Nelly Dean - The main narrator of the novel, Nelly is a servant for all three generations of the Earnshaw and Linton families. In a sense, she straddles the "culture versus nature" divide. She is humbly born and has lived and worked amid the rough manners of Wuthering Heights, but is an educated woman who has experienced the more genteel manners of Thrushcross Grange. She is referred to as Ellen—her given name—to show respect, and as Nelly among those close to her. Nelly comes across as an unbiased narrator. Critics have discussed how far her actions (as an apparent bystander) affect the other characters.