Caught up in Heathcliff’s plan, Cathy gets imprisoned in the manor of Withering Heights. She desires to return home as soon as possible and demands to be released. At one point, Liston gets tired of her hysterics and agrees to let her go. Cathy still has to face a lot of ordeals, but she is freed. The escape becomes possible due to Linton’s naivety.
Detailed answer:
The female protagonist of the novel Wuthering Heights is Cathy. The woman gets deceived by Heathcliff and his son – Linton. She finds herself imprisoned in the manor of Wuthering Heights together with the housekeeper Nelly. Heathcliff is determined to get Cathy and Linton married. Cathy refuses. For that reason, Linton locks her in the manor. Even when she eventually settles for marriage with Linton, Heathcliff refuses to let her go.
On the fifth day of the imprisonment, Nelly finds out the rumors. They say that she and Cathy got lost in the mashes. She speaks with Linton. The man tells her that Cathy refuses to cooperate with him. He stresses that the release is impossible. It is at that time that Nelly accidentally finds out that Cathy’s father is dying. The housekeeper loses her hope of helping Cathy. In the end, she returns home to Thrushcross Grange alone.
When Nelly arrives at Thrushcross Grange, she is reluctant to let dying Edgar know the truth. Instead, she lies and assures the worried father that his daughter is safe and will soon return. Although Nelly favors a lie instead of truth, it serves as an advantage. In an attempt to rescue Cathy, the housekeeper sends servants to Wuthering Heights. Her efforts stay fruitless. When Edgar sends for the lawyer, Cathy appears in Thrushcross Grange. She finally manages to escape from the manor.
While being locked in the room, Cathy cries and weeps loudly. It annoys Linton:
‘I can’t stay with her,’ he answered crossly. ‘I’ll not stay by myself. She cries, so I can’t bear it. And she won’t give over, though I say I’ll call my father.”
Linton does not take Cathy’s intentions to return home seriously. He agrees to release her from the room. The man is convinced that Cathy will be satisfied if he lets her outside the bedroom. Linton allows her to walk around the house without supervision. To his surprise, Cathy takes advantage of his kindness, naivety, and blind confidence.
Cathy climbs out of her mother’s window and escapes through moors:
“She dared not try the doors lest the dogs should raise the alarm; she visited the empty chambers and examined their windows; and, luckily, lighting on her mother’s, she got easily out of its lattice, and on to the ground, by means of the fir-tree close by.”
Cathy returns to Thrushcross Grange and instantly goes to her dying father. Edgar dies peacefully, without any struggle. In the end, he believes that his daughter is happy in her marriage. Linton’s mistake helps Cathy successfully escape from the manor of Wuthering Heights. She is able to meet her father before his death, while Heathcliff’s revenge plan starts falling apart.
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