Chapter One
SparkNotes summary: Writing in his diary in 1801, Lockwood describes
his first days as a tenant at Thrushcross Grange, an isolated manor in
thinly populated Yorkshire. Shortly after arriving at the Grange, he pays a
visit to his landlord, Mr. Heathcliff, a surly, dark man living in a manor
called Wuthering Heights—“wuthering” being a local adjective used to
describe the fierce and wild winds that blow during storms on the moors.
During the visit, Heathcliff seems not to trust Lockwood, and leaves him
alone in a room with a group of snarling dogs. Lockwood is saved from the
hounds by a ruddy-cheeked housekeeper. When Heathcliff returns,
Lockwood is angry, but eventually warms toward his taciturn host, and—
though he hardly feels that he has been welcomed at Wuthering Heights—
he volunteers to visit again the next day.
Key events:
Lockwood meets Heathclif
Wuthering Heights is described
Lockwood is attacked by dogs
Lockwood promises to return the next day
Key themes/ideas:
Isolation- through the setting and way in which Lockwood is
seemingly isolated and perceived as an outsider
Gothic setting
Lockwood:
Appears unreliable as he often presents contrasting and
contradictory views. He acts like a misanthropist by stating
Wuthering Heights is “A perfect misanthropist’s Heaven” yet
describes Heathclif and himself as “a suitable pair to divide
the desolation.” Also, his description of Heathclif is
contradictory, he refers to him as a “capital fellow” but as
whose “black eyes withdraw so suspiciously.”
Educated as he quotes Twelfth Night, “never told my love.”
Cowardly, seen through the story of his lost love when he
“shrunk icily into myself” leaving the girl confused.
Seems to lack an understanding of social situation as even
though Heathclif “evidently wished no repetition of my
intrusion. I shall go, notwithstanding.”
Heathclif:
SparkNotes summary: Writing in his diary in 1801, Lockwood describes
his first days as a tenant at Thrushcross Grange, an isolated manor in
thinly populated Yorkshire. Shortly after arriving at the Grange, he pays a
visit to his landlord, Mr. Heathcliff, a surly, dark man living in a manor
called Wuthering Heights—“wuthering” being a local adjective used to
describe the fierce and wild winds that blow during storms on the moors.
During the visit, Heathcliff seems not to trust Lockwood, and leaves him
alone in a room with a group of snarling dogs. Lockwood is saved from the
hounds by a ruddy-cheeked housekeeper. When Heathcliff returns,
Lockwood is angry, but eventually warms toward his taciturn host, and—
though he hardly feels that he has been welcomed at Wuthering Heights—
he volunteers to visit again the next day.
Key events:
Lockwood meets Heathclif
Wuthering Heights is described
Lockwood is attacked by dogs
Lockwood promises to return the next day
Key themes/ideas:
Isolation- through the setting and way in which Lockwood is
seemingly isolated and perceived as an outsider
Gothic setting
Lockwood:
Appears unreliable as he often presents contrasting and
contradictory views. He acts like a misanthropist by stating
Wuthering Heights is “A perfect misanthropist’s Heaven” yet
describes Heathclif and himself as “a suitable pair to divide
the desolation.” Also, his description of Heathclif is
contradictory, he refers to him as a “capital fellow” but as
whose “black eyes withdraw so suspiciously.”
Educated as he quotes Twelfth Night, “never told my love.”
Cowardly, seen through the story of his lost love when he
“shrunk icily into myself” leaving the girl confused.
Seems to lack an understanding of social situation as even
though Heathclif “evidently wished no repetition of my
intrusion. I shall go, notwithstanding.”
Heathclif:
