Due to the novel's tumultuous passion, the book received a mixture of responses. Eventually, those who were scandalized by the book's inappropriateness won out, and Emily Bronte's only novel was buried in literary obscurity. Decades later, when Wuthering Heights was revived by the interest of modern scholars, the unique literary devices used in the work began to earn more attention than its soap opera-like tale of obsession and loss.
Although the second part of the novel--the part that chiefly concerns Catherine and Heathcliff's respective children--is frequently overlooked in retellings and screen adaptations, many contemporary critics believe it holds the key to Emily Bronte’s real literary genius. The first generation of children--Catherine, her brother Hindley, and the gypsy child Heathcliff--had led miserable lives, and both Catherine and Hindley died young as payment for their misguided passions. As a result of Heathcliff's scheming prior to Hindley's death, he has inherited the Earnshaw home, as well as the care of Hindley's son, Hareton. After the death of Heathcliff's estranged wife--Catherine’s husband’s sister, his own son, Linton, comes to live with him as well, setting in motion his final push for revenge.
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