## Characters
**Mr. Earnshaw** - Patriarch of the family; dies in this chapter
- Physical details: Becomes confined to chimney-corner, grows weak, carries a stick, has "sinking frame"
- Personality: Becomes "grievously irritable" as health fails, painfully jealous of any slights against Heathcliff, strict and grave with children, doesn't understand jokes
- Key actions: Fails in health, nearly strikes Hindley with stick twice or thrice, agrees to send Hindley to college, dies quietly in his chair by fireside one October evening
- Relationships: Father to Hindley and Catherine, shows extreme favoritism toward Heathcliff
**Hindley Earnshaw** - Mr. Earnshaw's son
- Role: Mentioned/referenced, sent away to college
- Personality: Shows "manifestation of scorn" toward Heathcliff
- Key actions: Displays contempt that enrages his father, gets sent to college
- Relationships: Son of Mr. Earnshaw, brother to Catherine
**Heathcliff** - Mr. Earnshaw's favorite foundling
- Physical details: Lying on floor with head in Catherine's lap at death scene
- Personality: Has "pride and black tempers," obeys Catherine's bidding in anything, obeys Mr. Earnshaw only when it suits his inclination
- Key actions: Benefits from Mr. Earnshaw's protection, cries heart-breakingly at Earnshaw's death
- Relationships: Mr. Earnshaw's favorite, very close to Catherine
**Catherine ("Miss Cathy") Earnshaw** - Mr. Earnshaw's daughter
- Physical details: "bonniest eye, the sweetest smile, and lightest foot in the parish," "bonny hair"
- Personality: "Wild, wicked slip," spirits "always at high-water mark," tongue always going, mischievous, fond of acting "little mistress," bold and saucy, becomes hardened by continual repulsion
- Key actions: Constantly causes mischief, provokes her father, commands companions, sings father to sleep before his death, discovers his death and screams
- Relationships: Daughter to Mr. Earnshaw, sister to Hindley, "much too fond of Heathcliff"
**Nelly Dean** (narrator) - Housekeeper/servant
- Role: Present throughout, narrating to someone addressed as "sir"
- Key actions: Knitting by hearth during death scene, refuses to tolerate Catherine's slapping and ordering, fetches doctor after death
- Relationships: Servant to the family, acts as caretaker
**Joseph** - Servant at Wuthering Heights
- Physical details: Described as someone the listener "saw...up yonder"
- Personality: "wearisomest self-righteous Pharisee," has "knack of sermonising and pious discoursing," relentless in religious concerns
- Key actions: Influences weakening Mr. Earnshaw, tells tales against Heathcliff and Catherine, discovers Mr. Earnshaw's death, sends Nelly for doctor and parson
- Relationships: Servant, gains increasing influence over Mr. Earnshaw
**The Curate** - Local clergyman/teacher
- Role: Mentioned only
- Key actions: Teaches "the little Lintons and Earnshaws," farms his own land, advises sending Hindley to college
- Relationships: Educator to both Earnshaw and Linton families
**The Doctor and Parson from Gimmerton** - Medical/religious figures
- Role: Summoned after death
- Key actions: Doctor comes immediately, parson says he'll come in the morning
## Timeline & Events
**General timeframe**: "In the course of time" after previous events, ending on "one October evening"
**Sequence of events**:
1. Mr. Earnshaw's health begins to fail - becomes confined to chimney-corner and irritable
2. Hindley shows scorn toward Heathcliff while father is present, enraging Mr. Earnshaw twice or thrice
3. Curate advises sending Hindley to college; Mr. Earnshaw agrees reluctantly
4. Hindley departs for college
5. Joseph gains increasing influence over the weakening Mr. Earnshaw
6. Catherine continues her wild behavior despite father's illness
7. **October evening**: Death scene occurs
- Catherine is sick, making her unusually still
- Family gathered around fire: Nelly knitting, Joseph reading Bible, Catherine leaning against father's knee, Heathcliff lying with head in Catherine's lap
- Mr. Earnshaw strokes Catherine's hair, has final conversation
- Catherine sings him to sleep
- All remain quiet for half hour
- Joseph tries to wake him for prayers, discovers death
- Catherine discovers death, both children cry heartbrokenly
8. **That night**: Nelly fetches doctor through wind and rain, doctor comes, parson delays until morning
9. **Past midnight**: Children comfort each other in their room
## Key Facts
**Physical details**:
- The house has a chimney-corner where Mr. Earnshaw sits
- There's a hearth with fireside seating
- Servants generally sit in the house after work is done
- Children's room has a door that can be left ajar
- Gimmerton is the nearest town with doctor and parson
**Weather**: High wind "blustered round the house, and roared in the chimney" on death night - "wild and stormy, yet it was not cold"
**Backstory revealed**:
- The family previously had a curate who taught both Earnshaw and Linton children
- Mr. Earnshaw was formerly "active and healthy"
- Catherine's mother is deceased (reference to "I doubt thy mother and I must rue that we ever reared thee")
## Ages, Dates & Arithmetic
**October evening** - specific timeframe for Mr. Earnshaw's death
**Past midnight** - when Nelly checks on children after death
Mr. Earnshaw quotes: "I doubt thy mother and I must rue that we ever reared thee" - indicates Catherine's mother is dead
No specific ages given in this chapter
## Unexplained Changes
**Catherine**: Described as sick on the night of death, which makes her "still" - unusual for her normally energetic character
**Mr. Earnshaw**: Dramatic decline from "active and healthy" to confined and weak (timeline of decline not specified)
**Joseph**: Has gained significant influence over Mr. Earnshaw during his decline
## Plot Developments
**New threads introduced**:
- Mr. Earnshaw's death creates major change in household dynamics
- Hindley's absence at college removes one source of conflict but leaves questions about his return
**Threads advanced**:
- Heathcliff and Catherine's bond deepened through shared grief
- Joseph's growing influence established as future concern
**Threads resolved**:
- Mr. Earnshaw's declining health and irritability resolved by death
- Immediate household conflicts involving Hindley removed by his departure
## Foreshadowing & Setups
**Joseph's influence**: His manipulation of the dying Mr. Earnshaw and constant complaints about Heathcliff and Catherine suggest future conflict when a new authority structure emerges
**Hindley's college departure**: Mr. Earnshaw's comment "Hindley was nought, and would never thrive as where he wandered" suggests problems when he returns
**Children's bond**: The image of Heathcliff and Catherine comforting each other "with better thoughts than I could have hit on" emphasizes their spiritual connection and mutual dependence
**Catherine's defiant nature**: Her increasing boldness and hardening against authority suggests future rebellions
**The orphaned state**: With Mr. Earnshaw dead and Hindley away, the power structure at Wuthering Heights is now unclear, setting up potential conflicts over authority and Heathcliff's position