Why Bronte's world in Wuthering Heights is amazing

Continuing on the topic of the characters in Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights," I do have to note that, reprehensible as he may be, Heathcliff is at least a character with strong feelings and emotions, even if he acts on and uses those feelings in a cruel and destructive manner; similarly, at least Catherine also has strong feelings - a love of Heathcliff that essentially tears her apart and takes her life - but, again, her emotions are terribly misdirected: whether she married the wrong guy or not, she certainly has no loyalty or even compassion for her husband and is thoughtless about her about-to-be-born child, Cathy. The other characters, as noted in yesterday's post, are dislikable in a panoply of ways. How shall we count them? Ellen, who narrates most of the novel, because more reprehensible as the story moves along; in the section I read last night, for example, she coolly listens to Cathy's long confession about her secret visits to her cousin at WH, Linton - and when Cathy begs her not to tell her father of these visits, Ellen says she'll think about it, give her a day, and then she immediately walks up to the father (Edgar) and spills the beans. Nice, real trustworthy companion. A snitch. And how about the crew under Heathcliff's domain at WH? Linton, sure we feel sorry for him, what chance did he have under a brutal dad like Heathcliff, but as the novel moves along he becomes ever more of whining wuss, unable to stand up for himself, expecting everyone to serve him and to cater to his whims and needs. We also kind of feel sorry for Hareton - through Heathcliff's cruelty, he never learned to read, but that wouldn't necessarily make him mean and vindictive. On the other hand, you'd certainly hope that young Cathy would feel some compassion for Hareton, but instead she mocks him for what she considers his stupidity - which is really just his lack of an education and his rustic accent. She has absolutely no sense of the advantages of class. Her father, Edgar, rightly upbraids her for this. So, wait - is Edgar a likable character? He could be - we feel sorry for him, too, widowed young and apparently never got much satisfaction out of his marriage anyway, he always knew he was the 2nd choice - but he proves every bit the feckless father and uncle, unable to help his nephew, Linton, entrusted to his care, and unable to help his daughter, Cathy, except by basically imprisoning her (he's the Prospero figure; she, the Miranda). Bronte has done something amazing here - creating a complete and vivid world of characters that has moved and startled readers for generations, all the more amazing in that none of the characters is remotely "good."