They are fighting because they are rivals.
A ball was being thrown out.
The following aspects of Wuthering Heights conform to the traits of a gothic novel:
the setting of the windswept moors, with a gloomy, dark atmosphere that pervades the manor Wuthering Heights
supernatural events, such as sightings of Catherine’s ghost by Lockwood and Heathcliff
violence depicted in Lockwood’s nightmare, in which the ghost-child’s hand is rubbed against the broken windowpane until it bleeds
a sense of mystery evoked by the gloomy, brooding landscape and Heathcliff’s strange behavior
The following elements do not fit into the gothic genre:
a realistic portrayal of the class differences in nineteenth-century England, as reflected in Hindley’s behavior toward Heathcliff
the rise of the moneyed middle class as a result of the Industrial Revolution, as portrayed by Heathcliff’s transformation to a wealthy gentleman
a somewhat happy ending, with the death of Heathcliff and the marriage of the younger Catherine and Hareton, who become the owners of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange
