** spoiler alert ** 
 this seems to be one of those books people either really like or really dislike. The characters are not a pleasant lot and they make their lives complicated and tiresome. Though this has sometimes been called a love story, that is not the most apt description, IMO. I'm not sure what it is! 
 Heathcliff and Cathy - what a couple. Both are emotional, passionate, easy to anger, quick to take offense, aggressive and challenging. But both also have the capacity to love deeply ... to the point of obsession. One of the weaknesses of the story for me was that we really didn't have a good background for these characters. Sometimes in stories, it's not necessary to have a full background - we understand or can relate to the characters. But, these characters are unique and not easy to understand. Cathy is spoiled, yes, but there seems to be some other factors that drive her behavior. Her father seems to have a love-hate (or at least love-indifference) to her and, particularly, to her brother, who is largely displaced when Healthcliff arrives. Did these expressions of indifference or dislike by the father feed his children's bad behavior or result from their challenging temperaments? 
 Heathcliff seems to swing from neglected to spoiled to degraded to hostile to insane over the course of his life. He and Mr. Earnshaw have an odd relationship, as he supplants the son and thus incurs the son's anger. He obviously is intelligent and could have really turned his life into something wonderful were it not for his overriding ambition for vengeance against all those who wronged him. And, his obsessive love of Cathy. He left and remade himself, only to use those gifts and his wealth to seed unhappiness. 
 They love each other - in the most unhealthy and obsessive way. Perhaps had they gone away together as a young couple, they might have been happy in their own way (though probably always sniping at each other). But, they didn't have that opportunity - each thought the other abandoned him/her. These misunderstandings and their inability to control their tongues and emotions kept them apart, but they couldn't let go of each other. It's a unique relationship ... at least among adults. 
 Nearly all of the characters in the book engage in an unhealthy exercise of temper, suspicion, judgmental attitudes, violence and a need to "get even". They don't seem to realize that they really end up hurting themselves and those they love. It's a vicious cycle that seemed to spiral out of control for most of the book. The two main generations of Earnshaws, Lintons and Heathcliffs are so intertwined that it's hard to keep them all straight after a while. The younger generation reflect combinations of their parents' traits, though are less extreme - perhaps this is why at least two are able to break the cycle of violence, anger and aggression to find happiness. 
 If Middlemarch is about "real" and "grown up" relationships, Wuthering Heights is, to some extent, about people who indulge in melodramatic, indulgent and somewhat adolescent relationships - regardless of the age of the characters. They don't seem to quite grow and change - they stay wild 16 or 18 year olds, even in their 40s. The only ones who seem to change are young Catherine and Hareton, who manage to find peace and happiness. Yet, this seemed to happen so quickly that it seemed a bit unreal.