Classics Without All the Class discussion

A triangle is formed: Discuss ;)

Brontë certainly keeps it real doesn't she? The characters are amazing.

Also, I count two triangles.

I find these chapters much easier to read now that it's mostly Nelly Dean's narration rather than Lockwood's. Not only is she plainer-speaking than Lockwood, but she's a more sympathetic character, quite clear-sighted about the others. She sees their faults even while she's trying to help them, and she's the one really keeping the household in order (since Joseph is fairly useless.)

She's not even afraid of Hindley with his gun, who is a rather terrifying figure by this stage. In such a household there's not much chance of rearing gentle, considerate children. It's hard to say how far Heathcliff's ruthless nature is down to his surroundings and treatment. By chapter 10 he seems to Nelly to be the personification of evil, "like an evil beast waiting his time to spring and destroy", and even Catherine calls him a "fierce, pitiless, wolfish man." Nature or nurture? Most likely a combination of both.

Nelly is an excellent character. I'm wondering if the overall story arc is actually hers.

Yes, it's Nelly who decides how the story should be told and gives life to the characters. She's not a disinterested observer but she is a sensible one. The violent events gain force because she's so matter-of-fact about them; she's not given to exaggeration.

We're definitely getting a level of unreliable narrator, though I like Nelly: she's remembering details from decades ago, telling them to a stranger who's just moved in, and we're hearing it from his perspective. While Nelly was there for most of these events, it's still quite removed from the original happenings, which gives the story that much more of an air of the mysterious and ghostly.