The Character of Nelly
Nelly Dean, also known as Ellen, is the principal narrator of Wuthering Heights. When Lockwood becomes ill and wishes to learn about the history of his landlord, Heathcliff, it is Nelly who relates the tale. At the start of the novel she is working as the housekeeper at Thrushcross Grange, but has spent much of her life living and working at Wuthering Heights, and has therefore witnessed first-hand much of the story she tells. This would seem to make her an ideal narrator, but can readers really trust everything she says?
Nelly’s Involvement in Events
As well as witnessing the characters and story she tells, Nelly is a part of it, and her actions often affect events. She is prone to interference, carrying letters between Linton and Cathy, and eventually telling Edgar of their relationship. She plays a crucial role in delivering a letter from Heathcliff to Catherine upon his return, and allows him to visit her against Edgar’s wishes.
Similarly, Nelly doesn’t always do as she is told, and hides information from other characters. She fails to tell Edgar – her master, after all, how ill his wife Catherine has become, and also neglects to inform him about Cathy and Linton’s growing relationship until it is well advanced.
Nelly’s Errors of Judgement
Nelly is not infallible. She doesn’t keep a close enough eye on Cathy, so that the child is able to sneak away and visit Wuthering Heights. She is also tricked by Heathcliff when she and Cathy travel to Wuthering Heights together, deceived into allowing the two of them to enter the house where they are then kept prisoner until Cathy has been forced to marry Linton.
Nelly’s Bias
As someone closely involved in the story, Nelly’s account is inevitably coloured by her own opinions about the characters. Having grown up with Heathcliff, Catherine and Hindley, her residual feelings of fondness and of family duty cause her to be more lenient towards them than their behaviour sometimes deserves.
Similarly, it is natural that she should remain fond of the children she has been instrumental in bringing up: she looked after Hareton for the first years of his life, and frequently refers to Cathy, whom she has acted as a mother towards for all of the child’s life, as her “angel” – although her behaviour often suggests she is anything but!
Nelly is just as quick to show her disapproval of those characters she dislikes: Linton Heathcliff merits particular scorn – “the worst-tempered bit of a sickly slip that ever struggled into his teens” (chapter 23). Nelly is unable to tell us of his marriage to Cathy, as she finds herself locked up safely out the way while it is taking place.
So while readers may enjoy Nelly’s lively and gossipy narrative style, they would perhaps be best advised to take it with a pinch of salt.
