So I've just started reading wuthering heights by Emily Bronte. I'm enjoying it so far, the language is a bit hard going but I'm getting quite invested in the story. I'm 4 chapters in just now. What's causing me trouble is the family and characters and their relation to each other.

So heathcliff is married to Mrs heathcliff but had a son who died. His wife/widow is also called Catherine and living with them.

Hareton is the brother of Catherine (Linton, earnshaw, heathcliff)

And who is Joseph to them?

I'm so confused. Can someone help me understand the relation of each character. Is it just one big family?

Please no spoilers. The characters are confusing to me just now as I don't know the full picture and don't want to keep reading since I'm unsure.

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

jefrye t1_iugwr0z wrote on October 31, 2022 at 6:25 AM

The thing to understand about Wuthering Heights is that the majority of it is told as a story-within-a-story, primarily through Nelly (one of the servants) telling Lockwood (the new tenant you meet in the opening chapter) what happened. The characters that Lockwood meets in between Nelly's storytelling sessions are intended to be slightly ambiguous (who are they? how did they get here? who married who?)—Bronte is essentially giving you some puzzle pieces to try to put together on your own as the story unfolds.

However, it's okay to be confused about the characters in the "current" (Lockwood) timeline. As long as you keep track of who's who in Nelly's storytelling (and that in and of itself is a bit of a challenge), you'll enjoy the novel.

shi-rakansu t1_iugputh wrote on October 31, 2022 at 4:51 AM

Joseph is the servant at Wuthering Heights.

Schezzi t1_iuh2wit wrote on October 31, 2022 at 7:59 AM

Roll with the confusion. As readers we're being aligned with newcomer Lockwood (who admittedly is a fool), and thus deliberately being invited to also try and sort out the confusing muddle of intwined Earnshaw/Linton relationships (hopefully more successfully than him)...

It's a low-key mystery element to the narrative. Embrace it!

CanadianContentsup t1_iui2l5b wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:29 PM

Kate Bush’s song Wuthering Heights is a good one to listen to- eerie, longing, powerful mood.

KombuchaBot t1_iugwyay wrote on October 31, 2022 at 6:28 AM

Not really a fan of Emily, I prefer Charlotte, but I bestow upon you blessings in the shape of the glorious Kate Beaton 's illustrations,

caution, spoiler alerts, these are spoofs of the story in cartoon form

part one and two

parts three, four and five, and six

As an extra treat, something that you can enjoy before you finish the novel is Dude Watchin' With The Bronte Sisters

Rude-Ad6176 t1_iuhyy18 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:02 PM

Heyy I just started Wuthering Heights too! It's been on my list since forever but i could never get myself to read more than few pages. The words are a bit hard and like you said so confusing. Hopefully i finish it this time.

boxer_dogs_dance t1_iui4nlh wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:43 PM

Reading on an e-reader like kindle is a game changer for hard words with one touch look up.

Rude-Ad6176 t1_iuimtyl wrote on October 31, 2022 at 4:46 PM

Agreed, i am not a fan of e-reading but it will definitely be really helpful for this

serralinda73 t1_iugr1qp wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:06 AM

Two families who are neighbors and then intermarried - the Earnshaws and the Lintons. It's all a mess and the story is going to flashback so you can see how it all played out and why it's such a mess. Joseph is a servant.

You met Cathy Linton, the daughter of Catherine Earnshaw. Heathcliff >!loved Catherine but didn't marry her. She married Edgar Linton and Heathcliff married Isabell Linton, Edgar's sister. So his son's first name is the mother's last name ("Linton Heathcliff" is a terrible name, lol.!< Bronte made it so complicated).

Y_Brennan t1_iugr9s3 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:09 AM

Fantastic book even has ghosts in it.

books-ModTeam t1_iugwa8d wrote on October 31, 2022 at 6:18 AM

Please use spoiler tags. Spoiler tags in markdown are done as follows:

\&gt;!Spoiler content here!&lt; which results in:

>!Spoiler content here!<.

Or apply the built-in spoiler tags when using the redesign.

Send a modmail when you have updated and we'll reapprove it.

Dana07620 t1_iugtduf wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:36 AM

Here's a family tree.

That should help you get the relationships straight.

jefrye t1_iugw31v wrote on October 31, 2022 at 6:15 AM

Please note that said family tree contains spoilers, which u/darthluke11 specifically asked to avoid.

ina_sh t1_iugy3wp wrote on October 31, 2022 at 6:45 AM

My book edition has a family tree in it and I find it so helpful! I've read the book multiple times and I still get confused lol

darthluke11 OP t1_iuht6yx wrote on October 31, 2022 at 1:18 PM

Thanks for the warning 🙂