Wuthering Heights Chapter 23 Summary

  • Nelly and Cathy arrive at the Heights to find Linton, shivering and pathetic, making demands that Joseph flatly ignores.
  • Linton chastises Cathy for ignoring him and complains about his treatment by Heathcliff.
  • Cathy and Linton begin to fight about their parents' relationships. When he tells Cathy that her mother (Catherine) hated her father (Edgar) and was really in love with his father (Heathcliff), Cathy pushes his chair, causing a dramatic scene. Linton can't stop coughing, choking, and whining. (Remember way back when Catherine hit Edgar right before they got engaged? All this violence as foreplay sounds familiar.)
  • When they leave the Heights, Nelly swears to put a lock on the gate so Cathy cannot sneak off again. Cathy responds, "The Grange is not a prison, Ellen, and you are not my jailer" (23.79).
  • Nelly becomes sick for three weeks. With Edgar still ailing and Nelly in bed, Cathy has the freedom to do what she wants.