This book was written by Emily Bronte in the mid 1800's. It's a story of passion and love and hate and all that fun stuff. Nobody knows how Emily Bronte wrote all this because she was pretty reclusive and never really dated or had any friends. This book is so confusing because everyone is somehow related to everyone else. It is like a backwoods trailer community. You know, where everybody is "cousins". Anyway the story is told to us through the diaries of this guy who is not related to anyone. He gets all his information from the housekeeper, who is also not related to the family but may as well be. So, basically we just read about the family history of the Earnshaws and the Lintons and the weird stuff that goes on between them.
Mr.Lockwood: He is the narrator of the book. Through his diaries and experiences with these two families, we learn about them.
Heathcliff: He was adopted by the Earnshaws as a little boy, he was homeless and the dad took him in. He is a miserable guy, consumed by his love for Cathy and his mission to make Hindley's life hell.
Catherine(#1) Earnshaw/ aka Cathy: This is the first Catherine, the second one is her daughter. She and Heathcliff grew up together and loved each other but she marries Edgar Linton and then dies when her daughter is born. Her ghost haunts Heathcliff.
Hindley Earnshaw: Catherine #1's older brother. He was around when Heathcliff and Cathy were younger, but he was really mean to Heathcliff. Heathcliff hates him. He dies from drinking too much.
Frances: Hindley's wife. She dies shortly after they are married.
Hareton: Hindley and Frances's kid.
Edgar Linton: Son of the Linton's. His family is a little classier than the Earnshaws. He marries Catherine and they have a daughter, Catherine #2. He dies while his daughter is still pretty young.
Isabella Linton: Edgar's sister. She marries Heathcliff and they have a son, Linton. She dies.
Ellen Dean/ aka Nellie: She is the housekeeper for the Earnshaws. She has lived with them all her life because her mother was their housekeeper before her. She knows all the good stuff about these people and tells Mr.Lockwood, who tells us.
Joseph: He works for the Earnshaws doing all the outside stuff, like with the garden and the horses, etc. He is really religious and very creepy. He is kind of a funny character (or at least is supposed to be) because all he does is complain and tell the kids they are all going to hell.
The book starts with Lockwood's story about the first time he goes to Wuthering Heights, the Earnshaws' house, and sees Heathcliff. He is renting Thrushcross Grange, the Lintons' old house now in Heathcliff's posession, from Heathcliff. He gets sick from travelling there and when he returns to his place he has to be taken care of. Nellie is working at that house at this time and so she tells him the story of the Earnshaws and the Lintons. It basically breaks down like this...
Mr. & Mrs Earnshaw were these nice people with two kids, Catherine #1 and Hindley, living at Wuthering Heights. Wuthering Heights was this nice happy home and everything was hunky dory. (Nellie knows all this because she grew up there too). Mr Earnshaw goes to Liverpool one day, (which is a major trip since they live in the boonies, on the moors in England). He comes home with Heathcliff who he saw just wandering the streets alone (although it could be possible Heathcliff was Mr. Earnshaw's son with a mistress and he lies so he doesn't get in trouble). They adopt Heathcliff. Heathcliff and Catherine #1 arelike the same age so they play together all the time and are best friends. Hindley is always mean to Heathcliff, like throwing rocks at him and stuff. Heathcliff swears he will get him back someday. Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw die and Hindley is left to care for Catherine #1 and Heathcliff. He is all bummed out because his wife just died and he is stuck raising his own kid plus Catherine and Heathcliff. He basically hands over his son, Hareton, to Nellie. He starts drinking a lot. Heathcliff takes off for awhile and makes some money doing something in the city (It is most likely through criminal activity or shady dealings Heathcliff makes his money). Heathcliff comes back from the city with some money and starts in on his mission to make Hindley miserable. Hindley drinks a lot and Heathcliff takes advantage of that to win all his property and posessions through playing cards and gambling. Hindley is a jerk anyway, he is really mean to his kid, Hareton, and is miserable all the time. Meanwhile, Catherine #1 starts seeing Edgar Linton and is impressed by his manners and wealth. She eventually marries him and Heathcliff is all freaked out. They still see each other every now and then, but Edgar doesn't like it. Catherine #1 eventually realizes her love for Heathcliff, but by this time she is already married. Edgar's sister Isabella marries Heathcliff, basically to piss her brother off because he doe not like Heathcliff. This also pisses Catherine #1 off because she feels like Heathcliff is hers.
So, Catherine #1 is pregnant but has this breakdown from seeing Heathcliff and being overcome by emotion for him. She dies from this, although her baby survives. Catherine #2 is born on the day that Catherine #1 dies. This serves as a constant reminder to Healthcliff of Catherine #1. Heathcliff is so upset about her death. He does some weird stuff, like moving her body and making a place where they both can be buried together.
Meanwhile, Isabella leaves Heathcliff because he is so mean to her and she is afraid of him. while she is gone she gives birth to Linton, their son. Isabella eventually dies and sends Linton to live with her brother Edgar and his daughter Catherine #2. He does not stay there long because Heathcliff demands that LInton be moved into his house. This is not because Heathcliff loves his son, it is because he has the major power issue and just wants what belongs to him in his posession.
Catherine #2 is all bummed out that Linton had to leave and sneaks to see him and sends letters and stuff. Her dad finds out and is really pissed because he doesn't want her to have anything to do with Heathcliff or his household. She keeps doing it anyway. Then , she eventually marries him. When she moves into Wuthering Heights after marrying Linton, Heathcliff takes control over her. She cannot go home to see her sick father or her friend Nellie, (Nellie moved to Thrushcross Grange when Catherine #1 married Edgar).
Catherine #2 is pissed off and is starting to regret her life. Her husband is a big baby, he is always sick and whining. He eventually dies and she is trapped living at Wuthering Heights because her father has died, and Heathcliff now owns everything, basically including her. So she becomes miserable along with everyone else at Wuthering Heights.
After being there and learning to accept her place, Catherine #2 starts to give her life a chance. She becomes friends with Hareton. She teaches him to read and they spend a lot of time together. They end up getting married. Heathcliff dies, after he has come to peace with his mission for revenge against Hindley and Edgar. He does not want to be a dick anymore and be consumed by hate, he wants to die in peace.