Looking back over some of their scenes together in Wuthering Heights, I’ve become increasingly fascinated by Nelly’s relationship with Heathcliff. They have very different values and have treated each other quite, uh, badly at times, but I wanted to focus here on the more weirdly positive side of their dynamic. Ever since childhood, Heathcliff seems to have had a certain fondness for and trust in Nelly as a confidante. And as much as her traditional values are at odds with his and Cathy’s, I think that Nelly is a lot more like Heathcliff than she’d like to admit. I’m guessing this has something to do with their uncomplaining attitudes; the two of them put up with considerable mistreatment from Hindley, and while Nelly would never seek revenge, she seems to share Heathcliff’s disdain for people who aren’t so stoic—young Edgar, for instance, and Linton especially. It’s fitting that Nelly was initially endeared to Heathcliff through his silent forbearance of the measles, given that both of them later have extremely callous things to say about Linton, who bears his own illness with constant complaints.
Nelly seems to be one of few people whom Heathcliff actually “likes,” in his way; it feels significant, at least, that she and Hareton are the ones he wants at his funeral. What toughness appeals to him in Hareton likely appeals to him in Nelly as well. But Nelly is also someone to whom Heathcliff can divulge his own vulnerabilities, and it seems that much of their relationship can be drawn back to and encapsulated by that occasion of Heathcliff’s childhood sickness. It’s hard to judge the truth of everything Nelly reports as narrator, but if we accept her claim that young Heathcliff “felt I did a good deal for him, and he hadn’t the wit to guess that I was compelled to do it,” this could inform a lot of his attitude towards her at other points. (I’m also feeling some echoes here of Hareton’s view of Heathcliff, but we won’t go off on that tangent.) He does refuse Nelly’s company sometimes, but at others, he seems as desirous of it as the sick boy needing her at his bedside. For all his detachment and valued self-sufficiency, perhaps Heathcliff still feels the vague need for a mother figure; Mrs. Earnshaw refused to fulfill this, and what became of his biological mother is a mystery. Nelly was there when Heathcliff was a vulnerable child, and there is something binding in that shared memory. There were a few moments, in rereading, where I could imagine Heathcliff as the unruly and flippant grown son to Nelly, as the chiding and eye-rolling mother—for instance, the interaction where Heathcliff asks Nelly if he used to look as stupid as Hareton when he was little. (Though, interestingly, both Heathcliff and Nelly have acted as parental figures to Hareton.)
For her own part, Nelly seems to feel an (often self-important) urge to mother, in her way, no matter how fruitless—or opposed to her own values—her efforts may be. Against her master’s orders, she stays up at night to watch for Cathy and Heathcliff’s return to the Heights and let them in. Nor is her aiding of Heathcliff restricted to his childhood; there seems something about him which thrusts Nelly into contradiction with herself throughout her life. On certain occasions she has gone against Edgar’s wishes or social convention in the interest of Heathcliff’s scandalous relationship with Cathy, despite her disapproval of it. Ultimately, she does attend his funeral and goes forward with his demand to be buried next to Cathy, “to the scandal of the whole neighborhood.” And perhaps this event was prefigured by Nelly’s discovering Heathcliff’s hair in the dead Cathy’s locket, and instead of throwing it out, simply intertwining it with Edgar’s.
There’s more could be said, but also more that I haven’t worked out, and I’ve rambled on enough already. For now, have the silly drawings. I’ve had a lot of fun with these, as usual.
Turns out he didn't need to beat Edgar's ass—just throwing applesauce at him was enough to send the house into chaos.
A minor detail in Cathy's dialogue, but one I really enjoy:
Somehow Nelly has said meaner things about this kid than Heathcliff has:
I feel bad for Hareton but I really enjoy this dynamic:
One of many moments I enjoy in the currant confrontation scene:
In my animal design scheme, Nelly is depicted as a cow. (Somehow that felt right for the name.) As a rural domestic, it was natural that she be some sort of farm animal; this also makes her a fitting housemate for Joseph the donkey, Wuthering Heights’ other longtime servant. Neither are designed as purebreds, and their species are larger and stronger than the other domestic herbivores I’ve featured, the sheep and rabbits representing the Lintons, who are much milder and not accustomed to manual labor. Cows, of course, are also associated with milk—lending well to Nelly’s role as nurse—and motherhood; as mentioned, Nelly acts at various points as mother figure to several characters, especially since Heathcliff, Hareton, and the Cathys lose their biological mothers at an early age.Â
Nelly’s fur is both brown and white, reflecting her close relationships with both the Earnshaw and Linton families. Her facial pattern has also ended up looking a bit like Cathy and Hindley’s father’s (design to be posted later); perhaps something of his strict parenting approach was passed on to her. I’ve lately been working on designs for the Earnshaw and Linton parents, and have a few other art pieces in the works as well. So, thanks for looking through, and stay tuned!
