Heights 7

Passage:

"I wanted something to happen which might have the effect of freeing both Wuthering Heights and the Grange of Mr. Heathcliff quietly; leaving us as we had been prior to his advent. His visits were continual nightmares to me; and, I suspected, to my master also. His abode at the Heights was an oppression past explaining. I felt that God had forsaken the stray sheep there to its own wicked wanderings, and an evil beast prowled between it and the fold, waiting his time to spring and destroy"

-This passage is significant because it sums up the effect that Heathcliff's presence has on everyone else. Though Nelly only mentions Heathcliff himself and Edgar, she leads the reader to think about Cathy and Miss Linton as well (through them). Previously, Heathcliff was unwanted because of his lack of significance. This passage shows how everything is now changed - Heathcliff is unwanted because he has this strong power over everyone.

-Bronte uses many devices to make this passage stand out to the reader and encourage them to find the significance within it. As a whole, it seems to be foreshadowing some ominous event. Twice in this chapter before this passage (which ends the chapter), Nelly speaks of Healthcliff as an omen. The use of "evil beast" and "waiting his time to spring and destroy" paired with the nightmare motif, helps to build up this idea that something horrible is about to happen. We are already aware of Cathy's death, and this connection of Heathcliff to this awful event makes it seem as though he is someway connected to it.