Wuthering Heights Family Tree: Explaining The Complex Relationships In Brontë's Novel

Those familiar with Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights—one of cinema's most adapted IPs to date—already know about the 1847 novel's complicated cast of characters, centered around two estates intertwined through blood, inheritance, and revenge. For others, however, the subject can come off as somewhat intimidating—especially to those of us less versed with the period dramas of 18th and 19th-century England.

Moreover, distinguishing the members of Earnshaws and the Lintons—the two families who make up the Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange estates, respectively—is one of the first hurdles audiences encounter in a narrative rife with repeated names. Therefore, rather than walking into Emerald Fennell's 2026 adaptation blind, you can use this guide to the novel's intricate family tree.

Wuthering Heights' Earnshaw & Linton Families Explained

Though the recently released Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi adaptation has come under fire for cutting several characters from Brontë's text, nevertheless, it's important to cover all bases heading into the film to know what to expect (and what's missing).

We begin with the Earnshaws, composed initially of Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw and their two children, Hindley and Catherine. Following a trip to Liverpool, Mr. Earnshaw takes in Heathcliff, an orphan who quarrels with Hindley and grows close to Catherine. Despite their bond, Catherine marries Edgar Linton of the neighboring Thrushcross Grange, welcoming a daughter they name Catherine "Cathy" Linton.

Meanwhile, after disappearing for a few years, Heathcliff returns to the estate and elopes with Edgar's sister Isabella, eventually producing a son named Linton Heathcliff. However, through circumstances marked by greed, bitterness, and death, the stability of the two families is threatened as old grudges and heartbreak spill over into the next generation of Earnshaws and Lintons.

Other Important Characters In Wuthering Heights' Story

Apart from the main body of characters, other important figures in Wuthering Heights include Hindley's son, Hareton Earnshaw, the rightful heir to the estate, who is neglected by Heathcliff on account of the abuse Heathcliff received from his father.

Moreover, one likewise cannot forget the novel's ultimate narrator, Nelly Dean, whose role as longtime housekeeper bears witness to the inner conflicts at the heart of Wuthering Heights.

There are other characters, of course, such as Hindley's wife, Frances, and the story's frame narrator, Mr. Lockwood, but the crux of the novel lies in these primary figures, whose vengeance, passion, and selfishness fuel the tragedy that unfolds in the tender, yellowing pages of Wuthering Heights.

Release Date February 13, 2026

Runtime 136 Minutes

Director Emerald Fennell

Writers Emerald Fennell, Emily Brontë

Producers Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Emerald Fennell, Josey McNamara