Wuthering Heights Chapter 33 Summary

Summary

Nelly finds Catherine and Hareton in the garden clearing currant and gooseberry bushes to make room for flowers, upsetting the devoted Joseph. At breakfast Catherine continues her teasing familiarity with Hareton, provoking Heathcliff's ire; Joseph discovers the ripped-up shrubs and loudly denounces Catherine for robbing him of his cherished garden. Heathcliff scolds and threatens both youths, briefly seizing Catherine by the hair before relaxing and ordering Nelly to take her away. Hareton defends Heathcliff in words but privately refuses to permit Catherine to denigrate him, and the two young people quickly reconcile and resume a productive, affectionate teacher-pupil relationship.

That evening Heathcliff returns unexpectedly to find them studying together by the hearth. Their resemblance to Catherine Earnshaw (the elder) strikes him profoundly: Hareton resembles her particularly, and Catherine shares certain features. Heathcliff reveals to Nelly that their sight has triggered intense, conflicting feelings—he cannot bear Catherine's presence yet is haunted by the echoes of his past love in Hareton. He admits to a creeping numbness toward daily life and a single consuming wish that devours him. Though outwardly strong and sane, he confesses an inner torment and a looming change he cannot yet define, leaving Nelly (and the reader) uneasy about his mental state and intentions.

Key events

1. Catherine and Hareton clear Joseph's currant bushes to plant flowers.
2. Joseph discovers the damaged shrubs and loudly complains at breakfast.
3. Heathcliff angrily confronts Catherine, seizes her hair, then restrains himself.
4. Hareton refuses to let Catherine speak ill of Heathcliff and silences her.
5. Catherine and Hareton reconcile and work together as pupil and teacher.
6. Heathcliff returns, observes their likeness to Catherine Earnshaw, and confesses inner torment.

Analysis

This chapter advances interpersonal dynamics and deepens Heathcliff's psychological portrait. On the surface it records a domestic quarrel that highlights class tensions and property (Joseph's bushes) and the reckless, provocative nature of Catherine Linton. Hareton's loyalty—defending Heathcliff publicly while clinging to habit-based affection privately—illustrates the emotional chains forged by upbringing. Nelly functions as mediator and moral observer, steering the younger pair away from escalating conflict.

Structurally, the chapter juxtaposes small, comic incidents (garden devastation, breakfast awkwardness) with intense emotional disclosure, using a sudden shift in tone when Heathcliff confronts the youths and later when he reveals his inner agony by the hearth. The motif of resemblance (the younger pair's eyes and features recalling Catherine Earnshaw) acts as a symbol and a trigger: physical likeness reawakens buried memory and fuels Heathcliff's torment. Narrative technique remains first-person, with Nelly's intimate but restrained voice giving us both factual detail and interpretive guidance; her observations foreground moral complexity without omniscient certainty. Foreshadowing appears in Heathcliff's talk of an approaching 'strange change' and his admission that he is consumed by one wish—clauses that create anxiety about his future actions while keeping specifics withheld.

Important quotes

““It is well you are out of my reach,” he exclaimed. “What fiend possesses you to stare back at me, continually, with those infernal eyes? Down with them! and don’t remind me of your existence again. I thought I had cured you of laughing.””

HeathcliffHeathcliff lashes out at Catherine for staring and provoking memories he cannot bear; it displays his volatile cruelty.

““Five minutes ago Hareton seemed a personification of my youth, not a human being; I felt to him in such a variety of ways, that it would have been impossible to have accosted him rationally.””

HeathcliffHeathcliff explains to Nelly how Hareton's resemblance to Catherine Earnshaw overwhelms him with conflicting memories and emotions.

““I have a single wish, and my whole being and faculties are yearning to attain it. They have yearned towards it so long, and so unwaveringly, that I’m convinced it will be reached—and soon—because it has devoured my existence: I am swallowed up in the anticipation of its fulfilment.””

HeathcliffHeathcliff confesses his consuming desire and the way it has hollowed him, foreshadowing a decisive change while keeping its nature ambiguous.

Characters in Chapter 33

• Edgar Linton
• Zillah
• Mr. Lockwood
• Catherine Linton
• Hareton Earnshaw
• Linton Heathcliff
• Heathcliff
• Isabella Linton
• Nelly Dean
• Catherine Earnshaw
• Hindley Earnshaw
• Joseph
• Mr. Earnshaw