The main reason I avoided reading your novel when I was 13 was because of Lockwood's blunders with dogs and his stupidity in mistaking a pile of dead rabbits for cute, cuddly kittens. Lockwood, as a character, is just an unnecessary presence whose clumsy awkwardness and inability to get a freaking clue is just an embarrassment to the rest of us human beings. Do you truly hate your readers that much that you must bore us first before getting to the good stuff? We have incredibly short attention spans! Don't be a tease! Just jump into the juicy parts, why don't you?
At least, now we're getting somewhere!
You could argue that Chapter 3 should have been the start of the story, but for me, perhaps it should have been a sort of prologue. The REAL start of the story, I would say starts in Chapter 4. Mrs. Dean, the housekeeper, tells Lockwood about what had happened at Wuthering Heights. We finally get to learn who the people that inhabit the estate really are, and the reasons for their lackluster and hostile personalities. Mrs. Dean had been living in Wuthering Heights for 16 years, so there's bound to be some juicy stuff she's witnessed.
But before we plunge into the story, let's take a couple of steps back first so we don't get confused with who's who and who owns what and who screwed over who and... well, here it goes:
So Heathcliff owns Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. He's extremely rich, but he doesn't spend any money on renovations to fix either place up. Maybe he's trying to pull a moldy and cobwebby Miss Havisham stunt (from Dickens' Great Expectations) by just letting everything dilapidate on their own because he's too busy being miserable and sour to care or notice. Or maybe it shows that he longs for the past because that's when he felt most alive. Otherwise, the dilapidated conditions of the estates represent his own ruin as a person, the ugly part of him that's torn and broken. Heathcliff had a son, but his son died. His son was married to the young lady, Catherine. Catherine Linton -- not to be confused with Catherine Earnshaw Linton. Both were obviously mother and daughter. That's got to be pretty awkward for Cathy the younger, knowing that your father-in-law had the hots for your mom.
Meanwhile, Hareton Earnshaw was Catherine Earnshaw Linton's nephew. Hareton is younger Cathy's cousin.
Heathcliff's son was also Catherine the younger's cousin (ugh!) because Heathcliff had married the sister of Catherine Earnshaw Linton's husband. In other words, Heathcliff married Catherine the elder's sister-in-law. Why he did that is beyond me... Unless he did it to get back at Cathy the elder for dumping him. But this would still be f***ed up on sooooooooo many levels!
I think we've already established that it's a confusing family tree. Thank goodness no one marries their cousin anymore! Geez!
Cathy Linton (the younger one) is the last of the Lintons, and Hareton Earnshaw is the last of the Earnshaws. The Earnshaws used to own Wuthering Heights, whereas the Lintons used to own Thrushcross Grange.
So, on to the story...
Cathy and Hindley Earnshaw were brother and sister, and Hindley was 8 years older than Cathy. Their father was supposed to go away on some business trip, and he promised to bring back some spiffy presents for his kids.
But instead, he brought home a dirty beggar boy and decided to adopt him. Just imagine the look on Cathy's and Hindley's faces when they heard, "SURPRISE! YOU HAVE A NEW BROTHER NOW! BE NICE!"
It's like dropping a silent but fatal fart bomb on someone's head.
Of course, Cathy and Hindley were not thrilled, especially because they now had to share their room and their toys with this snot-nosed gypsy kid that their father randomly plucked off the street to raise as his own son. This street urchin was baptized and named "Heathcliff." In Mrs. Dean's words, "It was the name of a son who had died in childood, and it has served him ever since, both for Christian and surname." At first it sounded like he'd have a name like "Heathcliff Heathcliff." How dreadful. But then I thought about celebrities like Madonna, Prince, Pink, or Akon, who are known by just the one name (well, their stage names). Then I was like, OHH, I SEEEE...
Heathcliff -- a man without a history, a future, but a man nonetheless, who's just trying to make it through the present.
Sounds pretty sexy if you ask me. Until you realize how he ends up, if you recall from Chapter 3. That's right. Hysterically calling out the name of his long-lost beloved who may or may not be (to our knowledge) dead in the middle of the night. Depression? Bipolar disorder? Schizophrenia? Borderline personality disorder? Antisocial disorder? All quite possible. This guy needs a shrink.
Heathcliff was always "sullen... hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment." Hindley always bullied Heathcliff, to show that he was better and more worthy of respect than Heathcliff. And I was right: Hindley tortured Heathcliff because he was jealous that his father treated Heathcliff with more favoritism. The two boys even got into a fight over who deserves to own a horse. No matter how badly Hindley beat up or insulted Heathcliff, the orphan boy always walked away with a sense of dignity, despite defeat.
Heathcliff's got swag. ;)
OHHHHH, and I just found out there's going to be an upcoming film adaptation of Wuthering Heights! Even though I know the sudden sparked interest is due to SMeyer's books' popularity, I'm still looking forward to watching it. I think it's coming out next year. Can't wait!
TO CHAPTER 5... AND AWAY!
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