Chapter list
Click on page icons to read that chapter. Chapter numbers are also given in Roman numerals in case you have a printed copy which uses them.
Note: the chapters are not titled in the book. The grey subtitles have been added by me to make it easier to find your way around.
Prologue
Chapter 1:(I) A Visit to Wuthering Heights
1801. Mr Lockwood visits Heathcliff at Wuthering Heights who is leasing him Thrushcross Grange. He describes Heathcliff and the sitting room of the Heights, and briefly has an altercation with the dogs before returning to the Grange.
Chapter 2:(II) A Singular Family
Lockwood returns to Wuthering Heights the next day. He encounters the rest of Heathcliff's family ― sullen Cathy and rough Hareton. The weather turns bad and, after being injured by the dogs, Lockwood is forced to remain at the Heights overnight.
Chapter 3:(III) The Ghost at the Window
Lockwood is shown to a room to sleep which used to belong to Cathy's mother, Catherine. He has a restless night and is apparently woken by a tree branch tapping on the window. As he reaches out to stop it, his wrist is grasped by a cold hand, the ghost of Catherine. He wakes and rouses Heathcliff. Unable to sleep, he moves downstairs until Heathcliff escorts him back to Thrushcross Grange.
The Childhood of Heathcliff
Chapter 4:(IV) Arrival of a Foundling
In Thrushcross Grange, Ellen begins to tell Lockwood of the story of Heathcliff. She explains how he was brought to Wuthering Heights as a child and spread discord among the Earnshaw family.
Chapter 5:(V) The Death of Mr Earnshaw
Mr Earnshaw sends Hindley off to college. Several years later, the former goes into decline and dies to the despair of all.
Chapter 6:(VI) New Acquaintances
Hindley returns to Wuthering Heights with a new wife. Catherine and Heathcliff grow more rebellious and wild. They sneak into Thrushcross Grange and Catherine is injured by their dogs.
Chapter 7:(VII) Catherine Becomes a Lady
Catherine returns to Wuthering Heights having been taught to look and act like a lady at Thrushcross Grange. She acts aloof from Heathcliff who briefly tries to smarten himself up to impress her but fails, throwing apple sauce over Edgar in the process.
Chapter 8:(VIII) The Disintegration of the Earnshaws
Hareton is born to Hindley and Frances but the latter soon dies of tuberculosis, causing Hindley to gradually fall apart. Catherine continues her friendship with Edgar, moving further from Heathcliff and closer to Edgar.
Chapter 9:(IX) The Disappearance of Heathcliff
In a drunken state, Hindley returns and drops Hareton from the landing; the child is saved by Heathcliff. Catherine talks with Ellen and reveals that she has accepted an offer of marriage from Edgar. She says that she couldn't marry Heathcliff because he is too poor and rough but that, really, her heart belongs to him. He overhears the first part of this but not the second and runs away from Wuthering Heights. Catherine goes on to marry Edgar and Ellen leaves with her as her maid.
Chapter 10:(X) Mr Heathcliff Returns
Three years after Heathcliff's departure, six months after the marriage, Heathcliff arrives at Thrushcross Grange, now improved in physique and manner. He is staying with Hindley at Wuthering Heights and taking advantage of the latter's alcoholism and gambling. Isabella falls in love with Heathcliff and is teased by Catherine.
Chapter 11:(XI) "The Milk-Blooded Coward"
Ellen walks to Wuthering Heights to see Hindley but she meets Hareton at the gate who has become coarse and foul-mouthed under Heathcliff's tutorage. Heathcliff goes to Thrushcross Grange to see Catherine and Isabella, and clashes with Edgar.
Chapter 12:(XII) Delirium
Catherine falls ill from fever and delirium, and Ellen gets into trouble for not telling Edgar. With their minds occupied by this, they are unaware that Isabella has eloped with Heathcliff.
Chapter 13:(XIII) Isabella Learns Her Fate
Under Edgar's care, Catherine recovers from her fever. Ellen receives a letter from Isabella describing her arrival at Wuthering Heights and the poor treatment she received there. She writes how she wishes to hear from her brother.
Chapter 14:(XIV) The Mediator
Ellen visits Wuthering Heights with the news that Edgar no longer wants any communication with Isabella or Heathcliff. Heathcliff wants to see Catherine again and refuses to let Ellen leave until she agrees to act as mediator.
Chapter 15:(XV) The Final Meeting
While Edgar is absent, Heathcliff arrives at Thrushcross Grange for a final meeting with Cathy. Edgar returns but, with Cathy very ill, he is more concerned with her than his enemy.
Chapter 16:(XVI) Life and Death
Cathy is born and her mother dies soon after. Heathcliff makes one last visit to see her body before she is buried.
Chapter 17:(XVII) The Master of Wuthering Heights
Isabella arrives at Thrushcross Grange, having fled from Heathcliff. She eventually moves south near London where she gives birth to Linton. Six months after Catherine's death, Hindley dies as well and Heathcliff becomes master of Wuthering Heights.
The Maturity of Heathcliff
Chapter 18:(XVIII) The Explorer
Cathy grows up in isolation at Thrushcross Grange. With Isabella dying, Edgar travels to London to pick up Linton. While he is away, Cathy goes exploring on the moor and meets Hareton at Wuthering Heights.
Chapter 19:(XIX) A Sickly Child
Edgar arrives back at Thrushcross Grange with Linton. Before the day is out, Joseph arrives with orders to take the child to Wuthering Heights immediately but Edgar puts him off until the morning.
Chapter 20:(XX) Father and Son
The next day, Ellen takes Linton up to Wuthering Heights. Although Heathcliff despises the child, he assures Ellen that he will look after him as he has plans for him.
Chapter 21:(XXI) Young Love
On her sixteenth birthday, Catherine goes with Ellen onto the moor and meets Heathcliff to takes her back to Wuthering Heights to meet Hareton. She is prohibited by her father from seeing either of them again but keeps up a clandestine relationship via mail. Ellen finds out and burns the letters, forcing Catherine to promise to end the relationship.
Chapter 22:(XXII) An Invitation from Heathcliff
A few months later, Catherine and Ellen are walking around the grounds when they encounter Heathcliff on the boundary road. He explains that Linton is ill and believes that Catherine deliberately stopped writing. Heathcliff notes that he will be away for a week and she could visit in the meantime. Reluctantly, Ellen agrees to accompany her to Wuthering Heights the next day.
Chapter 23:(XXIII) The Wiles of Linton
At Wuthering Heights, they find Linton who quarrels with Cathy. He feigns illness and she is fooled into sympathy for him. They return home where Ellen is confined to bed with illness for a few weeks. While there, Cathy continues to visit Linton.
Chapter 24:(XXIV) Deeper In
Ellen learns of Cathy's secret visits to Wuthering Heights to see Linton. The former reveals the information to Edgar who prohibits Cathy from visiting the Heights again (although he allows Linton to visit Thrushcross Grange).
Chapter 25:(XXV) Mr Linton Considers the Future
As Edgar begins to decline and fear for the future, he reconsiders his opposition to Linton and comes to believe that a marriage between him and Cathy may be the best option so that she will not be left without an inheritance.
Chapter 26:(XXVI) An Ominous Meeting
Some months later, Edgar allows Cathy to meet Linton again (but not at Wuthering Heights). Linton is visibly more ill and hardly has the energy to meet her. He makes her promise to return the next week.
Chapter 27:(XXVII) Prisoners
With Edgar dying, Ellen and Cathy make their way onto the moor to see Linton. He is there but very frightened. Heathcliff arrives and persuades everyone to go into Wuthering Heights. Once there, he locks them in and says that they will remain prisoners until Cathy and Linton are married.
Chapter 28:(XXVIII) The Last of the Lintons
Ellen is set free and returns to Thrushcross Grange after failing to free Cathy. Edgar is on the point of death. She vows to get Cathy freed but, fortunately, the girl arrives after being let out by Linton. She spends a last few moments with her father before he dies and Heathcliff takes control of the Grange.
Chapter 29:(XXIX) Heathcliff Triumphant
Heathcliff arrives at Thrushcross Grange to escort Cathy to Wuthering Heights while Ellen must remain behind. 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, she remains aloof.
Chapter 31:(XXXI) Mr Lockwood Takes His Leave
Deciding to stay no longer in Yorkshire, Lockwood rides to Wuthering Heights to tell Heathcliff. He sees Cathy and Hareton in argument over books and the latter's attempts to improve his education.
Epilogue
Chapter 32:(XXXII) Many Changes
The next autumn, Lockwood visits Thrushcross Grange on a trip north. He finds Ellen has moved to Wuthering Heights. When he arrives there, he finds that Hareton and Cathy are in love and Heathcliff has been dead three months. Ellen tells him of the events since he left, explaining how Cathy gradually broke down Hareton's resistance by offering to teach him to read.
Chapter 33:(XXXIII) The Haunted Soul
In Ellen's account, Cathy persuades Hareton to dig up some of Joseph's fruit bushes to make a garden. When Heathcliff finds out though, his expected outburst is muted. He is strangely quiet and tells Ellen that he feels a change coming on, that he is haunted by Catherine everywhere.
Chapter 34:(XXXIV) Unions
Heathcliff grows worse, roaming the moors and neither eating nor sleeping. He sees Catherine everywhere he looks but is strangely happy. Eventually he is found dead in Catherine's room and is buried alongside her. Lockwood takes his leave with Hareton and Cathy planning to marry and move to Thrushcross Grange.