In Wuthering Heights, volume 1, chapter 11, how does the specific passage reflect attitudes towards Linton and Heathcliff?

It is possible to argue that this passage presents Heathcliff in a very sympathetic light, as it is shown how he is trapped by his love for Cathy and what a bleak and dismal existence he leads when he is forced to see the woman that he loves married to another. Heathcliff's description of himself to Cathy, when he explains that it is impossible he should avenge himself on her, is particularly important in this respect. Note how he describes himself in relation to Cathy:

The tyrant grinds down his slaves and they don't turn against him, they crush those beneath them--You are welcome to torture me to death for your amusement, only, allow me to amuse myself a little in the same style...

There is certainly something extreme in the love Heathcliff and Cathy have for each other, and the way that Heathcliff describes his relationship with Cathy by casting her as a tyrant and himself as a slave reveals much of their relationship and the disturbing way in which it is conducted. Yet it also helps the reader understand the restricted position Heathcliff is in as he suffers so greatly from not being able to be with his true love.

As for Edgar Linton, the impression the reader is given of his character is formed in his forthright action and determination to throw Heathcliff from his household. Having heard how Heathcliff is courting Isabella, he immediately decides to expel the "low ruffian" from his house as soon as possible. Yet when he confronts his wife and Heathcliff, he says words that are cruel in the extreme, as he argues that his wife is "habituated to [Heathcliff's] baseness" and therefore can tolerate his language. From this passage therefore, Heathcliff seems to emerge more favourably than Linton, as Heathcliff's presentation of his relationship with Cathy wins him the reader's sympathy.

In Wuthering Heights Chapter 6, what are Heathcliff and Cathy's opinions of the Lintons?

Chapter Six is the first chapter where the contrasting worlds of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange collide, and it is clear from the description of the Grange that Heathcliff narrates to Nelly that they are two very different worlds indeed. The luxury of the Grange with its "crimson-covered chairs and tables" and crimson carpet is very different indeed from the harsh, utilitarian nature of life at Wuthering Heights. It is clear from how Heathcliff narrates what he and Cathy saw to Nelly that he has nothing but contempt for Edgar and Isabella. Note how he describes them fighting over a dog:

The idiots! That was their pleasure! To quarrel who should hold a heap of warm hair, and each begin to cry because both, after struggling to get it, refused to take it. We laughed outright at the petted things, we did despise them!

Heathcliff clearly therefore despises the Lintons because he finds them so pathetic and ridiculous. Although Cathy initially shares these views, it is clear that by the end of the chapter, by which time she has been carried into the house and settled on the sofa and then waited upon, it is clear that she does not rage in anger as Heathcliff would have done. By the end of the chapter, it is clear that Cathy has changed in her opinion of the Lintons, as the next chapter describes very clearly.

How does chapter 11 of volume 1 in Wuthering Heights reflect attitudes towards Heathcliff and Linton?

Chapter 11 includes a confrontation between Heathcliff and Edgar when Edgar finds out about Heathcliff's plans to marry Isabella, his sister. What is so interesting about this section is the way that Edgar plans to confront Heathcliff with two of his servants to support him. However, Cathy shuts and locks the door behind him so that he has to face Heathcliff by himself. Note how Edgar responds to having to face Heathcliff alone:

...Mr Edgar was taken with a nervous trembling, and his countenance grew deadly pale. For his life he could not avert that access of emotion--mingled anguish and humiliation overcame him completely. He leant on the back of a chair, and covered his face.

The overwhelming impression or attitude the reader receives therefore of Edgar is one of effeminate weakness, and Cathy herself is quick to note this. When faced with Heathcliff by himself, Edgar is certainly presented as a weak individual lacking in courage and bravery, as indicated by the way that he is overcome by "mingled anguish and humilation." Heathcliff, by contrast, remains brave and forthright, and therefore both are shown to act as foils to each other. Heathcliff's bravery is contrasted with Edgar's cowardice, and Heathcliff's manly bearing is contrasted with Edgar's more effeminate nature. Edgar clearly shows that when he is alone, he is no match for Heathcliff, and Heathcliff is quick to pick up on this contrast when he says to Cathy, "...that is the slavering, shivering thing you preferred to me!"

How do Edgar Linton and Heathcliff contrast in Wuthering Heights?

Edgar and Heathcliff are alike in that they both love and genuinely care about Catherine's welfare. However, in discussing with Nelly Dean the question of whether or not she should marry Heathcliff, Catherine astutely lays out the differences between the two.

Edgar is the acceptable match. He is handsome, wealthy, and kind. Marrying him is her ticket out of a chaotic, dysfunctional household dominated by an alcoholic older brother. Edgar offers her safety; calm; security; a beautiful, orderly home; love; and status. She loves him in a superficial, conventional way.

However, Catherine says to Nelly, "I am Heathcliff." They have a deep, savage soul connection that has been forged by growing up together in a household where their "parenting" has swung between abuse and neglect. They learned to depend on each other to survive, they have faced cruelty together, and they understand and care for each other in a way that Cathy knows can never happen with Linton. Edgar will never comprehend her the way Heathcliff does. Cathy says she doesn't always like Heathcliff but that she can't imagine being without him. His sorrows have been her sorrows. His joys are hers. He is engrained into her and hardly a moment goes by when she doesn't think of him.

In part, she wants to marry Edgar so that she can help Heathcliff, who has been degraded by abuse. She compares her love to Edgar to having the shallow roots of a potted plant, while her love for Heathcliff has the deep roots of an oak tree.

Unfortunately, the dark, often surly Heathcliff, picked up off the streets of Liverpool and turned into a farmhand, does not look to the world like the kind of "catch" that the fair, handsome, gentle, well mannered Edgar does. Even after Heathcliff disappears and comes back a wealthy gentleman, he is still a dangerous and suspect person.

How do Edgar Linton and Heathcliff contrast in Wuthering Heights?

The contrast of these two characters, Edgar and Heathcliff, really exemplifies a common conflict in literature, that of forbidden love.  Simply put, Edgar's love for Catherine provides her with safety, security, and a comfortable lifestyle; he can even be credited, perhaps, with having turned her into a lady during her stay at his home.  Heathcliff loves her in a way that borders on the obsessive, and he isn't really capable of the empathy, commitment, and/or sacrifice required to make a long term relationship, i.e. marriage, work.  However, this very quality in him seems to draw Catherine to him, as well as the romantic notion that they were/are/will always be soulmates.  Catherine didn't seem to have much interest in the notion that they were soulmates when she first returned from her stay at the Lintons', but when Heathcliff returns after a three year absence as a handsome and strapping man, she seems to have an epiphany of sorts.

The conflict in this novel is not unlike the conflict found in Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, where Newland Archer marries one woman for reputation, appearances, and social stability, while he secretly adores another.  It is also similar to the conflict found in the pop culture phenomenon of the Twilight vampire saga by Stephenie Meyer; Bella struggles throughout much of the series with her feelings for Jacob, which tend to be platonic in nature, versus her passion-to-the-point-of-obsession for Edward.

Discuss how Edgar Linton is the antithesis of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights.

Three words describe Edgar Linton: civilized, parented, and privileged.  As the only son of a loving family, Edgar not only was the heir to Thrushcross Grange (and therefore had a secure future) he was loved and valued as a human being.  While Heathcliff did get some affection during old Mr. Earnshaw's time, his status in the family was never of the only son and heir.  He was an orphan brought in from the storm, and his parentage was never known.  He was beloved of Cathy, but never had the emotional and social security that Edgar Linton had.  In addition, Heathcliff had to invent himself, while Edgar knew his parentage and what was expected of him.

On top of this, Edgar was never abused; Heathcliff may well have been before he was brought to the Earnshaws, and Hindley certainly made Heathcliff's life a misery after his father died.  This lack of suffering, this utterly secure bedrock of love and unassailed and legitimate place, is possibly the greatest thing that Edgar had that Heathcliff never had -- even when he was he master of Wuthering Heights.

Besides Edgar's enviable status and position in the world, he was bred down the hill in the relatively civilized atmosphere of Thrushcross Grange.  Compared to Wuthering Heights, the Grange had social and educational advantages.  There was less of a wild influence, both from the environment and from the manners of the people living there.  Edgar is a smooth, indoor creature, compared to Heathcliff's wild and windswept outdoor persona.

All of Heathcliff's money had to be made by himself -- and we are led to believe that Heathcliff had to obtain it through less than honest means.  Heathcliff left Wuthering Heights with nothing, and no one.  Edgar never left, and never had to earn any money except managing his own inheritance.  The person who struggles and wins, and the person who has things handed to them, often have very different outlooks on life.  This was the case for Edgar and Heathcliff -- while obtaining wealth soured Heathcliff even more, the effect of secure and inherited wealth made Edgar pleasant, but perhaps a bit willful and complacent.  He believes that Cathy is -- and always should have been -- his by right; he is unwilling to fight for her, while Heathcliff thinks the only way he can be happy is by dominating everyone.  Neither is a perfect character, and they were both damaged by the things which happened to them, but in very different ways. 

What are Heathcliff's and Edgar Linton's contrasting relationships with Cathrine in Wuthering Heights?

In "Wuthering Heights" while Edgar Linton, cousin of Catherine, has the traditional husband/wife relationship of their society, the relationship of Catherine and Heathcliff is completely unorthodox.  In fact, it is one that transcends the natural.  For Catherine, Heathcliff holds an almost-hypnotic influence, causing her to desire him even when she realizes this desire is morally wrong and detrimental to her person.  Sensing the mystical relationship of Heathcliff early in the novel, Catherine declares that Heathcliff "is I."  Theirs is a passionate, primal communication of souls; they are lost to each other in this fierce, tormented love. After she dies, Heathcliff begs her spirit to "torture" him:  "I cannot live without my life!  I cannot live without my soul!" 

When Catherine rejects Heathcliff for the conventions of her society and marries Edgar Linton she has as a husband a caring, devoted gentleman, a steady, unassuming person who suffers Catherine's accusations of cowardice until he strikes Heathcliff.  But, such behavior is out of character for Edgar. He is genteel, well-bred.  Ironically, Catherine becomes ill under his devoted care after Heathcliff leaves their house because she cannot thrive on Edgar's "insipid attentions" as they are referred to; her nature craves the demanding soul and passion of her social unequal, Heathcliff.