Frances Earnshaw

"Mr. Hindley came home to the funeral; and - a thing that amazed us, and set the neighbours gossiping left and right - he brought a wife with him. What she was, and where she was born, he never informed us: probably, she had neither money nor name to recommend her, or he would scarcely have kept the union from his father."

- Chapter 6

Frances Earnshaw is a minor character in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. She is the wife of Hindley Earnshaw and the mother of Hareton Earnshaw.

A mysterious woman who Hindley fell in love with and married, Frances arrives at Wuthering Heights as a simpering woman but later dies after the birth of her only child.

Description
Like Heathcliff, Frances Earnshaw is also a mysterious character with unknown background origins. When she marries Hindley while he was away from his home, she loves him not just for romance but for someone to take pity and support her. She feared of death and had hoped that her husband would offer her a safe life. Her time in the novel is quickly short-lived when she finally died from her frail health shortly after her son Hareton was born.

Arrival at Wuthering Heights
While he was at college, Hindley met and fell in love with Frances, though it is unknown if she was a student like him. They soon married and she is brought back to his home at Wuthering Heights in Yorkshire. Frances tries to fit in her new life at the Heights, by trying to form a bond with her sister-in-law Catherine Earnshaw, but took a disliking towards Heathcliff. She would later become pregnant towards the end of the year.

Death
In June 1778, Frances gave birth to a son named Hareton Earnshaw. But childbirth took a serious toll on her frail health, and she died of consumption in her husband's arms a week after giving birth.

Personalities/Appearance
The only known personalities of Frances is that she is a silly and childish woman. She has hysteric fits and has a fear of death and dying, mainly of her failing health. She enjoys her new life at the Heights, and attempts to develop a bond with Catherine, such as kissing her, chattering and bringing presents to her. She took a dislike towards Heathcliff, and as mentioned in Catherine's diary, Hindley one time told Frances to pull the boy's hair.

She is thin and frail, with a fresh complexion and sparkling eyes. She is also physically weak and even has a tremendous cough.

Relationships
Hindley Earnshaw- Frances' husband. She secretly marries him while he was at college and is brought back to the Heights by him.

Catherine Earnshaw- Frances' sister-in-law. She tries to get along with her but had failed.

Heathcliff- Frances' supposed brother-in-law. Like her husband, Frances also resented Heathcliff and had even afflicted abuse to him sometimes.

Hareton Earnshaw- Frances' son. She dies of consumption sometime after she gave birth to him.