What Happens At The Beginning Of Wuthering Heights

Okay, grab your coffee. Let’s talk about the crazy way Wuthering Heights starts. Seriously, Emily Brontë doesn’t ease you in. She throws you straight into a snowstorm with a grouchy narrator named Lockwood.

Lockwood is our eyes, but he’s also a total doofus. He rents a fancy manor called Thrushcross Grange, then thinks, “Hey, I should visit my grumpy landlord in a blizzard.” Smart move, buddy.

He trudges over to Wuthering Heights—a farmhouse that’s basically a haunted fortress. The name literally means “a house battered by weather.” Spoiler: it’s also battered by emotions.

First Impressions: Dogs and a Grumpy Squire

Lockwood knocks on the door. Who answers? A giant man named Hareton Earnshaw, who looks like he’d rather chew glass. Then he gets ambushed by a pack of vicious dogs. Yes, dogs. They literally attack him.

Welcome to the plot. It’s only page three, and our narrator is bleeding on the floor. Meanwhile, the actual owner, Heathcliff, glares from the fireplace. He doesn’t even say “sorry.” He just glowers.

You might ask: Why is everyone so angry? That’s the question, isn’t it? But Brontë won’t tell you yet. She wants you to feel confused and cold.

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The Dream That Breaks Reality

Lockwood returns to Wuthering Heights the next day (masochist, much?). This time, the snow traps him, so he has to stay the night. He gets shoved into a creepy, paneled bedroom.

And then—bam. He has a nightmare. Not a normal one, either. In the dream, a ghost named Catherine Linton begs to enter through the window. Her little hand scrapes the glass, leaving a bloody trail.

Is it real? Is it a fever dream? Doesn’t matter. Lockwood screams like a child. He also rubs the ghost’s wrist against a broken windowpane to bleed on it. Yeah, that’s our narrator. Real charming.

Heathcliff’s Meltdown

Here’s where it gets good. Lockwood’s screaming wakes up Heathcliff. Mr. Glower-pants rushes in, sees the dream, and breaks down completely. He throws open the window and sobs, “Cathy, come in!” to the empty darkness.

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Wait—what? This is the guy who acted like a stone statue five minutes ago. Now he’s begging a ghost to return? You realize: this story isn’t about Lockwood. It’s about Heathcliff’s obsession with a dead woman.

And the dead woman? Her name is Catherine. The book hasn’t even started telling her story yet, and already she’s the most powerful character in the room.

The Real Beginning: Nelly’s Story

After Heathcliff’s meltdown, Lockwood goes back to the Grange and demands the housekeeper, Nelly Dean, explain everything. “Spill the tea,” he basically says. And Nelly does.

Here’s the real beginning: The story jumps back thirty years. Mr. Earnshaw, the old master of Wuthering Heights, brings home a dirty, dark-skinned orphan from Liverpool. That orphan is Heathcliff. No surname. No backstory. Just a street kid who will destroy two families.

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Heathcliff becomes best friends with Earnshaw’s daughter, Catherine. Then he’s cruelly abused by her brother, Hindley. And we’re off—racing toward a gothic mess of love, revenge, and more ghosts.

Why This Opening Works

Why did Brontë start with a random dude and a dog attack? Two reasons. First, it sets the tone: chaotic, violent, and deeply weird. You think you’re reading a romance? Nope. A dog just bit a man’s neck.

Second, it makes you work. You’re locked in Lockwood’s confused head, then Nelly slowly unravels the truth. By the time you understand Heathcliff, you’re already hooked. It’s like being told a secret, except the secret involves a ghost at a window.

So next time someone says Wuthering Heights is boring? Laugh. Remind them it opens with a bloody nightmare and a guy crying into a storm. Then tell them to pass the creamer.