## Characters
**Mr. Lockwood (Narrator)**
- Name: Not given his first name in this chapter
- Role: Present throughout as narrator and visitor
- Physical details: Claims to be "tolerably attractive"; suffers nosebleed during altercation
- Personality traits: Polite but judgmental, somewhat conceited, easily flustered in social situations
- Key actions: Visits Wuthering Heights despite bad weather, attempts conversation, gets trapped by snowstorm, attacked by dogs
- Relationships: Tenant at Thrushcross Grange; visitor to Heathcliff's household
**Heathcliff**
- Name: Mr. Heathcliff (first name not given)
- Role: Present as host and master of Wuthering Heights
- Physical details: About forty years old
- Personality traits: Rude, inhospitable, morose, shows "genuine bad nature," has "diabolical sneer"
- Key actions: Reluctantly receives Lockwood, refuses guide, laughs at Lockwood's misfortune
- Relationships: Master of the house; father-in-law to the young Mrs. Heathcliff; employer of Joseph, Zillah, and others
**Young Mrs. Heathcliff (Heathcliff's daughter-in-law)**
- Name: Mrs. Heathcliff (first name not given)
- Role: Present throughout the visit
- Physical details: Slender, "scarcely past girlhood," "not look seventeen," small features, very fair, "flaxen ringlets, or rather golden," delicate neck, beautiful eyes but with expression "between scorn and a kind of desperation," wearing "neat black frock"
- Personality traits: Cold, unwelcoming, sharp-tongued, playfully threatens Joseph with witchcraft
- Key actions: Refuses to welcome Lockwood, reluctantly makes tea, threatens Joseph with a "Black Art" book
- Relationships: Heathcliff's daughter-in-law, widow (her husband/mate is dead)
**Hareton Earnshaw**
- Name: Hareton Earnshaw
- Role: Present throughout
- Physical details: Young man without coat initially, thick brown curls "rough and uncultivated," whiskers "encroached bearishly over his cheeks," hands "embrowned like those of a common labourer," appears to be doing manual labor
- Personality traits: Gruff, proud of his name despite humble appearance, has "free, almost haughty" bearing
- Key actions: Guides Lockwood inside, nearly assaults him when mistaken for Mrs. Heathcliff's husband, refuses to guide Lockwood home
- Relationships: Not Heathcliff's son; appears to work at Wuthering Heights
**Joseph**
- Name: Joseph
- Role: Present, described as servant
- Physical details: "Vinegar-faced," described as "aged rascal" and "elder"
- Personality traits: Speaks in heavy dialect, religious, critical, easily frightened by Mrs. Heathcliff's threats
- Key actions: Initially refuses to help Lockwood enter, feeds dogs, scolds Mrs. Heathcliff, flees when she threatens him with witchcraft
- Relationships: Servant at Wuthering Heights
**Zillah**
- Name: Zillah
- Role: Appears at end of chapter
- Physical details: "Stout housewife"
- Personality traits: More rational and benevolent than others, takes charge in crisis
- Key actions: Intervenes when Lockwood is attacked, treats his injuries, gives him lodging
- Relationships: Housewife at Wuthering Heights; mentioned as one of only five people at the farm
**Juno**
- Name: Juno (dog)
- Role: Mentioned briefly
- Physical details: Large dog (called "villain")
- Key actions: Barely acknowledges Lockwood with tail tip movement
**Unnamed housekeeper at Thrushcross Grange**
- Role: Mentioned only
- Physical details: "Matronly lady, taken as a fixture along with the house"
- Key actions: Refuses to serve dinner at 5 PM as Lockwood requests
## Timeline & Events
**Time of day**: Yesterday afternoon, described as "misty and cold"
**Lockwood's routine**: Dines "between twelve and one o'clock"
**Sequence of events**:
1. Lockwood initially plans to stay by his study fire but finds servant cleaning it
2. Takes "four-miles' walk" to Wuthering Heights
3. Arrives "just in time to escape the first feathery flakes of a snow shower"
4. Cannot get anyone to answer the door initially
5. Joseph appears from barn window, directs him around the building
6. Young man (Hareton) guides him through outbuildings to main room
7. Meets Mrs. Heathcliff, attempts awkward conversation
8. Heathcliff arrives, shaking snow from clothes
9. All sit for evening meal in "austere silence"
10. Lockwood attempts conversation, makes social blunders about relationships
11. Snow worsens, making return journey impossible
12. Heathcliff refuses to provide guide or proper accommodation
13. Lockwood attempts to leave, gets attacked by dogs
14. Zillah intervenes, tends to Lockwood's injuries, provides lodging
## Key Facts
**Physical descriptions**:
- Wuthering Heights sits on "bleak hill top"
- House has flagged causeway bordered with gooseberry-bushes
- Entry area has garden-gate with chain, then yard with wash-house, paved area containing coal-shed, pump, and pigeon-cot
- Main room is "huge, warm, cheerful" with immense fire of "coal, peat, and wood"
- Room has painted canisters on chimney-piece, cushioned seating
- Joseph works in barn with round window
- Property has fold for sheep, barn porch
**Household details**:
- Only five people at the farm: Heathcliff, Earnshaw, Zillah, Joseph, and Mrs. Heathcliff
- No boys/young workers at the farm
- Dogs named Gnasher and Wolf (plus Juno)
- They keep sheep, horses, cows
- Mrs. Heathcliff owns a "long, dark book" she claims is about "Black Art"
**Background revealed**:
- Mrs. Heathcliff's husband (Heathcliff's son) is dead
- She is Heathcliff's daughter-in-law
- The red cow died recently (Mrs. Heathcliff implies she caused it)
- Joseph suffers from rheumatism
## Ages, Dates & Arithmetic
**Character ages**:
- Heathcliff: "about forty"
- Mrs. Heathcliff: "did not look seventeen," "scarcely past girlhood"
- Age disparity noted as making marriage between Heathcliff and young woman unlikely
**Time references**:
- Events occur "yesterday afternoon"
- Lockwood dines "between twelve and one o'clock"
- Evening meal being prepared when he arrives
- "Dark night coming down prematurely" due to storm
## Unexplained Changes
**From Chapter I**:
- Mrs. Heathcliff was not present or mentioned in previous visit
- Hareton Earnshaw was not identified by name in previous chapter
- Zillah was not present in previous chapter
- The household dynamics and relationships were not clarified previously
## Plot Developments
**New threads introduced**:
- Who exactly is Mrs. Heathcliff and what happened to her husband?
- What is Hareton Earnshaw's exact relationship to the family?
- Why does Mrs. Heathcliff seem trapped ("They wouldn't let me go to the end of the garden wall")?
- What is the significance of the "Black Art" book and her threats?
**Existing threads advanced**:
- Lockwood's relationship with his neighbors becomes more strained
- The unwelcoming nature of Wuthering Heights is reinforced
- The mysterious family dynamics begin to be revealed
**New obstacles**:
- Lockwood is now trapped overnight at Wuthering Heights
- His relationship with the household has deteriorated significantly
- Weather prevents his return to Thrushcross Grange
## Foreshadowing & Setups
**Objects given emphasis**:
- The "long, dark book" about "Black Art" - suggests supernatural elements or Mrs. Heathcliff's rebellious nature
- The matches Mrs. Heathcliff burns - shows her restless, destructive tendencies
- References to the dead red cow and Joseph's rheumatism - hints at Mrs. Heathcliff's possible powers or vindictive nature
**Statements hinting at secrets**:
- Mrs. Heathcliff's restriction: "They wouldn't let me go to the end of the garden wall" - suggests she's being held against her will
- Heathcliff's "peculiar look" of "hatred" toward his daughter-in-law
- The mysterious death of Mrs. Heathcliff's husband/Heathcliff's son
**Unresolved questions**:
- What happened to Heathcliff's son?
- Why does Heathcliff hate his daughter-in-law?
- What is Hareton's exact position in the household?
- Why does Mrs. Heathcliff seem imprisoned?
- What is the significance of her interest in witchcraft/supernatural?
The chapter establishes the complex and hostile family dynamics at Wuthering Heights while trapping Lockwood there overnight, setting up potential revelations about the household's secrets.