To begin, enter Mr. Lockwood, a new tenant of Mr. Heathcliff. Their relationship is not at all the best and you can feel the tension between the two. Mr. Lockwood, upon his arrival, meets Nelly, one of the servants at the Wuthering Heights manor. After his supernatural encounter with that of a ghost named Catherine, he becomes frightened and asks Nelly to explain what happened in this house. Nelly goes on to tell him the story of Heathcliff and his family. Heathcliff, a dark-skinned gypsy, who was picked up by Mr. Earnshaw and was resented by Catherine, Hindley, and Mrs. Earnshaw. Although, after a time, Catherine grew to the likings of Heathcliff, Hindley and Mrs. Earnshaw remained to be cruel and upset towards Heathcliff being a part of the family.

Reading this reminded me of two different things we discussed in class. One being Thomas Carlyle’s Sartor Resaurtus when he talks about social class and how even just the clothes you wear determine what position or role you take up in this society. Being a dark-skinned gypsy in this era happened to be the worst possible class you can think of. Later on, in his years, Hindley returns with his new wife, after his father’s death, only to inherit their home. He seeks his revenge on Heathcliff by denying him his education and making him a servant. In other words, he made him his slave. We come across more racism within other characters and even Catherine herself who was his only companion, after spending some time with the Linton’s. The second connection I made towards this was the article that one of the groups had discovered where a Queen (Higher class/ Royal class) had taken in a young black girl by the name of Sarah and she paid for her education and made her, her goddaughter. This is similar to Wuthering Heights because Mr. Earnshaw, despite the racial differences within this era, brought in Heathcliff to his manor and gave him shelter, food, and love.