world of Wuthering Heights many years after Heathcliff’s interjection into the natural order. Details seem disagreeable from the very start of the narrative. After a completely inhospitable ‘welcome,’ Lockwood notes, “even the gate over which he leant manifested no sympathizing movement to the words” (3). In an estate such as Wuthering Heights, one would expect to find an army of caretakers and grounds men, constantly pruning and digging to beautify the property. However, immediately upon his arrival, Lockwood notices that “Here we have the whole establishment of domestics … No wonder the grass grows up between the flags, and cattle are the only hedge-cutters” (3). Wuthering Heights is overgrown with weeds and lies uncared for. The interior of the house is no better off. The kitchen into which Lockwood is led, is desolate and cold, much like the moors that surround both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Lockwood “observed no signs of roasting, boiling, or baking about the huge fire-place; nor any glitter of copper saucepans and tin cullenders on the walls” (4). The vacuum of this room alone seems to suck all the life and warmth out of the house. (Or is it Heathcliff?) Even the dogs that roam the house seem slightly devilish; Lockwood’s caress only provokes further animosity from the animals. The other inhabitants of the house act much the same. On his second visit, Lockwood meets Catherine Linton (the younger) and Hareton; both return his attempts at conversation and help with growing scorn and spite. Lockwood even notes that “the only sentiment [Catherine’s eyes] evinced hovered between scorn and a kind of desperation, singularly unnatural to be detected there” (9). Although he ironically regards the residents of Wuthering Heights as a “pleasant family circle” (11), Lockwood’s narrative strongly suggests an overall feeling...
