Isabella Linton

"She was at that time a charming young lady of eighteen; infantile in manners, though possessed of keen wit, keen feelings, and a keen temper, too, if irritated."

- Chapter 10

Isabella Linton is a major character from Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Linton, the younger sister of Edgar Linton, the wife of Heathcliff and the mother of Linton Heathcliff.

She falls in love with the dark-haired gypsy and marries him, but ends up being abused and mistreated at the hands of her husband as his act of revenge on the Linton's.

Description
Isabella Linton begins life as a spoiled young girl who argues with some of the presents she and her brother receive such as puppies, and later becomes an abused woman who is overprotective of her family. She was protected from the brutalities of Wuthering Heights and lived a lavish, aristocratic life that was safe and blissful. She was always unaware of how cruel and evil life is until she meets Heathcliff from the Heights.

Isabella immediately takes a liking to Heathcliff mainly because he looks so charming to her and he is seen as a romantic hero. She even finds herself in a romanticized fantasy from her thoughts on Heathcliff. But had she listened to the warnings from her sister-in-law Catherine about him, she may have been self-aware of him.

Isabella married Heathcliff for romance, since she finds herself under the shadow of Catherine's strong personality and is seen as an ordinary dependent mistress of the household with little intentions of marriage. She marries Heathcliff because she also wants to achieve attention from men just like Catherine does, and she simply wants the desire to be part of social status. But instead of living a wealthy married life like Catherine and Edgar, Isabella is instead used as a tool in her husband's revenge on the Linton's and Thrushcross Grange. She should have realized that Heathcliff never wanted to marry her for love but mainly as a trick so he can take out his vengeful acts on her family name. She ends up ruining her own life that has an everlasting effect on her, resulting in her finally leaving her demented husband. Rather than returning to the Grange where she had lived her entire life, she had chose to go to London where she hopes Heathcliff would not find her there and ends up living a normal life with her son conceived from her disastrous marriage.

Early Life at Thrushcross Grange
Isabella was born in late 1765 in Yorkshire and raised at Thrushcross Grange, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Linton and the younger sister of Edgar.

When she was around 12 years old, she and her brother were given puppies as presents, and the two of them have an argument. They didn't know that a dark-haired girl and a Gipsy boy were watching them through the window, laughing at them. Isabella and Edgar quickly alert their parents after they spot them, and the injured girl named Catherine Earnshaw is taken into the family home. She and Isabella possibly start to get to know each other while she is with them for a few weeks.

After Catherine returns home to Wuthering Heights, Isabella and her parents and brother were invited to spend the Christmas holidays by the Earnshaw's at the Heights.

Relationship with Heathcliff
3 years later, Edgar marries Catherine and moves back to Thrushcross Grange. Isabella lives with the newlyweds, while at the same time, Heathcliff comes back after being absent for a few years. He visits Catherine frequently at the Grange, while Isabella and her sister-in-law see him at the Heights.

Over time, Isabella starts to have a crush on Heathcliff. But when she confesses it to Catherine, she warns her that he is a fiend and a bad influence on her. Isabella is humiliated when Catherine reveals her crush to Heathcliff the next time he comes over. She fights with her sister-in-law before fleeing from the room they were in, while Heathcliff expresses his disdain for Isabella but that he could use her to inherit the Grange one day. After Isabella was caught embracing Heathcliff in the kitchen by Catherine and Nelly, Heathcliff was confronted by Catherine on whenever he really loves Isabella. Following the confrontation, Edgar warns his sister that he would disown her if she still sees Heathcliff.

A few days later, Isabella runs off with Heathcliff from the Grange one night and the two of them elope. She was brought back to the Heights by her new husband, but finds herself being mistreated by Hareton, Hindley, Joseph and Heathcliff. Six weeks after eloping, Isabella sends a letter to Edgar, begging for his forgiveness, but he doesn't respond to her. She then writes a letter to Nelly, telling her where she now lives and describes her awful experience at the Heights. She says that she has been punished by Heathcliff for causing Catherine's illness instead of Edgar, and everyone else are being cruel to her. She also notes that Hindley has made plans to kill Heathcliff and take his money. Isabella concludes that she has made a terrible mistake, and it is too late for her to fix it. She begs Nelly to come over to the Heights, who she barely got to see when she arrives.

Leaving Yorkshire
After Catherine dies, Isabella is not invited to her sister-in-law's funeral. On the morning of the service, Hindley tries to be sober for the service, but ends up drinking heavily. While Heathcliff was away paying tribute to Catherine, Hindley locks him out of the house and reveals to Isabella he is going to kill him, and has even showed her the gun he would use to shoot him.

She was told by Hindley to help him kill her husband, but ends up warning Heathcliff about the plan when he comes back, though she doesn't let him into the house. She watches as Hindley attempts to shoot Heathcliff, with her husband breaking through the window and the two men fight. She goes to fetch Joseph after Hindley was beaten up. The next morning, she tells Hindley what has happened since he doesn't remember, and when she taunts to Heathcliff about Catherine, he throws a knife at her that hits behind her ear. After the men fight again, she flees the Heights and walks through the snow to the Grange. She was laughing hysterically when she arrives, and she came back home when she knew Edgar was asleep. Since her brother wouldn't let her stay, she still needs to see Nelly.

Nelly tends to her wounds while Isabella throws her wedding ring away in the fire. After explaining her whole story to Nelly, she leaves Yorkshire for good and settles in London. She was pregnant at the time, and months later, gave birth to a sickly boy named Linton Heathcliff. She raises her son alone.

Both she and Linton lived in London for 12 years until Isabella's health fails. Before she died, she is visited by Edgar for the final time and brings her son back to Yorkshire after her death.

Personality/Appearance
Isabella is a beautiful and fair young woman, whose beauty may had attracted Heathcliff to win her over but for his revenge. In addition, she starts off as innocent and pure, since she grew up in a lavish lifestyle without any knowledge of cruelty and abuse, as well as being spoiled with gifts and attention by her family.

She is also foolish and shallow, as she easily makes decisions she would regret later on. She only fell in love and married Heathcliff because she was charmed by his looks and unaware of his true nature. She ends up being abused by her husband and servants, and looked down by her brother. After fleeing from her husband at the Heights, she becomes protective of her only son and determined to stay away from her old life.

She is described as having blonde hair, blue eyes and pale skin, as well as wearing aristocratic clothing.

Relationships
Edgar Linton- Isabella's older brother. She and her brother were spoiled and loved by their parents, but when she falls in love with the wrong man, Edgar is cautious of her and threatens to disown her if she is still with him. She sees him one more time as he arrives to retrieve her son before she passed away.

Heathcliff- Isabella's husband. She took a romantic interest in him after she meets him, unaware that he only wants her as a tool of revenge. Despite warnings from her family, she marries him but ends up being mistreated and blamed for causing Catherine's failing health. She ends up making up her mind about being married to him and leaves him forever.

Linton Heathcliff- Isabella's son, who was conceived from her marriage to Heathcliff. Not much is known about their relationship; except that she may have loved her son unconditionally and overprotective of him from his father while they lived in London. Before her death, she has Edgar retrieve him and brought back to Yorkshire.

Catherine Earnshaw- Isabella's sister-in-law. She has a decent relationship with Catherine and even visit the Heights together. She wants to fit into the social status that her sister-in-law had, and ignored Catherine's warnings to stay away from Heathcliff, especially when she was humiliated by her revealing her crush to Heathcliff.

Nelly Dean- Isabella's servant. The only time she had interacted with her was when she talked about her leaving Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights while she stopped at Thrushcross Grange before leaving for London.

Hindley Earnshaw- Isabella's brother-in-law. He, along with his son Hareton and servant Joseph, mistreat Isabella when she lived at the Heights. Despite Hindley's ambition to kill Heathcliff, Isabella had tried to protect her husband from Hindley's wrath.