Wuthering Heights

Lockwood initially reveals his decision to move there as stemming from his desire to escape society. After a series of unfortunate events, including a ghostly visitation, Lockwood asks Nelly about Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights. Nelly then recounts what transpired in Wuthering Heights between the Lintons, the Earnshaws, and the Heathcliffs, including how Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw adopted the foundling Heathcliff. As Nelly’s storytelling progresses, she reveals the complicated relationship between Heathcliff and his step-siblings, Hindley and Catherine Earnshaw.

After listening to Nelly’s tale of his landlord’s turbulent past, Lockwood eventually grows weary of the moors and ‘returns’ to society. During its publication in 1847, Wuthering Heights was considered controversial because of how it vividly depicts mental and physical abuse, bringing to question the beliefs and social mores of the time.