Emily Bronte incorporates various types of grief into her writing in Wuthering Heights.

This may be due to the conditions of

many of her own experiences, or it may not, we cannot know. Regardless, the grief that is exhibited by the many different
characters, differs for various reasons. The intense feelings of grief demonstrated in Wuthering Heights are most often insinuated
by death. The ways in which characters relate to one another vary greatly, and also play a great role in determining the intensity
of the sorrow felt by a character. Also, one’s personality and capabilities can affect how he/she may feel about another’s
death. All of these are connected to the conditions in which a character was brought up and how he/she was living at the time of
the tragedy, which also bears a large impact on the feelings of grief displayed.
For example, no one knows for sure where Heathcliff came from or how he lived before he came to Wuthering Heights as a
child. We immediately learn that Heathcliff is different, and may perceive a mysterious persona about him. Which proves correct
later in the book, because no other character’s sorrow can compare to his, except maybe Catherine’s. Heathcliff had an
obsession. To him, Catherine was life. He did not want to live without her. Heathcliff came to Wuthering Heights as a child and
grew up with Catherine always by his side, until Hindley returned. Therefore, his obsession began as a child. Because he grew
used to having Catherine with him, as he grew older he never wanted to be separated from her. Hindley’s forcing their
separation probably only strengthened his passion for her, because once he couldn’t be with her, he could only want it that
much more. As I said before, we do not know what life was like for Heathcliff before he came to Wuthering Heights. We can
only assume the worst because when old Mr. Earnshaw brought him back he told,
“...a tale of seeing it [Heathcliff] starving, and houseless, and as good as dumb, in the streets of Liverpool; where he picked it
up and inquired for its owner. Not a soul knew to whom it belonged...he was determined he would not leave it as he found it.†
(33)
So, Heathcliff, never having had anything in his life was brought to Wuthering Heights where he had a roof over his head, a
warm bed, food in his belly, clothes on his back, and, Catherine. Part of his connection to her was probably because once he went
from nothing to everything, and he didn’t want to lose what he had. That’s why he wanted so badly to always have her in
his life and he held on so hard to the idealistic thought of always being with her. Before she married Edgar, she said,
“ I’ve no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in Heaven; and if the wicked man in there [Hindley] had
not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldn’t have thought of it. It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never
know how I love him: and that, not because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our
souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton’‘s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from
fire.” (75)
This helps to illustrate how Catherine and Heathcliff’s passion for one another is almost beyond comprehension. It is as if it
is beyond this world. Catherine cannot marry Heathcliff because of his social status and because he cannot provide for her and
she accuses Hindley of being the cause. Because they cannot marry, she chooses to marry Edgar because she loves, “his looks,
and all his actions, and him entirely and altogether,†(73). When Heathcliff heard Catherine talking, he decides to leave.
Whatever he does, he betters himself to the point where he can seek revenge on Hindley and all others who caused him to be so
“low” to where it would have degraded Catherine to marry him. He basically wishes to punish those who made it so he and
Catherine could not be together in this life. Yet, it is almost as if they already knew then that they would be together for eternity
whether they were married or not, because their souls “are the same.† Catherine said,
“...surely you and everybody have a notion that there is, or should be, an existence of yours beyond you. What were the use of
my creation if I were entirely contained here? My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff’s miseries, and I watched
and felt each from the beginning: my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still
continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn a mighty stranger...so don’t talk of
our separation again: it is impracticable.” (76-77)
It is as if they just know they will always be together. Because Heathcliff and Catherine had such a strong connection, and they
felt so passionately about each other, Heathcliff’s grief for Catherine’s death was agony for him. It was as if he was
losing a part of his soul.
“Catherine Earnshaw, may you never rest as long as I am living! You said I killed you--haunt me then! The murdered do
haunt their murderers. I believe

Themes
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The Destructiveness of a Love That Never Changes

Catherine and Heathcliff’s passion for one another seems to be the center of Wuthering Heights, given that it is
stronger and more lasting than any other emotion displayed in the novel, and that it is the source of most of the
major conflicts that structure the novel’s plot. As she tells Catherine and Heathcliff’s story, Nelly criticizes both
of them harshly, condemning their passion as immoral, but this passion is obviously one of the most compelling
and memorable aspects of the book. It is not easy to decide whether Brontë intends the reader to condemn
these lovers as blameworthy or to idealize them as romantic heroes whose love transcends social norms and
conventional morality. The book is actually structured around two parallel love stories, the first half of the novel
centering on the love between Catherine and Heathcliff, while the less dramatic second half features the
developing love between young Catherine and Hareton. In contrast to the first, the latter tale ends happily,
restoring peace and order to Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. The differences between the two
love stories contribute to the reader’s understanding of why each ends the way it does.

The most important feature of young Catherine and Hareton’s love story is that it involves growth and change.
Early in the novel Hareton seems irredeemably brutal, savage, and illiterate, but over time he becomes a loyal
friend to young Catherine and learns to read. When young Catherine first meets Hareton he seems completely
alien to her world, yet her attitude also evolves from contempt to love. Catherine and Heathcliff’s love, on the
other hand, is rooted in their childhood and is marked by the refusal to change. In choosing to marry Edgar,
Catherine seeks a more genteel life, but she refuses to adapt to her role as wife, either by sacrificing Heathcliff
or embracing Edgar. In Chapter XII she suggests to Nelly that the years since she was twelve years old and
her father died have been like a blank to her, and she longs to return to the moors of her childhood. Heathcliff,
for his part, possesses a seemingly superhuman ability to maintain the same attitude and to nurse the same
grudges over many years.

Moreover, Catherine and Heathcliff’s love is based on their shared perception that they are identical. Catherine
declares, famously, “I am Heathcliff,” while Heathcliff, upon Catherine’s death, wails that he cannot live without
his “soul,” meaning Catherine. Their love denies difference, and is strangely asexual. The two do not kiss in
dark corners or arrange secret trysts, as adulterers do. Given that Catherine and Heathcliff’s love is based
upon their refusal to change over time or embrace difference in others, it is fitting that the disastrous problems
of their generation are overcome not by some climactic reversal, but simply by the inexorable passage of time,
and the rise of a new and distinct generation. Ultimately, Wuthering Heights presents a vision of life as a
process of change, and celebrates this process over and against the romantic intensity of its principal
characters.

The Precariousness of Social Class

As members of the gentry, the Earnshaws and the Lintons occupy a somewhat precarious place within the
hierarchy of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century British society. At the top of British society was the
royalty, followed by the aristocracy, then by the gentry, and then by the lower classes, who made up the vast
majority of the population. Although the gentry, or upper middle class, possessed servants and often large
estates, they held a nonetheless fragile social position. The social status of aristocrats was a formal and settled
matter, because aristocrats had official titles. Members of the gentry, however, held no titles, and their status
was thus subject to change. A man might see himself as a gentleman but find, to his embarrassment, that his
neighbors did not share this view. A discussion of whether or not a man was really a gentleman would consider
such questions as how much land he owned, how many tenants and servants he had, how he spoke, whether
he kept horses and a carriage, and whether his money came from land or “trade”—gentlemen scorned banking
and commercial activities.

Considerations of class status often crucially inform the characters’ motivations in Wuthering Heights.
Catherine’s decision to marry Edgar so that she will be “the greatest woman of the neighborhood” is only the
most obvious example. The Lintons are relatively firm in their gentry status but nonetheless take great pains to
prove this status through their behaviors. The Earnshaws, on the other hand, rest on much shakier ground
socially. They do not have a carriage, they have less land, and their house, as Lockwood remarks with great
puzzlement, resembles that of a “homely, northern farmer” and not that of a gentleman. The shifting nature of
social status is demonstrated most strikingly in Heathcliff’s trajectory from homeless waif to young gentleman-
by-adoption to common laborer to gentleman again (although the status-conscious Lockwood remarks that
Heathcliff is only a gentleman in “dress and manners”).

http://www.shmoop.com/wuthering-heights/suffering-quotes.html

How we cite the quotes:

Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Heathcliff gradually fell back into the shelter of the bed as I spoke, finally sitting down almost
concealed behind it. I guessed, however, by his irregular and intercepted breathing, that he
struggled to vanquish an access to violent emotion. (3.74)

Heathcliff yearns to believe in Lockwood's vision of a ghostly Catherine. He is so physically overcome by emotion that
he can't even be angry at Lockwood for sleeping in the bed.

"Don't get the expression of a vicious cur that appears to know the kicks it gets are its desert, and
yet, hates all the world, as well as the kicker, for what it suffers." (7.42)

Good advice, Nelly, but it's lost on the vengeful Heathcliff. Still, she tries, and this is an important moment. Though
Heathcliff has no mentor (see "Character Roles"), Nelly makes an attempt here to provide some useful guidance.
(Plus, the dog metaphor is a good one for that house!)

"I never saw Heathcliff last night," answered Catherine, beginning to sob bitterly: "and if you do
turn him out of doors, I'll go with him. But, perhaps, you'll never have an opportunity: perhaps, he's
gone." Here she burst into uncontrollable grief, and the remainder of her words were inarticulate.
(9.145)

Though unwilling to treat him well, Catherine is bereft the very moment Heathcliff departs. She lacks the sort of self-
awareness that would lead her to see that much of this mess is her fault.

"Nay, you'll not drive me off again. You were really sorry for me, were you? Well, there was cause.
I've fought through a bitter life since I last heard your voice; and you must forgive me, for I
struggled only for you!" (10.60)
At least all of his suffering has meaning. This confession is one of Heathcliff's most romantic, in a twisted sense,
because everything he does is for Catherine.

"And I like her too ill to attempt it," said he, "except in a very ghoulish fashion. You'd hear of odd
things if I lived alone with that mawkish, waxen face: the most ordinary would be painting on its
white the colours of the rainbow, and turning the blue eyes black, every day or two: they
detestably resemble Linton's." (10.121)

Heathcliff is fantasizing about physically abusing his wife. What's really disturbing is how poetically he describes his
desire to hurt her. His choice of words suggests that he has really given some thought to what he wants to do.

"And, Nelly, say to Edgar, if you see him again to-night, that I'm in danger of being seriously ill. I
wish it may prove true. He has startled and distressed me shockingly! I want to frighten him."
(11.80)

Because Edgar will never suffer as much as Catherine would like, she will never love him as much as he would like.
Edgar's cool-headedness is one of the qualities that sets him apart from Heathcliff.

She had no breath for speaking. I brought a glass full; and as she would not drink, I sprinkled it on
her face. In a few seconds she stretched herself out stiff, and turned up her eyes, while her
cheeks, at once blanched and livid, assumed the aspect of death. Linton looked terrified. (11.90)

What begins partly as a charade becomes full-blown affliction and, ultimately, death for Catherine. Her death is quite
a visual spectacle. Finally, she gets a reaction from Linton, who realizes what he is about to lose.

[Isabella:] "He told me of Catherine's illness, and accused my brother of causing it; promising that
I should be Edgar's proxy in suffering, till he could get hold of him." (14.103)

Isabella will receive the punishment that Heathcliff intends for Edgar. In the end, everyone is a victim of Heathcliff's
rage. Isabella's remark here suggests that Heathcliff is in denial about the real reason for his rage.

"Is it not sufficient for your infernal selfishness, that while you are at peace I shall writhe in the
torments of hell?" (15.28)

As if Catherine could ever rest in peace. Even if she could, Heathcliff would not want her to. He actually wants her to
suffer with him, because that means she loves him as much as he loves her.

"Oh! you said you cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer – I repeat it till my
 tongue stiffens – Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed
you – haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts have
wandered on earth. Be with me always – take any form – drive me mad! only do not leave me in
this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I
cannot live without my soul!" (16.25)

Heathcliff turns Catherine's accusations into a strange sort of love poem. He is willing to call himself her murderer if it
means that she will haunt him.

Wuthering Heights Theme of Suffering

Just about everyone in Wuthering Heights suffers physical and emotional trauma, and many of them
even die from it. Heathcliff avoids physical illness, but his love for Catherine causes an extraordinary
amount of suffering, both for himself and others. He seems to enjoy the suffering, pleading to be
haunted by her after her death.

No one really wants to take responsibility for the misery that results from his or her own foolish
decisions – including silly Isabella, who marries Heathcliff knowing he doesn't love her. No suffering
surpasses that of Heathcliff and Catherine, and still they blame each other. One of the last things
Heathcliff says to Catherine, as she lies dying in his arms:

"Misery, and degradation, and death, and nothing that God or Satan could inflict would have parted
us, you, of your own will, did it. I have not broken your heart – you have broken it – and in breaking
it, you have broken mine." (15.37)

He does have a point there.

'Terror made me cruel . . .'

"He said the pleasantest manner of spending a hot July day was lying from morning till evening on a
bank of heath in the middle of the moors, with the bees humming dreamily about among the bloom,
and the larks singing high up overhead, and the blue sky and bright sun shining steadily and
cloudlessly."

"Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves."

" . . . treachery and violence are spears pointed at both ends; they wound those who resort to them
worse than their enemies."

"I am now quite cured of seeking pleasure in society, be it country or town. A sensible man ought to
find sufficient company in himself."

'I don't know if it be a peculiarity in me, but I am seldom otherwise than happy while watching in the
chamber of death, should no frenzied or despairing mourner share the duty with me. I see a repose
that neither earth nor hell can break; and I feel an assurance of the endless and shadowless hereafter
- the Eternity they have entered - where life is boundless in its duration, and love in its sympathy, and
joy in its fulness.'

'A wild, wick slip she was - but, she had the bonniest eye and sweetest smile, and lightest foot in the
parish: and, after all, I believe she meant no harm; for when once she made you cry in good earnest, it
seldom happened that she would not keep you company, and oblige you to be quiet that you might
comfort her.'

"You said I killed you - haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that
ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! only do not leave
me in this abyss, where I cannot find you!"

"A person who has not done one half his day's work by ten o'clock, runs a chance of leaving the other
half undone."

" . . . he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and
Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire."

'Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil? I sha'n't tell my reasons for making
this inquiry; but I beseech you to explain, if you can, what I have married . . .'

" . . . treachery and violence are spears pointed at both ends; they wound those who resort to them
worse than their enemies."

"My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter
changes the trees - my love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath - a source of little
visible delight, but necessary."

"Honest people don't hide their deeds."

Wuthering Heights (1847)

Full text at Wikisource

A sensible man ought to find sufficient company in himself.

Nelly, I am Heathcliff — he's always, always in my mind — not as a pleasure, any more than I am always
a pleasure to myself — but as my own being...

Heaven did not seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth...

I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always — take any form — drive me mad! Only
do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you!
I sought, and soon discovered, the three head-stones on the slope next the moor ...

I lingered round them, under that benign sky… listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass;
and wondered how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers, for the sleepers in that quiet earth.

 I'm now quite cured of seeking pleasure in society, be it country or town. A sensible man
ought to find sufficient company in himself.
o Mr. Lockwood (Ch. III)

 Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves.

o Nelly Dean (Ch. VII)

 "A good heart will help you to a bonny face, my lad", I continued, "if you were a regular black;
and a bad one will turn the bonniest into something worse than ugly."
o Nelly Dean (Ch. VII)

 A person who has not done one half his day's work by ten o'clock runs a chance of leaving the
other half undone.
o Nelly Dean (Ch. VII)

 I've dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas;
they've gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the colour of my
mind.
o Catherine Earnshaw (Ch. IX)

 Heaven did not seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to
earth; and the angels were so angry that they flung me out into the middle of the heath on the
top of Wuthering Heights; where I woke sobbing for joy. That will do to explain my secret, as
well as the other. I've no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven; and
if the wicked man in there, had not brought Heathcliff so low I shouldn't have thought of it. It
would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that,
not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am. Whatever our
souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from
lightning, or frost from fire.
o Catherine Earnshaw (Ch. IX)

 I cannot express it; but surely you and everybody have a notion that there is, or should be an
existence of yours beyond you. What were the use of creation if I were entirely contained here?
My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff's miseries, and I watched and felt each from
the beginning; my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I
should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the Universe would
turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it. My love for Linton is like the foliage in
the woods. Time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees — my love for
Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath — a source of little visible delight, but
necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff — he's always, always in my mind — not as a pleasure, any
more than I am always a pleasure to myself — but as my own being — so, don't talk of our
separation again — it is impracticable.
 o Catherine Earnshaw (Ch. IX)

 The tyrant grinds down his slaves and they don't turn against him, they crush those beneath
them.
o Heathcliff (Ch. XI)

 "I assure you, a tiger, or a venomous serpent could not rouse terror in me equal to that which he
wakens."
o Isabella Heathcliff on Heathcliff(Ch. XIII)

 Any relic of the dead is precious, if they were valued living.

o Nelly Dean (Ch. XIII)

 Should there be danger of such an event — should he be the cause of adding a single more
trouble to her existence — Why, I think, I shall be justified in going to extremes! I wish you
had sincerity enough to tell me whether Catherine would suffer greatly from his loss. The fear
that she would restrains me: and there you see the distinction between our feelings — Had he
been in my place, and I in his, though I hated him with a hatred that turned my life to gall, I
never would have raised a hand against him. You may look incredulous, if you please! I never
would have banished him from her society, as long as she desired his. The moment her regard
ceased, I would have torn his heart out, and drunk his blood! But, till then, if you don't believe
me, you don't know me — till then, I would have died by inches before I touched a single hair of
his head!
o Heathcliff (Ch. XIV)

 I was a fool to fancy for a moment that she valued Edgar Linton's attachment more than mine —
If he loved with all the powers of his puny being, he couldn't love as much in eighty years, as I
could in a day. And Catherine has a heart as deep as I have; the sea could be as readily
contained in that house-trough, as her whole affection be monopolized by him — Tush! He is
scarcely a degree nearer than her dog, or her horse — It is not in him to be loved like me, how
can she love in him what he has not?
o Heathcliff (Ch. XIV)

 You talk of her mind being unsettled — How the devil could it be otherwise, in her frightful
isolation? And that insipid, paltry creature attending her from duty and humanity! From pity and
charity. He might as well plant an oak in a flower-pot, and expect it to thrive, as imagine he can
restore her to vigour in the soil of his shallow cares!
o Heathcliff (Ch. XIV)

 Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living! You said I killed you — haunt me,
then! The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe — I know that ghosts have wandered
on earth. Be with me always — take any form — drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this
 abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I
cannot live without my soul!
o Heathcliff (Ch. XVI)

 My walk home was lengthened by a diversion in the direction of the kirk. When beneath its
walls, I perceived decay had made progress, even in seven months — many a window showed
black gaps deprived of glass; and slates jutted off, here and there, beyond the right line of the
roof, to be gradually worked off in coming autumn storms.

I sought, and soon discovered, the three head-stones on the slope next the moor — the
middle one, gray, and half buried in heath — Edgar Linton's only harmonized by the turf
and moss, creeping up its foot — Heathcliff's still bare.

I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the
heath, and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered
how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers, for the sleepers in that quiet earth.

o Mr. Lockwood (Ch. XXXIV

Chapter 29 Quotes
I got the sexton, who was digging Linton’s grave, to remove the earth off her coffin lid, and I
opened it. I thought, once, I would have stayed there, when I saw her face again—it is hers yet—
he had hard work to stir me; but he said it would change, if the air blew on it, and so I struck one
side of the coffin loose, and covered it up—not Linton’s side, damn him! I wish he’d been soldered
in lead—and I bribed the sexton to pull it away, when I’m laid there, and slide mine out too. I’ll
have it made so, and then, by the time Linton gets to us, he’ll not know which is which!”

Chapter 30 Quotes
Last night, I was on the threshold of hell. To-day, I am within sight of my heaven. I have my eyes
on it: hardly three feet to sever me!

Chapter 29: He continues on to say that he had gone to the graveyard on the day she was buried to
dig up the grave and open the coffin.  He removed the dirt, but just as he was about to open the coffin
he heard a sigh and then another close to him and knew that Cathy was there with him.  He was
relieved at her presence.  He could feel her near him, but could not see her, and has been looking for
her ever since.  Now that he has opened her coffin and seen her he is a bit pacified.  Catherine
comes down and the two of them leave.

Chapter 30: Ellen tells Lockwood that she thought about leaving her position and buying a place
where she and Catherine could live, but she knew that Heathcliff would not allow it.  Lockwood writes
that this is where Mrs. Dean's story ends, and that the next day he means to go over to the Heights
and tell Heathcliff that he will soon be going back to town as he does not want to spend another
winter there.

http://www.novelguide.com/wutheringheights/summaries/chapter29-ter30.html
Notes/Summary/Quotes

(Para 3-4) Heathcliff digs up Catherine's remains and hold them. He describes her remains
in details and says she looks the same (262).

(Para 9) Heathcliff describes his adventures in Catherine's gravesite (263).

(Para 1) Heathcliff describes his son's hateful feelings for Cathy (263).

(Para 4) Heathcliff confesses his belief in ghosts, especially Catherine's ghost (264).

(Para 6) "As she kissed me, her lips felt like ice. "Come and see me Ellen, don't forget"
(266).

(Para 3) "Disturbed her? No! She has disturbed me, night and day, through eighteen years-
incessantly-till yester night;" (264

Chapter 29:(XXIX) Heathcliff Triumphant

Heathcliff arrives at Thrushcross Grange to escort Cathy to Wuthering Heights while Ellen must
stay. While Cathy is preparing, he tells Ellen of how he has been tormented by Catherine for the
last eighteen years.

Chapter 30:(XXX) Catherine Alone

Heathcliff does not allow Linton any medical help and he dies. Later on, Hareton tries to start a
friendship with Cathy but, because of his previous neglect, remains aloof.