"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 in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Linton, the sister of Edgar Linton, the wife of Heathcliff and the mother of Linton Heathcliff.
Isabella falls in love with Heathcliff and marries him, but ends up being abused and mistreated at the hands of her husband as his act of revenge on her family.
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. She 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 life. She is always unaware of how cruel life is until she meets Heathcliff from the Heights.
Isabella immediately admires Heathcliff mainly because he looks charming and 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 marries Heathcliff for romance since she is under the shadow of Catherine's strong personality. She 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 wants the desire to be part of social status. But instead of living a wealthy married life like Catherine and Edgar, Isabella is used as a tool in her husband's revenge on the Lintons and Thrushcross Grange. She should have realized that Heathcliff never wanted to marry her for love but mainly as a trick so he could take out his vengeful acts on her family name. As a result, she ends up ruining her own life, which 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 chosen to go to London, where she hoped Heathcliff would not find her and ended up living a normal life with her son conceived from her disastrous marriage.
Storyline[]
Early Life at Thrushcross Grange[]
Isabella and her older brother, Edgar, grew up at Thrushcross Grange in Yorkshire. One night, inside the Grange’s parlour, 11-year-old Isabella screams at Edgar, who sits crying at the far end of the room, while a little dog yelps between them.[1] Unbeknownst to them, Heathcliff and Catherine, who live at Wuthering Heights located 4 miles away, are spying on them through their window and laughing at them. When Isabella and Edgar spot them, they rush out to alert their parents.
After the Lintons’ dog Skulker bites Catherine’s ankle when she tries to escape, a servant carries her inside with Heathcliff following him in. The servant, Robert, informs Mr. Linton that Skulker has caught a girl and a boy. Mr. Linton orders the servants and brings Heathcliff into the light to inspect him as Mrs. Linton and her children watch anxiously. The family is shocked by his filthy, dark appearance. Isabella thinks Heathcliff is the son of a fortune teller and wants her father to lock him in the cellar. Edgar recognizes Catherine from church, and Mrs. Linton is disgusted that Catherine enjoys wreaking havoc in the moors with him. She is further shocked that her children are being exposed to his native language. Mr. Linton recognizes Heathcliff as the gypsy orphan his late neighbour, Mr. Earnshaw, brought home from Liverpool several years ago.
Heathcliff is ordered to leave, and the Lintons treat Catherine warmly, with Isabella bringing her some cakes. In return, Catherine loves the attention the family gives her.
After five weeks, Catherine becomes a pampered, proper lady and returns home. At Christmas, the Lintons are invited to Wuthering Heights, and they arrive in their coach, wearing their thick winter cloaks.[2] Catherine and the Earnshaws greet them and bring them inside. But during the party, Heathcliff shows up to impress Catherine, and Hindley angrily demands his servant, Joseph, to lock Heathcliff in the garret until dinner is over. Edgar insults Heathcliff’s hair, and Heathcliff throws hot applesauce at Edgar’s face in retaliation. Hindley drags Heathcliff away, and Isabella starts crying and wants to go home. Nelly scrubs the applesauce off Edgar’s face, and Catherine scolds him for insulting Heathcliff. Edgar replies that he didn’t mean to and had promised his mother he would behave. Hindley returns, and the families have Christmas dinner, followed by a dance and listening to carols from the Gimmerton local band.
Before long, Catherine and Edgar fall in love, and they are married three years later. Her parents also passed away after they treated Catherine’s fever and fell ill from it. Meanwhile, Heathcliff suddenly disappears from Wuthering Heights shortly after Catherine confesses to Nelly about Edgar’s marriage proposal and hasn’t been heard from since.[3] After her new sister-in-law moves to Thrushcross Grange, Isabella gets along with her, and her brother’s marriage seems happy. But six months later, in September, Heathcliff returns as a polished, wealthy gentleman. Now living at the Grange as a servant, Nelly informs Catherine and Edgar of Heathcliff’s return and invites him in. Catherine is ecstatic to see Heathcliff again, but Edgar is displeased. Isabella is summoned into the parlour to bring Catherine, Edgar, and Heathcliff for tea, where Heathcliff reveals that Hindley has invited him to stay at Wuthering Heights.
Relationship with Heathcliff[]
By now, Isabella is 18 years old, and when Heathcliff visits the Grange often, she starts to fall in love with him, which concerns Edgar.[4] In addition, she becomes cross and wearisome, such as teasing Catherine. Everyone thinks she might be sick, but one day, she refuses breakfast and complains that Catherine, Edgar, and the servants neglect her. She even complains that she has become sick with a cold from an opened window, and the parlour fire has been deliberately burned out. But when Catherine summons the local doctor, Mr. Kenneth, Isabella then claims that she’s fine and is only unhappy from Catherine’s harshness toward her.
Catherine demands Isabella what she has done to her to make her unhappy. Isabella laments that when they went out for a walk in the moors, Catherine walked with Heathcliff and was left alone. She wants to be with Heathcliff, as she loves him like Edgar loves Catherine and hopes he’ll love her back. She scolds Catherine for loving nobody but herself and not allowing her to be with Heathcliff. Catherine begs Nelly to tell Isabella the truth about Heathcliff and warns her that Heathcliff is a rough, brutish man and a bad influence on her since she has known him longer than Isabella.
Isabella gets upset and chastises Catherine for being selfish. After Catherine leaves, Isabella starts crying and refuses to believe Heathcliff is a brutish, violent man. Nelly consoles and assures her that Catherine is right; Heathcliff isn’t the right man for him because of his nature and enigma of where he came from and how he became wealthy. Since Heathcliff has been gambling with Hindley and swindling his money, Nelly doubts that he will be the idealistic husband for her. Again, Isabella refuses to listen.
While Edgar is away attending business in town, Isabella and Catherine are alone in the library, and Heathcliff plans to visit. Both women are now at each other’s throats but sit in silence. Isabella is reading when she smiles and laughs after spotting Heathcliff walk past the window. The door opens, and she is about to flee when Catherine grabs and humiliates her by revealing to Heathcliff that she has a crush on him. Isabella begs him to let Catherine release her, but he says nothing and sits down. Isabella then whispers to Catherine to let her go, but Catherine refuses and tells Heathcliff that Isabella’s affection for him is stronger than her love for Edgar. Fed up with being humiliated, Isabella tries to loosen Catherine’s grip and then scratches her to free herself before running out of the room.
Three days later, Isabella feeds the pigeons in the Grange’s courtyard. She has not spoken to Catherine since she humiliated her in front of Heathcliff but has seemed to have gotten over it.[5] Heathcliff appears and says something to her that makes her embarrassed. She tries to flee, but he grabs her arm, and after quickly glancing around, he embraces her. Nelly witnesses this and is shocked by what she has seen. Isabella frees herself from Heathcliff’s grasp and runs into the garden. Later, after a confrontation between Catherine, Edgar, and Heathcliff, Isabella visits Edgar, where he tries to evoke her from Heathcliff’s affections but warns her that he will disown her if she continues to pursue Heathcliff.
For the next three days, Isabella mopes miserably in the park and garden, while Edgar confines himself in his study and Catherine locks herself in her room without food.[6] But one night, while Catherine becomes ill, Isabella secretly meets Heathcliff and runs off with him on horses after he hangs her dog, Fanny, from a tree at the Grange. The couple were later spotted having a horseshoe fixed at a local blacksmith.
Miserable Married Life at Wuthering Heights[]
The same night she ran off with Heathcliff, the couple arrived at Wuthering Heights around 6 o’clock. It is so dark that Joseph appears with a candle and takes the horses into the stables.[7] Isabella enters the kitchen and spots a young boy named Hareton, Catherine's nephew. She tries to be friendly and greet him, but he threatens to have the dog Throttler attack her. She returns to the threshold and waits for Heathcliff, but Joseph appears and asks her to accompany him. She is disgusted by his rudeness and demands him to bring her into the house, thinking he's deaf. Joseph refuses as he surveys her clothes and appearance.
Isabella walks past a wicket and comes across a side door. She knocks on it, hoping that a friendly servant will greet her. Instead, Hindley answers it and demands who she is. She introduces herself and has been brought here after marrying Heathcliff. They just returned, and she went into the kitchen, but Hareton, also Hindley's son, threatened the dog on her. Hindley mutters curses and threats to Heathcliff. She is about to leave when Hindley ushers her inside and locks the door. The room is dark and only lit by a large fireplace. Isabella asks for a maid to guide her to her bedroom, but Hindley doesn't answer her and paces around the room, ignoring that she's there. She notices he is so focused on himself that she doesn't talk to him.
A couple of hours pass, and Hindley is still pacing silently. Isabella listens for a female voice, but when she doesn't hear anything, she cries, catching Hindley's attention. She tearfully tells him she's exhausted and wants to go to bed. She begs for a female servant, but he tells her there are no female servants and she must look after herself. She then begs for a bedroom, and he says Joseph will show her to her room. Hindley suddenly stops her before she gets up to go and warns her to lock her door at night. She asks why, and he shows her a pistol with a knife attached to the barrel. He says he has always been standing at Heathcliff's door with the pistol, waiting for his chance to kill him. She views the pistol and takes it, which makes her fascinated. But he snatches it back jealously and tells her to look out for Heathcliff and have him be on his guard. She asks what Heathcliff has done to him that makes him hate him so much and even asks if he should just make him leave the house. Hindley confesses that Heathcliff has swindled him of his wealth and Hareton would become poor. He is determined to have his revenge on Heathcliff and get his money and house back.
Isabella notices that Hindley is losing his sanity, and he continues his pacing. She goes into the kitchen, where she finds Joseph standing over a large pan at the fire and a bowl of porridge on the table. When she realizes that Joseph is cooking porridge and she is also starving, she calls out that she will make supper and takes over for him. She also says that because she won't have a female servant, she won't act like a lady with them when she's hungry. However, she does a terrible job cooking the porridge, and Joseph criticizes her, saying Hareton won't be eating the porridge she's making.
At the table, the porridge is served, and Hareton drinks messily from the milk jug. Isabella wishes the milk is served in a cup, as she doesn't want to drink the contents contaminated from Hareton's spit. She decides she wants to eat alone and asks for a parlour. Joseph replies that they don't have one, and she would either have to eat with the master or with them. She then decides to eat upstairs and asks for a bedroom. She places her bowl on a basin and fetches a milk jug, and Joseph asks her to follow him. They stop at a room where the food sacks are kept, and Isabella again demands a bedroom. Joseph points to the garret, and she asks if Heathcliff sleeps in the garret. He replies that Heathcliff always keeps his room locked. She admires the house but begs to have a room to sleep in. He ignores her, and she finds a spacious room, but much of the furniture is damaged. Joseph says it is Hindley’s room, but when she asks again for a room, he tells her there is no bedroom.
Isabella becomes so frustrated that she throws her tray onto the floor and sits on the stairs, crying. Joseph mutters about her losing her temper before he leaves with the candle, leaving her alone in the darkness. Throttler appears, and she recognizes him from her dog Skulker’s litter, who was born at the Grange before her father gifted him to Hindley. Throttler seems to recognize her, too, as he sniffs her before eating the spilled porridge while she picks up broken pieces from her tray and cleans the milk spills with her pocket-handkerchief. She then hears Hindley approaching, and Throttler scuttles into a corner. She hides in a nearby room and hears Hindley yelling and beating the dog, followed by Throttler yelping and running away. Hindley then goes into his room, and Joseph appears to put Hareton to bed. She is hiding in Hareton’s bedroom, and when Joseph sees her, he tells her an empty room is available for her.
When Isabella finds her room, she collapses into a chair and falls asleep. The next day, she’s awakened by Heathcliff, who demands why she is in there. She replies that he stayed up too late and had the key to their room in his pocket, but he tells her they will not be sharing a room together. A month later, she writes to Edgar, revealing that she is married to Heathcliff and begs forgiveness. Edgar doesn’t reply to her, so a fortnight later, she writes a long letter to Nelly. She says that she misses Thrushcross Grange terribly and asks Nelly two questions: does she have any sympathy for human nature, especially for the habitants at Wuthering Heights, and is Heathcliff a man or a monster? She describes her miserable first night at Wuthering Heights and reveals that when Heathcliff discoversed about Catherine’s illness, he blames it on her instead of Edgar. She then concludes the letter by begging Nelly to see her immediately at the Heights.
Nelly arrives at Wuthering Heights, and Isabella meets her when she walks in.[8] Her hair is uncurled, and she hasn’t changed her dress from the previous night. She takes the letter, but Nelly refuses and takes her to the sideboard. Isabella quietly begs for the letter, and Heathcliff notices their conversation. He tells Nelly that if she has something for Isabella, she can give it to her as she won’t keep it a secret. Nelly informs Isabella that Edgar doesn’t have a letter for her or will visit her now, but he has sent her his token of love and wishes for happiness. However, he also plans to cut off ties with Wuthering Heights, leaving Isabella disappointed, and she sits by the window. Nelly informs Heathcliff that Catherine is recovering from her illness but will never be her old self again. Heathcliff urges her to arrange a meeting with Catherine, but Nelly refuses, as she doesn’t want to endure another quarrel with Edgar. Additionally, Heathcliff’s unexpected visit would be too much for the now fragile, sickly Catherine. Heathcliff argues that Catherine values Edgar more than him, but Isabella claims that Edgar and Catherine have always been fond of each other. Heathcliff asks her if she has been fond of Edgar after he disowned her, and she replies that he isn’t aware of what she’s going through, as she has a letter written to him about her marriage.
Nelly tells Heathcliff he should treat his wife kindly, as she has always been used to her noble lifestyle. Heathcliff says that she gave up her nobility to be with him, and it was her fault that she fell in love with him. He even admits that when he hanged her dog, she admired his brutality instead of being horrified by what he has done. He asks Isabella if she wants to leave him, and she says that she shouldn’t believe his lies, even if Heathcliff says it’s her decision if she does plan to leave him. She admitted that she attempted to leave him once but didn’t do it again. She makes Nelly promise not to inform Edgar or Catherine about their conversation and claims that Heathcliff only married her so he could dominate Edgar. Heathcliff says that he is her legal guardian and she must stay in his custody, even if their relationship becomes more estranged. He then throws Isabella out of the room, wanting to talk to Nelly alone.
A few days later, Catherine gives birth to a premature daughter and dies in childbirth. Isabella is forbidden from attending her sister-in-law’s funeral.[9] That same day, Hindley plans to go sober and attend his sister’s funeral but ends up drinking instead.[10] Heathcliff spends all his time at Thrushcross Grange. She avoids being near Joseph and Hareton, and following Catherine’s interment, she sits alone reading with Hindley sitting opposite her. It is almost midnight, and a heavy snowstorm rages outside. She hears Heathcliff returning from paying his final respects and tries to get inside the front door. Hindley says he has locked the door, and she asks him to keep him outside the whole night. He tells her to be quiet, as this is his possible chance to kill Heathcliff. She refuses to listen to him, and Hindley says he must do it to serve justice for her and Hareton. She runs to the window and warns Heathcliff not to come inside. He demands her to let him in, but she refuses and returns to her seat. Hindley swears and insults her for warning Heathcliff, and she wonders how it would be a blessing if Heathcliff were killed. The window is knocked over, and Heathcliff pokes his head inside, his hair and clothes covered in snow. He demands her to let him in by the kitchen door, and she warns him that Hindley is armed with a pistol and knife. She also tells him he should lie down and die at Catherine’s grave, as he doesn’t deserve to live after losing Catherine.
Hindley rushes to the window, but Heathcliff snatches his weapon from him. The pistol fires, and the knife cuts Hindley’s wrist. Heathcliff breaks the window with a rock, bursts inside, and attacks Hindley into unconsciousness while he holds Isabella’s hand to stop her from running off to fetch Joseph. Heathcliff then drags Hindley to the settle, where he tears off Hindley’s sleeve and roughly bandages his bleeding wrist. Isabella summons Joseph, and Heathcliff tells them that Hindley is insane and should be confined in an asylum. He orders Joseph to clean up the mess by shoving him to the floor and throwing a towel at him. Joseph recites a prayer, and Heathcliff makes Isabella help Joseph, too, as he plans to head to the Grange immediately. Joseph revives Hindley with some alcohol, and Heathcliff orders him to go to bed, and Isabella heads to her room, feeling relieved.
The next morning, Isabella enters the kitchen, where she finds a sickly Hindley sitting by the fire and Heathcliff leaning against the chimney. Isabella eats breakfast alone and gives Hindley some water. She asks him about his wounds, and he doesn’t remember Heathcliff attacking him last night and groans that he wishes to still have the strength to kill Heathcliff before sinking back in his chair. Isabella remarks Catherine would still be alive at the Grange if it hadn’t been for Heathcliff. She sees Heathcliff shedding tears, and she laughs at him. He orders her to leave, and she says that she still loves Catherine and that Hindley needs her attendance. She also insults him by saying that Catherine would have been different if she had married him and become brutish. Heathcliff angrily grabs a kitchen knife and throws it at her, leaving a bloody cut under her ear. Heathcliff and Hindley get into a fight as Isabella pulls out the knife and runs out of the kitchen. She passes Joseph, and trips over Hareton, who is torturing puppies by hanging them from a chair. She runs out of the house and dashes across the snowy banks until she reaches Thrushcross Grange.
Leaving Yorkshire[]
Isabella bursts inside the Grange, laughing hysterically. Nelly is in the parlour looking after Catherine’s newborn daughter, Cathy, and warns her not to be so excited, but Isabella says she can’t help it and knows Edgar is asleep. She enters the parlour, her clothes covered in snow and her face bruised and scratched, the blood from the wound under her ear frozen from the cold. She says she has run all the way from Wuthering Heights and is aching all over. She asks Nelly to summon a coach from Gimmerton and a servant to arrange her clothes. Nelly tells her to put on some dry clothes, and she can’t go to Gimmerton. Isabella insists she will either walk or ride to Gimmerton and won’t get changed as the fire is drying her wet clothes. While a coachman gets ready and a servant packs her clothes, Nelly binds Isabella’s wound and helps change her clothes.
Isabella sits in a chair on the hearth with a cup of tea. She asks Nelly to take Catherine’s baby away, as she remembers that she never reconciled with Catherine and won’t forgive herself for it. She grabs a fire poker, throws her wedding ring on the floor, smashes it and tosses the broken fragments into the fire. She isn’t sure if Heathcliff will find her, but knows she isn’t welcome at the Grange, but must return here. If Edgar wasn’t here, she would have washed in the kitchen, warmed herself, asked Nelly to bring her what she wanted, and departed somewhere far away from Heathcliff. She recalls how angry Heathcliff was and Hindley too weak to stand up against him. She even wished she saw Hindley fight back before she fled Wuthering Heights.
Nelly urges her not to talk quickly, or the handkerchief tied around her ear will be unfastened, and the wound will bleed again. She asks her to drink her tea and get over her laughter, as the Grange is too sombre and won’t handle her condition. Cathy starts crying, which irritates Isabella, and orders the baby to be taken away or she will leave. Nelly summons a servant, who takes the baby away and asks her what happened and where she will go now that she isn’t welcome to live at the Grange again. Isabella wishes she could stay to delight Edgar and help him look after his daughter, as the Grange is her home. But she knows Heathcliff won’t allow it and recalls that he hates her to the point when he gets annoyed if he sees or hears her. His hatred made her decide to escape him and wish he had killed himself. She laments how much she loved and doted on Heathcliff before discovering who he really was, and Catherine was perverted enough to love him. Nelly assures her he’s just a human being, and there are far more worse men than him.
Isabella retorts that he isn’t human, as he ruined her affectionate feelings and has no feelings for him until after his death. She starts to cry but dries her tears and decides she will tell Nelly how she escaped. After she finishes her story, she vows to never stay at a place like Wuthering Heights again. She finishes her tea, and Nelly puts on her bonnet and shawl. She refuses to stay for another hour and stands on a chair to kiss the portraits of Edgar and Catherine. After a final salute, Isabella boards her coach and leaves Yorkshire, never to return. She seeks refuge in London, and a few months after her escape, she gives birth to a son named Linton Heathcliff, who was born a sickly and weak child.
Isabella and her son live a decent, blissful life in London, and she starts a correspondence with Edgar. But when Linton is 13 years old, her health fails, and she writes to Edgar, asking him to come to London to be with her for the last time and retrieve her son. She also expects her son to live with his uncle as she dreads the idea of him living with his father.[11] After Edgar visits her, Isabella dies, and Edgar brings Linton back to Yorkshire.[12]
Personality/Appearance[]
Isabella is a beautiful, witty young woman who lived a happy, protective life in nobility at Thrushcross Grange. She was initially a foil to Catherine due to her delicate and pure nature in her early years, and she was never able to comprehend the real world outside her home. Like her brother, Edgar, she is also spoiled and pampered, but she becomes more stubborn when she grows into an adult. When she meets Heathcliff, she immediately falls in love with him, and her brother and sister-in-law constantly warn her that Heathcliff is a bad influence and that he won’t be a good match for her. But she refuses to listen to them and would rebel against them by claiming they are selfish and neglectful. She also fights with Catherine about Heathcliff’s affections and then refuses to speak to her after Catherine humiliates her in front of Heathcliff. She then shows defiance by running off with Heathcliff, followed by elopement.
After she marries Heathcliff, Isabella immediately regrets her marriage to him but knows that Edgar will never accept her back into his family, as he only knows her by her name, not his sister. She has always believed that Heathcliff loves her but is unaware that he’s only pretending to love her as revenge for Edgar and then claiming her inheritance. She experiences a distressful first night at Wuthering Heights when Joseph, Hareton and Hindley mistreat her, and she gets upset when she isn’t shown a bedroom or a female servant. However, she declares that she won’t act like a pampered, noble lady while living with brutish, lower-class citizens and displays independence when she cooks some supper. Her mistreatment only gets worse when Heathcliff blames her for Catherine’s illness, and she is prohibited from attending Catherine’s funeral. She instantly hates Heathcliff for his ruthless nature and believes that she and Catherine would have been alive and well if he never returned to their lives. But she hardly has the courage and strength to stand up against him, as her passiveness allows him to take advantage of her, and she can only hope that Nelly and Edgar will save her and forgive her for her mistakes.
She is described as having blonde hair, blue eyes and pale skin. She also wears aristocratic clothing.
Relationships[]
Edgar Linton[]
Isabella's older brother. She and her brother are 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 still pines after him. After she seeks refuge in London, she corresponds with him and sees him one more time as he arrives to retrieve her son before she passes away.
Heathcliff[]
Isabella's husband. She takes 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 leaving him and moving to London.
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 was overprotective of him from his father while they lived in London. Before her death, she has Edgar retrieve him and bring him back to Yorkshire.
Catherine Earnshaw[]
Isabella's sister-in-law. She has a decent relationship with Catherine and they even visit the Heights together. She wants to fit into the social status that her sister-in-law has and ignores Catherine's warnings to stay away from Heathcliff, especially when she is humiliated by revealing her crush to Heathcliff.
Nelly Dean[]
Isabella's servant. She only interacted with her 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 tries to protect her husband from Hindley's wrath.
Quotes/Relatable Quotes[]
"Frightful thing! Put him in the cellar, papa. He's exactly like the son of the fortune-teller that stole my tame pheasant. Isn't he, Edgar?" ― Chapter 6
Isabella criticizes Heathcliff when she sees him for the first time when he tries to escape Thrushcross Grange with Catherine.
"Is Mr Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil?" ― Chapter 13
Isabella asks Nelly in her letter if Heathcliff is a man or a monster.
"I'm not going to act the lady among you, for fear I should starve." ― Chapter 13
Isabella displays defiance and an unladylike manner towards the residents at Wuthering Heights who refuse to wait on her.
Portrayals[]
In the 1939 film adaptation, Isabella is portrayed by Geraldine Fitzgerald.
In the 1970 film adaptation, Isabella is portrayed by Hilary Heath.
In the 1978 TV miniseries, Isabella is portrayed by Caroline Langrishe.
In the 1992 film adaptation, Isabella is portrayed by Sophie Ward.
In the 1998 TV miniseries, Isabella is portrayed by Flora Montgomery.
In the 2009 TV miniseries, Isabella is portrayed by Rosalind Halstead.
In the 2011 film adaptation, Isabella is portrayed by Nichola Burley.