Wuthering Heights Heathcliff
Heathcliff is introduced in Nelly's narration as a seven-year-old Liverpool foundling (probably an Irish famine immigrant) brought back to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw. His presence in Wuthering Heights overthrows the prevailing habits of the Earnshaw family, members of the family soon become involved in turmoil and fighting and family relationships become spiteful and hateful. Even on his first night, he is the reason Mr. Earnshaw breaks the toys he had bought for his children. "From the very beginning he bred bad feelings in the house". Heathcliff usurps the affections of Mr. Earnshaw to the exclusion of young Hindley-: "The young master had learnt to regard his father as an oppressor rather than a friend". Such is the extent of Heathcliff's usurpation that Hindley is sent off to boarding school. As an adult, Heathcliff repeats the process, as he usurps the affections of Hareton and takes pride in the fact that the son in a fight would defend him with the father. Ultimately, Heathcliff parallels the cuckoo in taking over ownership of the Heights, thereby dispossessing the rightful heir, Hareton. Heathcliff destroys the natural familial emotional bonds that previously existed in the Earnshaw household. His presence results in a polarization within the family, at first Mr. Earnshaw and the Catherine become his allies, whereas Hindley becomes his enemy.
The role of the usurper leads to Heathcliff's suffering at the hands of Hindley and it is the treatment handed out by Hindley to Heathcliff after the death of Mr. Earnshaw, that arouses in Heathcliff a deep and abiding hatred and an all consuming passion for revenge. Heathcliff never forgot an injury inflicted on him during childhood and on his return to Wuthering Heights, after a three-year absence, the impulse to revenge himself on all those he regards as having wronged him becomes his overpowering passion. He ruins Hindley by encouraging his excessive drinking and gambling and with him aside he then turns his attention to Hareton-: "We'll see if one tree won't grow as crooked as another with the same wind to twist it". His revenge is also directed towards Edgar Linton, whom he sees as having stolen Catherine from him. He devises a series of schemes to wrest the ownership of the Grange from the Linton family and secure it for himself. He marries Isabella to "gain a foo...
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As Heathcliff approaches death and a reunion of Catherine, his resolve for revenge weakens until he no longer has an interest in that former preoccupation-: "I have lost the faculty of enjoying their destruction". This dousing of the flames of Heathcliff's revenge is a catalyst not just in the novel but also in the histories of the Earnshaw and Linton families. Hareton and Cathy are spared, the sense of evil visited upon them by Heathcliff is removed and there occurs a spiritual renaissance within Wuthering Heights.
Heathcliff is a many faced character, in his early years he is characterized somewhat by his fiery temper, his sullenness, his proud nature, his fierce attachment to Catherine, his spitefulness and his capacity for hatred. The adult Heathcliff, who returns to Wuthering Heights after a three year absence, is a super-human villain driven by revenge, distorted by the sense of the wrongs done to him and made emotionally unstable by Catherine's marriage. This later Heathcliff is characterized by callousness by incapacity to love and eventually by an all-consuming passion for revenge against those who have wronged him and for unification with his beloved Catherine.
Heathcliff cried vehemently, "I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!" Emily Brontë distorts many common elements in Wuthering Heights to enhance the quality of her book. One of the distortions is Heathcliff's undying love for Catherine Earnshaw. Also, Brontë perverts the vindictive hatred that fills and runs Heathcliff's life after he loses Catherine. Finally, she prolongs death, making it even more distressing and insufferable.
The initial downward spiral of Heathcliff’s life was predominantly caused by harsh influences in the environment in which he was raised. Heathcliff, an adopted child, grew up in Wuthering Heights, a desolate and dystopian estate when compared to the beauty of the neighboring Thrushcross Grange. In childhood, Heathcliff displayed evidence of a sympathetic personality through his emotional attachment to Catherine and kind attitude towards Nelly. At the time of Mr. Earnshaw’s death, Nelly describes a scene where, “Miss Cathy had been sick, and that made her still; she
When Linton Heathcliff’s son returns to Wuthering Heights Heathcliff tells Nelly “[his] design is honest as possible…that the two cousins may fall in love and get married. [he is] acting generously to [her] master: his young chit has no expectations, and should [Catherine]second [his] wish she’ll be provided for at once as joint successor with Linton. (215)” Heathcliff’s plan states that although Heathcliff looked down upon little Linton, yet he uses his son and the power of this distorted patriarchal society as weapons to take revenge over Edgar. He tricked little Catherine to Wuthering Heights and forces her to marry his terribly ill son Linton because this is the only way to take possession of the property she inherited from her father as the only child. Due to the acquiescence of patriarchal society, Linton and Heathcliff can easily manipulate little Catherine and hold on to her fate with no effort using the chains of marriage. After women are married to men, men have the right to control their wives and nobody could intervene and the society does not allow women to divorce their husbands because they are men’s personal attachments. As a part of Heathcliff’s plan, Heathcliff made Hareton, Hindley’s son “never be able to emerge from his bathos of coarseness and
Heathcliff is a character who was abused in his childhood by Catherine’s brother, Hindley, because of his heritage as a “gypsy”, and Hindley was jealous of the love that Heathcliff got from Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley’s father. This is also selfishness upon Hindley’s part since he only wanted his father’s love for his sister and himself. So to reprimand Heathcl...
...ctive. Catherine is pushed to death and Heathcliff to brutal revenge, bordering on the psychotic. Yet before Cathy’s death, the knowledge that the other loves them is strong enough to make Wuthering Heights such a classic love story, and “that old man by the kitchen fire affirming he has seen two of 'em looking out of his chamber window, on every rainy night since his death,” shows that as they walk together on the moors, their self destruction may have led them to death, but also to what they most desired-being together.
Primarily, Heathcliff's hunger for revenge blindsides the character’s, Hindley, Catherine, Hareton, and young Catherine. Revenge is what Heathcliff wishes to
Growing up as an orphan from a tender age, deprived of a structured family and family support system, exposed to the negative influences life offered, it is almost a certainty that his behaviour will not be that of an ideal gentleman. Heathcliff was adopted by Mr. Earnshaw. He was then given a well structured and steady family including a brother Hindley and sister Catherine. Mr Earnshaw made certain that nobody took advantage of Heathcliff and poured out his affection onto Heathcliff. However, Heathcliff became overwhelmed by all the attention and affection, manipulated the situation and used it to his advantage.
From the beginning of the novel and most likely from the beginning of Heathcliff's life, he has suffered pain and rejection. When Mr. Earnshaw brings him to Wuthering Heights, he is viewed as a thing rather than a child. Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to fling it out the doors, while Nelly put it on the landing of the stairs hoping that it would be gone the next day. Without having done anything to deserve rejection, Heathcliff is made to feel like an outsider. Following the death of Mr. Earnshaw, Heathcliff suffers cruel mistreatment at the hands of Hindley. In these tender years, he is deprived of love, friendship, and education, while the treatment from jealous Hindley is barbaric and disrupts his mental balance. He is separated from the family, reduced to the status of a servant, undergoes regular beatings and forcibly separated from his soul mate, Catherine. The personality that Heathcliff develops in his adulthood has been formed in response to these hardships of his childhood.
...d to Cathy. He desires to be accepted by her. Cathy willingly loves and accepts Hareton. It is this love which reforms Hareton and dispels the tyranny at Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff’s love brought about destruction; Cathy brings redemption to the Heights through her love. Brontë’s Wuthering Heights shows the real effects of love; love has the power to create evil or good.
Heathcliff, who has been ill-treated by his foster brother Hindley, is obsessed by his thoughts of revenge: "I'm trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back. I don't care how long I wait, if I can only do it at last. I hope he will not die before I do!" (64).He comes back after three years, during which time nobody at Wuthering Heights or The Grange have known his whereabouts, and the first person he is eager to meet is Catherine. She reacts with a mixture of fright and passion, and accuses Heathcliff of being cruel as he has not been heard of for such a long time. His joy to see her again is unmistakable: "A little more than you have thought of me," he murmured "I heard of your marriage, Cathy, not long since; and, while waiting in the yard below, I meditated this plan: - just to have one glimpse of your face, a stare of surprise, perhaps, ...
Although, Mr. Earnshaw tried to make Heathcliff an equal part of the family, Heathcliff never truly fits in. Heathcliff is from a completely different social class than the rest of his “family”. This led to the hatred that Hindley felt towards Heathcliff. Hindley robs Heathcliff of his education, forces him to work as a servant at Wuthering Heights and frequently beats him. Throughout this all, Heathcliff never complains.
In the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Heathcliff is an orphan boy brought to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw, who has two children of his own already - Catherine and Hindley. Heathcliff changes over the course of his life by the following; Heathcliff begins by getting along well with Catherine Earnshaw, however, Catherine Earnshaw is introduced to Edgar Linton and Heathcliff becomes jealous of their forming relationship, and once Catherine has passed away after delivering Edgar’s child, Heathcliff becomes haunted by her ghost, and wishes to only be united with her in death.
In Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, the Earnshaws, a middle class family, live at the estate, Wuthering Heights. When Mr. Earnshaw takes a trip to Liverpool, he returns with an orphan whom he christens “Heathcliff”. During their formative years, Catherine, Mr. Earnshaw’s daughter, plays with Heathcliff on the moors and becomes close with him. As a result, they form a special bond and Heathcliff and Catherine fall in love, unlike Hindley, Mr. Earnshaw’s son, who does not get along with Heathcliff. While Heathcliff benefits from his relationships, his connections are disadvantaged in terms of status, reputation, financial stability, and happiness.
In the novel Wuthering Heights, the dark and mysterious Heathcliff once began his life with an open heart, but after mistreatment from Edgar and Hindley he turns to revenge. Heathcliff's actions are reasonable; he has been hurt from the unfair reason of discrimination. Heathcliff slowly becomes sickly obsessed with planning an elaborate revenge after eavesdropping a conversation between his beloved Catherine to Nelly. He hears his young beautiful and idolized Catherine say, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff” (77). Heathcliff, heartbroken and hopeless, abruptly leaves Wuthering Height for two years. Catherine is left wondering where he is. Heathcliff leaves in search of revenge.
At first, the children of Wuthering Heights (Hindley, Cathy, Nelly) all rejected him for his appearance as a gypsy- they thought of him as knavish, grimy, and uneducated. Despite this, Mr. Earnshaw treated with a certain respect by letting him live as with the Earnshaws while still being an outsider to the family. Yet the spectrum of hostility didn’t end with the children. Mrs. Earnshaw questions her husband’s insight, “asking how [Mr. Earnshaw] could fashion to bring that gipsy brat into the house” when he added another mouth for her to feed at the dinner table. (Chapter 4). Mr. Earnshaw’s attempt to integrate Heathcliff fails once Hindley takes over Wuthering Heights. Despite basically being middle class under Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley takes it on his own to oppress and torture him. Before this, Heathcliff was on a level playing field class wise compared to the Earnshaws. Heathcliff now finds himself as a servant, a laborer working the fields. By subjugating Heathcliff, Hindley drew the line in the sand. Hindley has effectively forced Heathcliff into a lower class, Hindley has colonized