Welcome to day five of Wuthering Heights Week here at White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings. Today’s post is about how Wuthering Heights is a story of generational trauma.
The story of Wuthering Heights is focused on two generations of characters. There is the older generation, that of Catherine Earnshaw, Heathcliff, Edgar Linton, Isabella Linton, Hindley Earnshaw, and Ellen Dean. Then there is the younger generation of Catherine Linton, Linton Heathcliff, and Hareton Earnshaw, the children of members of the earlier generation. So, with this knowledge alone, we can see that there is likely going to be some semblance of history repeating itself, or of the younger generation being impacted by their elders. However, with this novel, there is much more than that, as some true generational trauma is explored!
You see, there is also the generation of the parents, Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw, and Mr. and Mrs. Linton. We do not get to know very much about any of the parents of the main cast of characters, but it is quite clear to see that they had an impact on their children. Mr. Earnshaw, Catherine and Hindley’s father, is the character out of this eldest generation we learn the most about. It is Mr. Earnshaw who brought home Heathcliff after finding him on the streets, as he could not find Heathcliff’s biological family anywhere. It is also Mr. Earnshaw who favored Heathcliff over his own son. Now, in the narrative of the novel, it is pretty clear that Mr. Earnshaw probably had good intentions, seeking to provide love and care to a young child who had been abandoned. Then, when Heathcliff proved to be grateful to Mr. Earnshaw, whereas his own children could be quite spoiled, he doted on the boy even more.
However, it is this very act of doting on Heathcliff that would plant the seeds of hatred within Hindley. He truly loathed Heathcliff for taking his father’s affection, and he also hated how close Heathcliff and his sister Catherine were. These seeds of hatred grew and grew into a profound loathing and resentment. It is just this trauma from feeling abandoned, or at least not preferred, by his father that I believe led Hindley to treat Heathcliff so abhorrently when he inherited the estate of Wuthering Heights!
The Linton siblings were also impacted greatly by their parents, as the elder Lintons were incredibly soft with their children, shielding them from all potential harm. This is likely what led Edgar and Isabella to be seen as very pampered by the other characters of their generation. They were often described as being pampered, delicate, and of a weak constitution by Nelly as she narrated the story. Now, the reason the Lintons may have been so gentle with their children could very well be that they had always been a bit sickly. However, the way it is presented, it could also be that they had such delicate constitutions because they had not been allowed to play outdoors very much, which would certainly impede the development of a healthy immune system. Of course, that is just conjecture on my part, as when the novel was written, the knowledge of how children’s immune systems develop was not known. One thing we know for certain is that Mr. and Mrs. Linton also likely had very delicate constitutions themselves, as when they brought a sick Catherine to stay with them, they both ended up dying of the fever she had survived! So, it could just be a genetic trait in the Linton family to be very sickly.
All of these things certainly impacted the way the older generation of characters grew to adulthood in the first half of the novel. Heathcliff is impacted by his very early life, which, though mostly unknown, can be assumed to have been tough, given that he was found on the streets alone. Heathcliff is equally impacted by the death of Mr. Earnshaw, leading Hindley to turn him into a servant, and enduring ill-treatment at Hindley’s hand. Finally, Heathcliff is impacted by the fact that Catherine got engaged to Edgar Linton, which led him to run away.
Catherine is impacted by being a bit spoiled in her childhood, then losing her father, and having her most beloved playmate and friend be mistreated by her brother. Her choice to marry Edgar was mostly made in order to free Heathcliff, who she admitted would always be the one she loved best, from her brother’s control! Then she was devastated by Heathcliff running off, which is how she ended up with a fever in the first place, for she had spent hours outside in the rain searching for him. There is certainly guilt, as well, knowing that he ran off after hearing her discuss her engagement with Nelly!
Edgar and Isabella are impacted by being left a considerable fortune and having the ability to remain living in comfort. This comfort is a nice thing, but it does not allow them to develop any sort of real survival skills, and leaves, especially Isabella, a bit too naive. Edgar always loathed Heathcliff, as they had fought for Catherine’s affections before Heathcliff disappeared. This loathing is made worse when Heathcliff returns, as Catherine’s obvious love for Heathcliff is on display! Isabella’s naïveté is what gets her into the position of running off and marrying Heathcliff, who had made it quite clear from the beginning that he was only doing so to spite Catherine, and especially Edgar!
When Heathcliff returned, he certainly wanted revenge on Hindley Earnshaw, and he got it by lending him money to fund his gambling habits, slowly buying Wuthering Heights from Hindley due to the debts. Hindley had fallen so badly, being consumed by his grief for his dead wife and his vices, and that is why his son Hareton was not well-cared-for after Nelly had to leave to Thrushcross Grange when Catherine married Edgar!
So, that is how Hareton inherited the trauma of his father; he ended up being a servant to Heathcliff when his father died. Hareton should have inherited Wuthering Heights, but his father’s hatred of Heathcliff, which incited Heathcliff’s revenge, and his father’s inability to deal with the loss of his wife, left him completely alone. Hareton did not even get an education in reading or writing for many years, even though the older Earnshaws had been educated!
As for Catherine Linton and Linton Heathcliff, they were both pampered by Edgar Linton and Isabella Linton, respectively. Catherine was doted on and well-loved, with Edgar being very overprotective after the elder Catherine died giving birth to her. Isabella Linton raised her son away from her husband, Heathcliff, until her death. Linton Heathcliff is described as a very sickly child right from the beginning, a stark difference from the younger Catherine, who is very healthy. So, he has literally inherited the Lintons’ delicate constitutions, as well as the trauma that can result from being overly coddled, as his mother and uncle were. Catherine has inherited the expectations of living up to her namesake and of pleasing her father, who idealized her. Of course, Heathcliff eventually gets custody of his son back, inflicting more generational trauma on the young and ailing boy, and even arranging a marriage between the cousins. That is how Heathcliff came to own both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, as his son did not live long after the marriage!
Finally, I will note that, as I discussed in another post earlier this week, there is a bit of a mirror to the Catherine, Heathcliff, and Edgar Linton love triangle in the younger generation. Linton Heathcliff married the younger Catherine, but she was also drawn to and attracted to her other cousin, Hareton Earnshaw. At least that love triangle ended happily, as after Heathcliff died, Catherine and Hareton could be together! That is perhaps the best thing about looking at this tale as a story of generational trauma, as by the end, Catherine and Hareton are happy together, having overcome the inherited trauma from their parents’ generation.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my analysis of Wuthering Heights as a story of generational trauma. What is the most interesting aspect of this multi-generational tale, in your opinion? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a book cover for the novel. I found the image on https://devontrevarrowflaherty.com/2015/03/10/book-review-wuthering-heights/.
LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries
Further Reading
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
- https://whiteroseofavalon.life/2021/04/10/heathcliff-as-byronic-hero/
- https://whiteroseofavalon.life/2022/03/17/wuthering-heights-a-happy-ending/
- https://whiteroseofavalon.life/2022/09/26/catherine-earnshaw-a-faery-changeling/
- https://whiteroseofavalon.life/2024/11/29/the-two-catherines-of-wuthering-heights/
- https://whiteroseofavalon.life/2022/04/27/emily-brontes-impact-kate-bush-the-music-videos-and-the-unthanks/