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Wuthering Heights tells the story of two lovers—Catherine 'Cathy' Earnshaw (Merle Oberon) and Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier)—as related by Ellen (Flora Robson), the housekeeper at Wuthering Heights. Soulmates since childhood when Cathy's father brought home the abandoned gypsy boy to live with them, Cathy and Heathcliff are separated by class barriers and, as adults, are forced to go their own ways. Cathy marries rich neighbor Edgar Linton (David Niven). Then Heathcliff returns, having also made his fortune, still obsessed with Cathy and filled with spite.

The movie is based on the novel, Wuthering Heights, by English novelist Emily Brontë (1818-1848). The novel was adapted for the movie by American screenwriters Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht.

Wuthering refers to strong, blustery winds, typical of the Yorkshire moors, which is where this story takes place.

Cathy falls gravely ill from 'fever and inflammation of the lungs...and the will to die,' as Dr. Kenneth (Donald Crisp) puts it. When Heathcliff finds out, he rushes to her bedside where Cathy finally tells him that she still loves him. Heathcliff carries her to the window so that they can look over the moors at Peniston Crag one last time. Cathy promises to wait for him until he comes and then dies in his arms just as Edgar and Dr Kenneth arrive. Heathcliff carries Cathy to her bed, praying that she will come back as a ghost to haunt him. The flashback ends and Ellen finishes her story. Suddenly, Dr Kenneth bursts in to tell Ellen and the traveler that he just saw Heathcliff and a woman walking together on the moor. He says that he tried to follow them but, when he got closer, he saw only Heathcliff and his footsteps in the snow. 'He's with her,' Ellen says. 'They've only just begun to live.' In the final scene, the ghosts of Heathcliff and Cathy can be seen walking up the path to Peniston Crag.

Heathcliff's wife Isabella (Geraldine Fitzgerald) stayed married to him. She can be seen seated in a chair before the fireplace at the beginning of the movie when Lockwood (Miles Mander) first wanders in out of the snowstorm. Looking old and haggard, she goes to the kitchen to prepare a cup of tea.

Those who have both read the book and seen the movie report that there are several differences between the two. The most notable difference is that the film depicts only the first 16 of the novel's 34 chapters, eliminating the second generation of characters and the lengths to which Heathcliff goes in his wrath. In addition, the novel is often described as dark and passionate, Heathcliff as mean and violent and Cathy as selfish, cunning and manipulative, whereas the movie portrays Cathy and Heathcliff in a more sympathetic light.