# Chapter XXXII explained — Wuthering Heights

> Chapter companion for Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

## What happens

Lockwood returns to Wuthering Heights and learns of Heathcliff's death from Nelly Dean. She recounts the final months: Catherine and Hareton's growing relationship, their lessons together, and the gradual softening of their enmity into affection. Joseph disapproves, but Nelly sees their union as the crown of her wishes.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Destruction

The destructive love of the past gives way to a redemptive, constructive love between Catherine and Hareton, symbolizing healing and hope.

### Family and Generational Conflict

Joseph's resistance to the union represents the old generation's clash with the new, as Catherine and Hareton overcome inherited enmity.

### Nature vs. Civilization

Catherine's civilizing influence on Hareton through reading and manners contrasts with the wild, untamed moors and Joseph's rustic traditionalism.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Lockwood

Returns to Wuthering Heights, hears the conclusion of Heathcliff's story, and observes the new harmony between Catherine and Hareton.

### Nelly Dean

Now living at Wuthering Heights, she narrates the events after Heathcliff's death and facilitates Catherine and Hareton's relationship.

### Catherine Linton

Grows restless after Heathcliff's death but gradually forms a bond with Hareton, teaching him to read and eventually becoming his friend and ally.

### Hareton Earnshaw

Learns to read under Catherine's tutelage, overcomes his sullenness, and develops a tender affection for her.

### Joseph

Disapproves of the growing intimacy between Catherine and Hareton, grumbling about the loss of proper order and the influence of 'witchcraft.'

### Heathcliff

Reported dead three months prior; his death is the catalyst for the changed atmosphere at Wuthering Heights.

## Key lines

> He had a 'queer' end, as she expressed it.

Nelly described Heathcliff's death as strange and unusual.

_Nelly's understated remark hints at the mysterious and supernatural circumstances surrounding Heathcliff's demise._

> The crown of all my wishes will be the union of those two. I shall envy no one on their wedding day: there won't be a happier woman than myself in England!

Nelly declares that her greatest desire is for Catherine and Hareton to marry, and she will be overjoyed when that day comes.

_Nelly's hopeful conclusion underscores the theme of reconciliation and the promise of a peaceful future._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/wuthering_heights_se/chapters/xxxii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/wuthering_heights_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/wuthering_heights_se/chapters