Edgar Linton Character Analysis in Wuthering Heights

Brother of Isabella, husband of Catherine, father of Cathy. Sweet, loving, and kind, Edgar is the picture of a country gentleman; he is very handsome and dotes upon both wife and daughter. He initially appears fragile, but, in fact, he is quite strong in a quiet, introspective way. He's not pure goodness, however: he despises Heathcliff and can be unforgiving.

Edgar Linton Quotes in Wuthering Heights

The Wuthering Heights quotes below are all either spoken by Edgar Linton or refer to Edgar Linton. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Gothic Literature and the Supernatural Theme Icon

The ledge, where I placed my candle, had a few mildewed books piled up in one corner; and it was covered with writing scratched on the paint. This writing, however, was nothing but a name repeated in all kinds of characters, large and small—Catherine Earnshaw, here and there varied to Catherine Heathcliff, and then again to Catherine Linton.

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Page Number and Citation: 21

Explanation and Analysis:

Doubtless Catherine marked the difference between her friends, as one came in and the other went out. The contrast resembled what you see in exchanging a bleak, hilly, coal country for a beautiful fertile valley; and his voice and greeting were as opposite as his aspect.

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Page Number and Citation: 79

Explanation and Analysis:

I've no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven; and if the wicked man in there had not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldn't have thought of it. It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and [Edgar's] is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.

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Page Number and Citation: 91

Explanation and Analysis:

Nelly, I see now, you think me a selfish wretch; but did it never strike you that if Heathcliff and I married we should be beggars? whereas, if I marry Linton, I can aid Heathcliff to rise, and place him out of my brother's power?

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Page Number and Citation: 93

Explanation and Analysis:

My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods; time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath—a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff!

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Page Number and Citation: 93

Explanation and Analysis:

Well, if I cannot keep Heathcliff for my friend—if Edgar will be mean and jealous, I'll try to break their hearts by breaking my own. That will be a prompt way of finishing all, when I am pushed to extremity!

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Page Number and Citation: 133

Explanation and Analysis:

My son is prospective owner of your place, and I should not wish him to die till I was certain of being his successor. Besides he's mine, and I want the triumph of seeing my descendant fairly lord of their estates: my child hiring their children to till their father's land for wages. That is the sole consideration which can make me endure the whelp: I despise him for himself, and hate him for the memories he revives!

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Page Number and Citation: 238

Explanation and Analysis:

I got the sexton, who was digging Linton's grave, to remove the earth off her coffin lid, and I opened it. I thought, once, I would have stayed there, when I saw her face again—it is hers yet—he had hard work to stir me; but he said it would change, if the air blew on it, and so I struck one side of the coffin loose, and covered it up—not Linton's side, damn him! I wish he'd been soldered in lead—and I bribed the sexton to pull it away, when I'm laid there, and slide mine out too. I'll have it made so, and then, by the time Linton gets to us, he'll not know which is which!"

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Page Number and Citation: 329

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Edgar Linton Character Timeline in Wuthering Heights

The timeline below shows where the character Edgar Linton appears in Wuthering Heights. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Cathy, and is the daughter of Catherine Earnshaw and the previous tenant of Thrushcross Grange, Edgar Linton. Additionally, she says that Hareton is the last of the Earnshaws, a very old... (full context)

...alone. He tells Nelly that he and Catherine had been at Thrushcross Grange, spying on Edgar and Isabella Linton. Heathcliff was impressed by their house, but he thought the Linton children... (full context)

..."like the other servants." Catherine kisses Heathcliff hello, but teases that he's dirty compared to Edgar. Heathcliff walks out, growling that he'll be as dirty as he likes. (full context)

Edgar and Isabella come to Wuthering Heights for Christmas. Heathcliff allows Nelly to make him presentable,... (full context)

Catherine, though, thinks that both Edgar and Hindley mistreated Heathcliff, and after dinner she slips away from the others to visit... (full context)

...and instead plans to spend the day with Catherine. But Catherine admits that she's invited Edgar and Isabella to come visit. Heathcliff comments on how much time Catherine has been spending... (full context)

Catherine then tells Nelly to leave the room, since she wants to be alone with Edgar. Nelly refuses—Hindley had told her to chaperone Catherine. Furious, Catherine slaps and pinches Nelly, and... (full context)

Nelly leaves Catherine and Edgar alone. When she does later enter to warn them that Hindley has come home, drunk... (full context)

...to Nelly in the kitchen. As Heathcliff listens, she tells Nelly that she has accepted Edgar's proposal of marriage, yet isn't sure she should have. Catherine describes a dream in which... (full context)

...and ashamed, Heathcliff leaves, and therefore doesn't hear Catherine say that, though she must marry Edgar, she loves Heathcliff more than anything and that nothing could interfere in their relationship, not... (full context)

Three years later, Heathcliff has still not returned, and Edgar and Catherine get married. Nelly leaves Hareton with Hindley and Joseph at Wuthering Heights and... (full context)

Then one evening Heathcliff appears at the Grange. Catherine is almost frantic with excitement. Edgar is less pleased. He suggests they receive Heathcliff in the kitchen, but Catherine insists that... (full context)

As Edgar, Heathcliff, and Catherine talk, Heathcliff says that he returned hoping only to catch a glimpse... (full context)

...her that she couldn't sleep from excitement. She says that she had praised Heathcliff to Edgar, but that Edgar had claimed to feel sick and even cried. Nelly advises Catherine to... (full context)

...rushes from the room. Heathcliff expresses disdain for Isabella, but notes that Isabella must be Edgar's heir. Nelly thinks Heathcliff is plotting something. (full context)

...Catherine confronts Heathcliff in the kitchen about his feelings for Isabella. She offers to convince Edgar to allow the marriage if Heathcliff truly loves Isabella. But Heathcliff answers that Catherine wronged... (full context)

Informed of the confrontation by Nelly, Edgar rushes in and orders Heathcliff to leave. Heathcliff refuses. Edgar moves to get the servants... (full context)

Once Heathcliff is gone, Edgar furiously demands that Catherine choose between him and Heathcliff. Catherine refuses to talk to him,... (full context)

...Nelly to give her food. Catherine believes that she is dying, and is distraught that Edgar has buried himself in his books instead of coming to her. (full context)

Edgar arrives and is appalled by Catherine's weak and frenzied condition. Nelly goes to get a... (full context)

That same night, Isabella runs off with Heathcliff. Edgar, furious, refuses to attempt to get Isabella to come back. Instead he says that Isabella... (full context)

For two months, Edgar nurses Catherine, and though she improves somewhat, she never fully recovers her health. During that... (full context)

Six weeks after she ran away with and married Heathcliff, Isabella writes to Edgar, begging for forgiveness. Edgar doesn't answer the letter. (full context)

...her experience has been awful. Heathcliff has told her that since he can't get to Edgar to punish him for Catherine's illness, he'll take it out on Isabella instead. Hindley, Hareton,... (full context)

Nelly goes to visit Wuthering Heights. Edgar, however, refuses Nelly's request to send with her a token of forgiveness to Isabella. (full context)

...condition and then asks Nelly to help him see her, adding that were he in Edgar's place he would never stop Catherine from seeing someone she wanted to see. (full context)

When Edgar goes to church four days later, Nelly delivers Heathcliff's letter to Catherine, who is so... (full context)

Just then Edgar arrives home from church. Heathcliff gets up to leave, but Catherine begs him to stay... (full context)

Edgar keeps watch over Catherine's body, day and night, while Heathcliff stays out in the garden... (full context)

After Heathcliff leaves, Nelly discovers that Heathcliff has replaced a lock of Edgar's hair that Catherine kept in her locket with his own hair. Nelly finds Edgar's lock... (full context)

The nearby villagers are surprised when Edgar doesn't bury Catherine in the Linton tomb, but instead by a wall in the corner... (full context)

...days after the funeral, Isabella comes to Thrushcross Grange at a time when she knows Edgar will be asleep in his room. Disheveled and laughing hysterically, Isabella tells Nelly, who is... (full context)

Cathy grows into a beautiful, smart, inquisitive, and willful thirteen-year-old. Edgar doesn't allow her to leave Thrushcross Grange unattended however, so she is entirely unaware of... (full context)

Soon after, though, Edgar learns that Isabella is dying and rushes off to London to bring Linton back to... (full context)

...cousin, who is the son of a gentleman, from London. Unhappy that the news of Edgar's trip to get Linton has been made public, Nelly hushes Cathy by saying that a... (full context)

...and Cathy leave. On the trip back to the Grange, Cathy agrees not to tell Edgar about her trip to Wuthering Heights, since the news might anger Edgar so much that... (full context)

Edgar and Linton arrive at the Grange. Linton resembles Edgar, but is weak and whiny. Cathy... (full context)

Edgar tells Nelly that he believes that if Linton is allowed to stay at Thrushcross Grange,... (full context)

The next day, Cathy confronts Edgar about why he has kept her relatives at Wuthering Heights a secret from her. Edgar... (full context)

That winter, Edgar falls ill and Nelly becomes Cathy's main companion. One day, as the two walk in... (full context)

As soon as Cathy finishes her story, Nelly goes to Edgar and tells him everything. Edgar forbids Cathy from ever again visiting Linton at Wuthering Heights,... (full context)

...also does not visit the Grange because he's too weak to make the trip. Eventually Edgar decides that his daughter's happiness is most important and he says that if she wishes... (full context)

As he falls further into illness, Edgar agrees to let Cathy visit Linton, though he asks that she meet him not at... (full context)

Edgar's health continues to fail over the following week. Though she doesn't want to leave her... (full context)

As they talk, Heathcliff arrives. He asks Nelly that Edgar's health, and also tells her privately that he worries that Linton will die before Edgar... (full context)

...and Cathy are married. Then he exults that he owns all of Cathy's inheritance, since Edgar is close to death. (full context)

Nelly rushes from Wuthering Heights back to Thrushcross Grange. She tells the dying Edgar that Cathy is safe and will soon be back at the Grange. She then sends... (full context)

...actually Cathy who has escaped Wuthering Heights with the help of Linton. Cathy goes to Edgar and spends a few moments with him before he dies. Edgar dies content, believing that... (full context)

...the house, and dismisses all of the servants but Nelly. He also tries to have Edgar buried in the chapel, but Nelly intervenes, knowing that Edgar's states that he wanted to... (full context)

After Edgar's funeral, Heathcliff comes to the Grange to bring Cathy back to Wuthering Heights. He says... (full context)

...stay with Cathy. Heathcliff doesn't answer, instead telling Nelly that while the sexton was digging Edgar's grave, Heathcliff bribed the man to dig up Catherine's grave and remove the wall of... (full context)

...leaves Wuthering Heights and walks through the moors to the churchyard where Heathcliff, Catherine, and Edgar are buried. He writes that though the local villagers say that they have seen Heathcliff's... (full context)

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Edgar Linton Character Analysis

Edgar Linton Quotes in Wuthering Heights

Edgar Linton Character Timeline in Wuthering Heights

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