have to see how that all pans out once he enters back into the picture.

It’s very hard to pace myself with my reading. I tend to want to keep going on and on which is great, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of the group so I am trying to stick to the three chapters a week. If you are intrigued by any of this, it’s not too late to join in. You’ll be able to catch-up quickly.

Reading along:

Welcome to Wuthering Heights Wednesday! Softdrink is hosting a read-along of this classic novel, and we’re reading (and posting about) 3 chapters a week.

Chapters 4 through 6

My Synopsis:

As you may recall from last week’s post, Lockwood spent a very uncomfortable night amongst Catherine’s things and spent most of the night tossing and turning, so as soon as it was light enough to leave, he did. Upon his return home, he is met by Mrs. Dean, who after making Lockwood as comfortable as he can be, spends the evening gossiping about Mr. Heathcliff and the family that occupies his home.

Turns out that Heathcliff was found by the senior Earnshaw when he was just a young child. Mr. Earnshaw brought him home to his family and was surprised by how they reacted to him. Hindley, Earnshaw’s son by blood, detested Heathcliff from first glance. Young Catherine did not care for him at first, but they grow to be very close in a short amount of time. After the senior Earnshaw passes, Hindley goes away to school only to come back with a wife, which surprises everyone, Heathcliff included.

Mrs. Earnshaw is pretty agreeable and seems to get along well with the rest of the household, but with her moving in, the rest are asked to live in other parts of the house so that Hindley and his new wife can make a home for themselves. In no time at all, she expresses a dislike for Heathcliff which reminds Hindley just how much he despises the young man.

Young Catherine (Cathy) and Heathcliff take off for the moors for the day and end up getting themselves in quite a bit of trouble. They end up at Thrushcross Grange and Cathy is attacked and injured by Mr. Linton’s dog. When they discover who she is, they simply cannot fathom her being with such a gypsy as Heathcliff so they send him on his way, and cater to Cathy and her well-being. Heathcliff doesn’t want to leave Cathy there but has no choice, so he returns home and pays dearly for his lack of judgment.

My Thoughts:

It’s a tad hard keeping track of all the players. Their family names all seem to cross at some point (Linton & Earnshaw) so there are a couple of Mr. Earnshaws, and the use of first names and last but never together, you get the idea. I was surprised to hear Heathcliff’s background. I’m not sure what I expected but I didn’t expect him to be an orphan. Now the animosity within the family makes a bit more sense.

As confused as I am at times by their names and who they are referring to, I am really enjoying the story. Lockwood’s interest in them is sort of comical at times but with them being so mysterious it’s no wonder he has questions about them.

Reading along: