Wuthering Heights Family Trees
from Sara Selby
Wuthering Heights can prove difficult for the first-time reader. Because names are repeated for characters in different generations, confusion is understandable. A pedigree developed by Charles Percy Sanger in his essay “The Structure of Wuthering Heights” (which is reprinted on pages 331-336 in the Norton Critical Edition [3rd edition] of the novel) simplifies reading. Using the information provided by Sanger, the following charts have been compiled and are offered here:
The Earnshaw Line of Descent: http://excellence-in-literature.com/british-lit/e4-resources/earnshaw-line-of-descent-in-wuthering-heights
The Linton Line of Descent: http://excellence-in-literature.com/british-lit/e4-resources/linton-line-of-descent-in-wuthering-heights
Catherine Linton’s Lineage: http://excellence-in-literature.com/british-lit/e4-resources/catherine-linton-lineage-in-wuthering-heights
Linton Heathcliff’s Lineage: http://excellence-in-literature.com/british-lit/e4-resources/linton-heathcliff-lineage-in-wuthering-heights
Hareton Earnshaw’s Lineage: http://excellence-in-literature.com/british-lit/e4-resources/hareton-earnshaw-lineage-in-wuthering-heights
Sara Selby is currently the campus director of the Waycross campus of South Georgia State College and was a professor of English at Waycross College (GA). She holds a BA and MA in English from the University of Mississippi, where she also completed additional graduate studies in English. She is the Deep South regional representative for the American Chapters of the Brontë Society and publishes a quarterly newsletter for regional members.
Editor’s Note: Many thanks to Sara Selby for graciously granting permission for us to reproduce these charts, which were originally published on her website: http://www.waycross.edu/faculty/selby/1102/trees.html
These materials are reprinted here for educational purposes, with the permission of the author who retains copyright to these works.
