The Wuthering Heights family tree

Yes, there are two Catherines.

Catherine Earnshaw is the first: Hindley’s sister, Heathcliff’s other half, Edgar’s wife. She is born at Wuthering Heights in 1765, becomes Catherine Linton by marriage in 1783, and dies in March 1784, two hours after giving birth.

Catherine Linton is the second: her daughter, called Cathy. She is born a Linton, becomes Catherine Heathcliff by her first marriage, and ends as Catherine Earnshaw by her second — her mother’s name, walked backwards. Lockwood finds all three names scratched into the windowsill in Chapter III and has no idea what he is looking at.

There are two Heathcliffs as well: Heathcliff the foundling, and Linton Heathcliff, his son by Isabella.

Why this book confuses everyone

Three reasons. First, the names: two Catherines, two Heathcliffs, and a Linton who is a person as well as two people’s surname. Second, the structure: the story reaches you through Lockwood, who hears most of it from Nelly, who heard parts of it from Isabella, Cathy, and Zillah — a narrator inside a narrator, with the timeline folded in half. Third, the dates matter and the book rarely states them; the chronology above was reconstructed from internal evidence, and the novel expects you to hold it in your head.

Everyone on the tree

Mr and Mrs Earnshaw

Of Wuthering Heights. Parents of Hindley and Catherine; Mr Earnshaw carries Heathcliff home from Liverpool in 1771 and favors him ever after. Mrs Earnshaw dies in 1773, Mr Earnshaw in October 1777.

“Why canst thou not always be a good lass, Cathy?” — Chapter V

Mr and Mrs Linton

Of Thrushcross Grange. Parents of Edgar and Isabella. They take Catherine in after the dog bites her in 1780, and both die of the fever she brings into the house that same year.

Hindley Earnshaw

1757–1784. Catherine’s brother, master of the Heights after his father. Widowed in 1778, he drinks the estate into Heathcliff’s hands and dies six months after his sister.

“Kiss me, Hareton! Damn thee, kiss me! By God, as if I would rear such a monster!” — Chapter IX

Frances Earnshaw

Hindley’s wife, of origins he declines to explain. Dies of consumption in late 1778, soon after Hareton’s birth. She speaks too rarely in the novel to have earned a color in the app.

Heathcliff

c. 1764–1802. First name, last name, whole name. Found starving in Liverpool, brought home in 1771, degraded by Hindley, gone three years, and back with money no one dares ask about. Marries Isabella in 1784 to get at Edgar; by 1801 he owns both houses.

“Be with me always—take any form—drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you!” — Chapter XVI

Catherine Earnshaw, later Linton the first Catherine

1765–1784. Marries Edgar in 1783 because it would degrade her to marry Heathcliff, and never recovers from her own decision. Dies on 20 March 1784, two hours after her daughter is born.

“Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He’s always, always in my mind.” — Chapter IX

Edgar Linton

1762–1801. Master of the Grange, Catherine’s husband, Cathy’s father. Dies in September 1801, weeks after his daughter is forced into her first marriage.

“Will you give up Heathcliff hereafter, or will you give up me?” — Chapter XI

Isabella Linton, later Heathcliff

1765–1797. Edgar’s sister. Elopes with Heathcliff in January 1784, flees him within months, and raises their son alone in the south until her death.

“Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil?” — Chapter XIII, in a letter to Nelly

Hareton Earnshaw

Born June 1778, son of Hindley and Frances. Dispossessed by Heathcliff and raised rough. His marriage to Cathy — planned for 1 January 1803, just past the last page — returns the Heights to an Earnshaw.

“I’ll go to hell, body and soul, before I look sideways after you again!” — Chapter XXXII

Catherine Linton, later Heathcliff, later Earnshaw the second Catherine

Born 20 March 1784, daughter of Catherine and Edgar. Called Cathy. Forced to marry the dying Linton Heathcliff in August 1801; widowed by October; engaged to Hareton by the end.

“Come, you shall take notice of me, Hareton: you are my cousin, and you shall own me.” — Chapter XXXII

Linton Heathcliff

September 1784 – October 1801. Son of Heathcliff and Isabella; the second Heathcliff. Peevish, frail, and used by his father as the instrument for taking the Grange. Married to Cathy for roughly ten weeks.

“It’s mine: papa says everything she has is mine.” — Chapter XXVIII