Mr. Lockwood

"I knew, through my experience, that I was tolerably attractive."

- Chapter 2

Mr. Lockwood is a major character and main narrator in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights.

He stays as a tenant at Thrushcross Grange and becomes interested in his demented landlord and the gloomy house he lived in. He also tells the whole story in his diary that he had written; therefore his diary entries is the novel itself.

Description
Mr. Lockwood is an ordinary man who finds himself learning and narrating the most sombre story he could hear in his lifetime. It's evident that Lockwood himself may be demented as well since very little is known of his background prior to the novel's main events. He tends to not reveal the reader any details of his past or personal life and stay focused on the storyline instead.

He spent most of his life living in a large, sociable community, but upon arriving in the countryside, he yearns for curiosity about where he is and what the people there are like. But in doing so, they gave him such a rude welcoming, and it even makes Lockwood wanting to know more about them and why they weren't so nice to him. He is also no stranger to violence, as he had endured being nearly hurt or even killed on some occasions; such as being attacked by Heathcliff's dogs or having ice splashed down his neck. He also receives the abuse mentally, including being forced to sleep in Catherine Earnshaw's haunted bedchamber.

Lockwood can only tell the story by the way he sees, hears and thinks on the surface. But even if he is an unreliable storyteller, he had at least arrived at Wuthering Heights at the right time to witness its tragic tale that he would record.

Arrival at Wuthering Heights
Lockwood is a gentleman living in the city of London. He had been in love with a woman he had admired, but the romance failed after he hurt the woman for not showing his passions and feelings. He decided to seek solitude by leaving London and escaping into the countryside. He travels to Yorkshire, and took up rent at a stately home called Thrushcross Grange.

Shortly after he arrives, as documented in his diary, Lockwood goes over to Wuthering Heights to meet his landlord, named Mr. Heathcliff, who doesn't seem to be very kind towards him. Lockwood describes him as a noble "dark-haired gypsy", and also notices carvings of shrubs and mythical creatures carved on the front door, and above the words "1500" and "Hareton Earnshaw", written on it.

After entering the house, he sees a mother dog and her puppies. He tries to pet her, but she growls loudly at him, with Mr. Heathcliff warning him she's not meant to be a pet. Lockwood enters the kitchen, and a bunch of dogs appear and begin to attack him, such as nipping on his heels and pulling off his coat. The servants Joseph and Zillah save him from the attack, and he becomes angry of being attacked but has a big interest in his landlord. He was given some wine to recover and he and Mr. Heathcliff discuss about the rental property. Lockwood leaves, but vows that he will return later on.

The next day, on a snowy afternoon, Lockwood returns to the Heights, just like he had promised. The gate is locked so he climbs over it and knocks on the front door. When no one answers, Joseph tells him that Heathcliff is not home. Lockwood finds himself standing in the snow until a rough young man named Hareton Earnshaw lets him inside and leads him through the kitchen and into the sitting room. The tenant meets a haughty, pretty young woman sitting by the fire. He assumes that she is Heathcliff's wife, and tries to talk with her but she rudely responds. Soon afterwards, Heathcliff arrives and scolds him for arriving. Lockwood was corrected by his landlord that the young man is his nephew, who Lockwood thought was his son, and the woman his daughter-in-law.

Lockwood is invited to dinner by Heathcliff, where the meal is silent and strange. Everyone is rude to the tenant, even Mr. Heathcliff. A blizzard appears and no one offers to take Lockwood home, so he takes a lantern and decides to leave himself, promising to come back the next day. But before he could leave, Joseph sends a pack of dogs on top of him for stealing the lantern. Lockwood is pinned down by the dogs while Heathcliff and Hareton look on gleefully. He yells and suffers from a nosebleed. After the dogs were pulled off of him, Lockwood was forced to spend the night at the Heights. Zillah escorts him to his room to stay in.

The Ghost
Lockwood is taken to a room that is forbidden for anyone to stay in by Heathcliff. He discovers three names had been carved on the bed cabinet, which says the names Catherine repeatedly but with different surnames that included Earnshaw, Linton and Heathcliff. He also discovers a 25-year-old diary that belonged to a woman named Catherine Earnshaw. He reads one entry where around the time after her father's death, the writer Catherine describes on how her brother Hindley made her and Heathcliff listen to Joseph's boring sermons, and that Heathcliff was being mistreated by Hindley. Lockwood could see that Hindley hated Heathcliff but both Catherine and Heathcliff were close.

Lockwood falls asleep and has two nightmares. He first dream was when Joseph scolds him for not having a pilgrim's staff but gives him a weapon instead. They pass the Gimmerton chapel where it was run off and without a clergyman in real life. But in his dream, Lockwood sees a clergyman named Jabez Branderham preaching to a full congregation. While in the chapel, he is bored by the sermon and he struggles to keep himself awake, but suddenly had the urge to denounce the clergyman and tells the congregation to go after him. But he ends up being attacked by the crowd instead and he wrestles Joseph for his weapon. Everyone starts fighting with each other and the clergyman taps loudly on the pulpit boards. The sound wakes Lockwood up.

In the second nightmare, he is bothered by a fir tree branch tapping against the window. He breaks the window to stop the noise, but instead of a branch, he was grabbed by a cold, ghostly hand. The ghost cries, "Let me in! Let me in!", and when he asks who it was, the ghost says she is Catherine Linton and she had been locked out of Wuthering Heights for 20 years. He struggles to be free from the ghost's grasp, and piles some books against the window. But the books were knocked over and he wakes up screaming.

Heathcliff comes running into the room. He is outraged that his guest is in his room that is forbidden, but Lockwood tells him about the ghost and how it deserves to be punished. He also tells him that he had read Catherine's diary and how they had been good friends in their youth. Heathcliff becomes passionate and calls out for the ghost to come back in. The next morning, Lockwood refuses to have breakfast and Heathcliff escorts him back to Thrushcross Grange, but leaves him in the snow halfway. He walks through the snowdrifts to get back home, and when he arrives at the Grange, he is wet and exhausted. The servants are relived that he is safe and thought he had died during the snowstorm. Irritated and not in the mood for company, Lockwood locks himself in the study.

Lockwood and Heathcliff's Story: Part 1
The next day, Lockwood finds himself lonely and wanting some company. He meets the housekeeper, Nelly Dean, who brings him a tray of supper and while he eats, he bids her to sit with him and asks her about the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights and about the young woman he saw there. He discovers that she has been a servant at the Grange for 18 years, and explains about the two young people living at the Heights. The woman's name is Catherine Linton, the daughter of Nelly's late master Mr. Linton and the widow of Heathcliff's son. Lockwood is shocked for a moment when he heard that name, but assures himself it was not the ghost he saw in his dream. He also learns that Hareton Earnshaw is not related to Heathcliff but is the nephew of the late Mrs. Linton and Cathy's cousin. The young Linton girl's husband was also her cousin; one was on her mother's side and the other on the father's, and Heathcliff married Mr. Linton's sister.

Lockwood asks her about the name 'Earnshaw' carved above the front door and if they are an old family. Nelly says they are and Hareton is the last member of the Earnshaw family, while Cathy is the last of the Linton's. When asked if he has been to the Heights, Lockwood replies that the Linton girl is fine but unhappy and he finds Heathcliff to be a rough man. He asks Nelly if she knows about Heathcliff's story and would talk about it to him for about an hour since he wouldn't be able to go to bed yet. Nelly agrees and tells him he is cold and should warm himself up. Lockwood sits by the fire, feeling excited but nervous. She comes back with a sewing set and proceeds to narrate the first of Heathcliff's story to him.

Nelly had grown up with the Earnshaw family at their home Wuthering Heights. Mr. Earnshaw departs on a business trip to Liverpool and brings home a gypsy orphan he discovered while he was away. He takes him into the family and names him Heathcliff. Mr. Earnshaw's young daughter, Catherine, becomes close friends with Heathcliff while her brother Hindley is jealous and hates him. Both Heathcliff and Catherine grew up to be inseparable soulmates who loved playing out on the moors. After Mr. Earnshaw's death a few years later, Hindley inherits the house and mistreats Heathcliff such as making him a poor servant.

One night, Heathcliff returns to the Heights without Catherine, and explains to Nelly he and Catherine spied on the Linton family but when they were caught, they tried to escape but Catherine was bitten by the Linton's guard dog. She was taken into the house and Heathcliff was forced to leave without her. 5 weeks later, Catherine returns as a pampered, noble lady. The Linton's come over for a Christmas party, and after Heathcliff tries to fight the Linton's son Edgar, Hindley has him locked up as punishment. After he is released, Heathcliff swears revenge on Hindley.

Nelly pauses her story and says it is getting late. Lockwood would rather sleep late the next day and he urges her to keep going. She continues where she left off.

Lockwood and Heathcliff's Story: Part 2
The following summer, Hindley's wife Frances gave birth to Hareton but the mother died shortly afterwards from consumption. Nelly looks after the infant, Hindley becomes a heavy drinker, and Catherine and Edgar fall in love. After Catherine accepts a marriage proposal from him, she confesses to Nelly she can't marry Heathcliff due to his degraded low status but believes they are the same person with connected spirits. When Heathcliff hears about this, he runs away and disappears from the Heights. Catherine and Edgar got married 3 years later.

For 4 weeks afterwards, Lockwood falls ill following his traumatic experience at the Heights. He stays confined in bed and during that time, Heathcliff comes over to visit him and receives a pair of game birds from him. He asks Nelly to continue the rest of the story, even wondering how Heathcliff earned his fortune. Nelly doesn't know but goes on with her narrative.

Months later, Heathcliff returns as a wealthy, proper gentleman. He stays at the Heights and offering large sums of money to Hindley to support his gambling addiction as his plan of revenge, while Catherine and her sister-in-law Isabella visit the neighbouring house. However, Isabella has fallen in love with Heathcliff, while he would pretend to return his affections to her as revenge. Despite Catherine trying to warn her to stay away from him, they were caught embracing and led to a heated confrontation between Heathcliff, Catherine and Edgar, with Mrs. Linton given the choose to pick which man she loves the most. She confines herself and her health starts to fail, while she is also pregnant.

Heathcliff and Isabella elope, but he mistreats her after bringing her to the Heights, even blaming her for causing Catherine's illness instead of Edgar. After he finds out Catherine is dying, Nelly helps Heathcliff go over to the Grange, where he reunites with his former soulmate but cannot forgive the pain and misery she had caused herself. Catherine later dies giving birth to Cathy Linton, who Lockwood had met at the Heights earlier. Heathcliff becomes insane with grief and demands Catherine to possess his body and drive him mad. Isabella leaves her husband and flees to London where she gives birth to a son named Linton Heathcliff, Hindley dies broke months later and Heathcliff claims the Heights, even taking in Hareton as his servant.

13 years later, Cathy grows into a lively, pretty young girl and Nelly was assigned to be her guardian. As Edgar travels to London to retrieve his nephew from his dying sister, Cathy explores the moors and comes across the Heights where she meets the inhabitants, including her cousin Hareton and Heathcliff. Linton Heathcliff, a sickly, weak boy, arrives at Yorkshire and briefly stayed at the Grange before he moves to the Heights to be under his father's custody. A few years later, Cathy reunites with her cousin Linton and starts a secret correspondence with him, until Nelly discovers it and has her destroy the letters. Heathcliff later scolds Cathy for stopping corresponding with his son and she must visit him frequently. At one point, Nelly pauses her narrative and Lockwood is told that most of the story's events she is describing just took place last year during the past winter and is encouraged by her to start a romantic relationship with Cathy. He agrees on that idea, although it is unlikely she will return her feelings to him and since the moors are not his home, he must leave as soon as possible. He again urges her to narrate where she left off.

What Nelly and Cathy didn't know is that Linton is being forced by his father to court his cousin and wants him to marry her for him to claim inheritance of the Grange. Edgar's health fails the following year and is dying. Cathy and Nelly are tricked by Heathcliff to come with him to the Heights, only for them to be held hostage until Cathy marries Linton. She eventually does marry her cousin and manages to go back to the Grange to be with her father on his deathbed. Nelly tells Lockwood that Edgar is buried in the same graveyard with his wife Catherine Linton.

Now Heathcliff has ownership of both houses, he has Cathy live with him as a servant and Linton passes away shortly after marrying her. Lockwood learns that Nelly hasn't spoke to Cathy since she lived at the Heights, and 6 weeks have passed since he arrived at Yorkshire. He writes in his diary that Nelly has finished her story and decides to go to Wuthering Heights to inform his landlord he is ending his tenancy and return home to London to escape from the strange inhabitants of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.

Ending Tenancy
Lockwood goes to the Heights with a letter he was to give to Cathy by Nelly. He waits outside the gate until Hareton lets him in. He enters the kitchen where he sees Cathy cooking, and didn't know he was there. He notices how much she has changed following his previous visit to the Heights and she looked miserable, but notes that while she wasn't an angel, she was still beautiful.

In the parlour, Lockwood places the note onto Cathy's lap. Hareton takes the note but then gives it back to her. He explains the letter is from Nelly, and while Cathy ignores him, he still urges her to talk to him for Nelly would need a response. When asked by the girl if Nelly likes him, he replies that he does. After Hareton and Cathy have an argument, Lockwood finds out that Heathcliff had confiscated all of her books and Hareton had attempted to read them and Cathy teased his illiteracy, which ended up him burning the books. Lockwood even thinks on how Hareton behaves towards his cousin with his anger.

Heathcliff appears and he notices how Hareton has a striking resemblance to Catherine Earnshaw. The men sit down and talk again about the rental property, with Lockwood promising he would pay off the rest of his tenancy later on. At dinner, Lockwood notices Cathy did not join the table, while he is only with Heathcliff and Hareton and the meal is quiet. He wanted to catch a final glimpse at Cathy but his landlord escorts him outside.

As he leaves, he muses on how it would have been like a fairy tale if Cathy really did fall in love with him and wanted to live in a better place with him.

Return to Wuthering Heights
6 months later, in another journal entry, Lockwood is back in Yorkshire in the town of Gimmerton. He first goes to the Grange, where a servant he doesn't know answers the door and is the new housekeeper. He finds out that Nelly has moved to the Heights and doesn't ask any more questions to the servant since he startled her with his unexpected arrival.

Lockwood goes to the Heights to pay off the rest of his rent, where the gate is locked. He eavesdrops Hareton and Cathy in the kitchen, and hears her teaching her cousin how to read, kissing him when he got it right and slapping him when he made a mistake. Lockwood is jealous of how beautiful she really is.

After going inside, he meets Nelly. Lockwood is told he would either have to pay his rent either to Cathy or to Nelly. He is confused at first, and finds out from Nelly that Heathcliff has died 3 months ago. He listens as she explained that 2 weeks after his departure, Zillah left the Heights and Nelly took her place. As time went by, Hareton and Cathy warm up with each other and they fall in love. Heathcliff saw how the couple resembled a lot like his soulmate and no longer wants to take revenge on them. Before long, his behaviour turns bizarre; such as refusing to eat, wandering around the moors and murmuring Catherine's name. Nelly later finds him dead in his room, laid to rest in the same graveyard with Catherine and says there have been reports of Heathcliff and Catherine's ghosts spotted on the moors.

Lockwood finds out that Hareton and Cathy are to be married on New Year's Day and move back to the Grange, while Joseph would stay back at the Heights. He even thinks that ghosts could inhabit the house, but Nelly doesn't believe it. After he sees the young couple return, Lockwood knew he must take the opportunity to leave. He hurries past the kitchen and even tosses a golden coin to Joseph on his way out. He walks across the moors and appears at the churchyard, where he sees three tombstones on a slope next to the moors: Catherine's grave was hidden underneath the ground, Edgar's was covered in moss and Heathcliff's still visible. He writes that despite the villagers seeing the spirits of Heathcliff and Catherine on the moors, he wonders how anyone can "imagine the unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth."

Personality/Appearance
Mr. Lockwood is typically a strange man who doesn’t participate in most of the novel’s action. Very little is known about his background prior to his presence at Wuthering Heights, since he is mostly reclusive who doesn’t talk about his life personally, such as his early years or relationships, although he brought up the time he had a failed romance with a woman. He doesn’t understand a lot about Yorkshire or the inhabitants he sees, even viewing them sarcastically. Even if he sees them in a negative way, he afterwards blames himself for the way he was to them.

He is also curious, as he is willing to learn personal details of his unwelcoming host and those who are associated with him. When Nelly narrates her story of Heathcliff and Catherine, Lockwood follows along closely, but when she stops, he insists she keeps going. But his curiosity leads him to be fearful, as he finds himself in ominous and unsettling situations, such as being attacked by Heathcliff’s dogs or even seeing Catherine’s ghost. His fears make him irritated afterwards, and even if he is a coward, he constantly ponders of the two families and the strange, serene wilderness of the moors.