 In Chapter Seven, Nelly Dean asks of him “Who knows but your father was Emperor of China, and your mother an Indian queen?”

A silent and at first solitary child, Heathcliff is initially resented by both Catherine Earnshaw and her elder brother, Hindley; whilst Catherine later befriends and loves Heathcliff, Hindley continues to resent him, seeing him as an interloper who has stolen his father's affection.Upon Mr. Earnshaw's death and his inheritance of the estate, the spiteful Hindley proceeds to treat Heathcliff as little more than a servant boy and makes him work the fields, which compounds Heathcliff's lifelong anger and resentment.Catherine, however, remains close to her foster brother throughout her early years.