Ad-free experience
Study Guides for 1,000+ titles
Full Text content for 250+ titles
No Fear Translations of Shakespeare’s plays (along with audio!) and other classic works
Flashcards
Mastery Quizzes
Infographics
Graphic Novels
AP® Practice & Lessons
Note-taking
Bookmarking
Dashboard
What happens in Chapters 21–26 of Wuthering Heights?
Cathy, now sixteen, visits Wuthering Heights, and when she tells her father about the visit, Edgar tries to explain why he has kept her relatives secret, allowing Cathy to understand Edgar’s disdain for Heathcliff. All the while, Cathy exchanges letters with Linton until Nelly discovers their correspondence and calls it off. After Edgar falls ill and Cathy is reproached by Heathcliff for toying with Linton’s heart, she begins traveling in secret to be with Linton. Edgar says that if marrying Linton would make his daughter happy, he will allow their marriage, regardless of the fact that it will mean Heathcliff inherits Thrushcross Grange. When Cathy and Nelly ride to their meeting with Linton at the moors, they find him frail and weak near Wuthering Heights, insisting that his health is improving, a statement that Cathy and Nelly worry over.
Read our Summary & Analysis of Chapters 21–26 of Wuthering Heights. (3-minute read)
Why did Edgar neglect to tell Cathy about Heathcliff?
Edgar struggles to talk to Cathy about Heathcliff’s past actions, and the history between the Earnshaws and the Lintons, because he blames Heathcliff for Catherine’s death. As a result, whenever it comes up, he is quick to change the subject, leaving Cathy initially unaware of Heathcliff’s true character.
Read more about Edgar’s decision in Quotes by Character: Edgar Linton. (1-minute read)
What important theme from Wuthering Heights is developed in Chapters 21–26?
Here we can see The Destructiveness of a Love That Never Changes as a theme, as Heathcliff’s passionate but damaging love for Catherine is juxtaposed against Edgar’s evolving love for his daughter Cathy. When she was first born, Edgar didn’t have much regard for her, according to Nelly, as he associated her with his dead wife. However, he came to love her and want only the best for her. In fact, his love for her is stronger than his hatred for Heathcliff—he permits Cathy to marry Linton if she does in fact love him, despite knowing it would secure Thrushcross Grange for Heathcliff.
Read more about the novel’s key Themes. (4-minute read)
What foreshadowing appears in Chapters 21–26?
Nelly Dean mentions to Lockwood that the story has nearly caught up to present day, which means the events she describes didn’t happen so long ago. Though the reader knows Cathy will be an unhappy widow at the end of this story, the true nature of her suffering was foreshadowed in the opening chapters when Lockwood saw her mother’s various names scratched into the window ledge.
Read more about Foreshadowing in Wuthering Heights. (2-minute read)
