Correct, that would have been step one. From C.P. Sanger:
Thus, at Heathcliff’s death, the position seems to be that he has acquired all the personal property of both families: he is mortgagee in possession of Wuthering Heights, and is, though wrongfully, in possession of Thrushcross Grange, which he has let to Lockwood. He thinks of making a will but does not do so. What then happens on his death? He has no relations, so that his real property will escheat, and his personal property will go to the Crown as bona vacantia.
But then through something called “the equity of redemption,” the Crown would not insist on its rights, and would allow the living descendants to buy out the Crown’s claim. I read in another article that this would have been fairly easy if the family relationships were well-known and provable, which they certainly would have been in this case.
Equity of redemption applies primarily to Wuthering Heights. The way Heathcliff obtained Thrushcross Grange was not legal and Catherine would be able to re-claim it with the help of Mr. Green (final paragraphs of the very thorough analysis you posted! – I know very little about 18th century law myself ).
In an idyllic world, it would be good for Cathy to get the Grange back. I’m not sure if it would happen in the time that they lived in, with the laws as they were written. It’s unclear how much would have to be paid to “buy out the Crown’s claim” so she could have the Grange back.
Ah, here is shows that the law can be lenient and give the property to the people who SHOULD have it instead of having it escheat to the Crown. I suspect that this would allow Cathy to have the Grange.
You can actually see the outline of the 4th person if you look at the photo closely. It’s a shame he painted over himself but he may not like painting himself like many of us don’t like photos of ourselves.
Going back to Nelly, I could have sworn she pinched people more than once, but the only one I found was early on when she talks about pinching Heathcliff (who didn’t complain) before he and Cathy became besties.
I think one of the things that disturbed me, and maybe this was a common way to refer to small children, but she calls Heathcliff “it” before he had a name.
Yes, referring to a person as an “it” definitely is off-putting and lessons their “person-hood.” It’s what folks do if they want to distance themselves from others to mistreat them or worse.
The dehumanization of Heathcliff begins early. Here’s the passage:
They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room; and I had no more sense, so I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it might be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw’s door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber.
It’s like Mr. Earnshaw brought home a wolf cub rather than a child, as if Heathcliff is something less than human – which in fact, he turns out to be (given his future actions).
There is so much pinching, slapping, hitting and cuffing in this book that everyone must have been black and blue 24/7.
When we chose Wuthering Heights, I mentioned that my 50 year-old edition has pen and ink drawings by Merritt Sha Muscott. It must have been her 15 minutes of fame because I couldn’t find anything about her work on the internet. But I have enjoyed looking at the pictures and will share some as we go.
I can’t see any way Catherine & Heathcliff could have married unless as teens they were somehow able to acquire skills that people would pay for and thereby be tradespersons. Both were penniless and unskilled.
Wow, those illustrations in the link are something! I thought Merritt Sha Muscott’s depictions were creepy (for example, she has one called “Isabella’s dog, Fanny, is hung by Heathcliff,” which I was not planning to post) – but Fritz Eichenberg’s wood cuts really capture the ghastly elements of the story.
Lately I’ve been reframing how I view Wuthering Heights.
It’s not a love story in my mind, it’s how an innocent child is molded into a monster, bullied and beaten.
The child was plucked from the horrors of an urban slum in Liverpool, and should have found life easier in the pastoral countryside in the comforts of the upper class home at Wuthering Heights. Instead he endures mistreatment, beatings, and constant ridicule and abuse, by all except Mr Earnshaw and Catharine.
Looking at this book, just through the injustices of social class, and abuse, it’s Heathcliffs sad life of loneliness, rejection ,and eventually revenge. Concluding finally, when he is buried alongside Catharine on the desolate Moors.
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