Within Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, avenging what are thought to be wrongdoings between the characters is a common theme. Throughout the story, Heathcliff Earnshaw is hellbent on having his revenge, as he believes this is the best way for him to feel better about what has happened to him. The adopted son goes to great lengths to form his evil plan and become someone he thinks he will be proud of. Instead, through his antics, Heathcliff brings himself down mentally and ends up more unhappy than when he began. As he tortures Hindley, Edgar, and Hareton, he starts to deteriorate and never recover as his anger and violence forms and blinds him from leaving a forty-year grudge alone. These acts of abuse and violence lead Bronte to portray violence as an option that will only destroy those who decide to pursue it. …show more content…
As soon as Heathcliff was adopted by Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley held a grudge against him as he challenged the possibility of inheritance and wealth. Hindley would degrade Heathcliff by name calling and abuse, and even hoped that a horse would “. . . kick out [his] brains!” Heathcliff resented Hindley for what he had done to him and got a lot of his own evil tactics from Hindley himself. Being around a negative and oppressing influence for long enough can have drastic effects on a person’s mental health and portrayal of them self and others. While in this mental state, Heathcliff exploits the weaknesses of Hindley and finally owns Wuthering Heights. This may be one of Heathcliff’s only justifiable actions, as the torment he faced from Hindley as a young boy was awful, but this is only the beginning of his downfall
Heathcliff is a prime example of situational stress leading to sociopathic behavior. Hindley’s problems begin the day Heathcliff is comes to Wuthering Heights. Hindley is jealous of Heathcliff and feels inferior to him. When Mr. Earnshaw dies and Hindley controls the Heights, he demotes Heathcliff to the lowest position in the house, therefore feeling superior. Eventually Hindley drinks himself away and gambles the property to Heathcliff.
In Wuthering Heights, one of the main negative parenting examples is shown in Heathcliff. Although Heathcliff was treated well by Mr. Earnshaw, his siblings and adopted mother differed. In the beginning this was stated, “He has been blaming our father(how dared he?) for treating H. too liberally; and swears he will reduce him to his right place-(Bronte, 15).” This quote shows the anger Heathcliff had, especially for Hindley. At the end of this quote he hints at planning his revenge against Hindley, later executing it on Hareton(Hindley’s son). This Later, this greatly affected Heathcliff as he looked for revenge when he mistreated Hareton just as Hindley had treated him when they were younger. Heathcliff also became a very bad person in general, wishing that Cathy not rest in peace and haunt him, and his manner and mischief towards everyone around him. Heathcliff's abuse towards Isabella is also a result of his childhood as well as the heartbreak of Catherine. In the novel, the parenting of Hareton symbolize hardship and strength. It symbolizes this because Hareton although not smart, powers through his rough childhood and shows strength in overcoming those obstacles, later ending up marrying Cathy and now is
Many people, will consider Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte to be an intense love story; kinda like Romeo and Juliet on the Yorkshire Moors. However this story is one of revenge that arises from love. ‘Wuthering Heights’ is a multi-generational Gothic romance that centres around the doomed love between Heathcliff, an orphan and Catherine Earnshaw, the daughter of Heathcliff’s adopted father. Heathcliff grows in his adopted family, till he is reduced into a servant and runs away when Catherine decides to marry another. He returns later, rich and educated, to gain his revenge on the two families of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange that he believed had ruined his life. This dramatic story about passionate love, merciless hatred, violence
In Emily Brontё’s Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff spends his entire life attempting to enact revenge for pain he suffered years ago; however,
Misery and callousness have the tendency to introvert people. They drive humans to self-reflection and self-hatred because those who are irrevocably miserable do not want to participate in the joys of those around them. To that end, no one wants to be unconditionally alone and knowing that someone else shares the pain and suffering that they feel can relieve one’s self-enmity. In Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, the protagonist and antihero, Heathcliff, develops a volatile relationship with his adoptive nephew Hareton Earnshaw which exemplifies this concept. Heathcliff is a social outsider throughout the story and, in an effort to take revenge on all those who have rejected him and generate companions in his despondency, he tortures those
The anger Heathcliff has for Hindley stems the deepest because of the abuse Heathcliff endured as a
In Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, nobility in action is difficult to obtain, because of this, Heathcliff is viewed largely as a manipulative tyrant among outside peers and observers. He was not, however, a totally evil man throughout the novel as, although his execution is morally grey, his ultimate motivations could be considered noble, or even selfless. He acted solely for the benefit of others he loved in his life; improving himself for Catherine, comforting Catherine in her last moments, and preparing his son’s future to be financially effortless. Brontë wrote Heathcliff to act questionably due to the love he felt for his immediate family to show motive is paramount in action, and although Heathcliff’s execution may be dark, his motives and person are partisan.
Heathcliff first tried to get revenge with Hindley. Hindley is like a bully to Heathcliff, in the way that he degraded Heathcliff, because of his lower class roots; Heathcliff is in seek of revenge. As he said in chapter 7
As we begin to read Wuthering Heights, we immediately see how unrefined Heathcliff is; therefore, we begin to question what actions or circumstances brought him to this day, to these emotions. Heathcliff’s merit was smaller than even a grain of sand, his “family” didn’t respect him and the
In Wuthering Heights Heathcliff's life is based on one thing... his own form seeking justice. He lives and strives for his revenge only wanting to see the satisfaction of his pain inflicted on others. He seeks to fulfill his happiness by having people pass through what he passed. In the beginning when he's brought into the family the other kids despise him. It didn't matter as the one who grew to the like of him was the father. Later on he grows
Heathcliff is an intricate character in the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. He is a sullen, bad-tempered character, who expresses his own sorrow through the suffering and pain of others. His violent actions towards others, along with his passionate love for Catherine show the qualities of both the villain and the hero, which is what makes Heathcliff such a distinct and complex character. In this novel Wuthering Heights, the readers are witness the turmoil of feelings of betrayal, revenge, and love through Heathcliff’s despondent and violent character. From the beginning of the novel, Heathcliff is an extremely gloomy and vicious character.
Heathcliff is probably the most selfish of all the characters. His selfishness starts as a young boy in the Earnshaw household. He knows very well the affection Mr. Earnshaw holds for him and uses it to his best advantage. When two colts are given to Heathcliff and Hindley (Mr. Earnshaw's biological son), "Heathcliff took the handsomest, but it soon fell lame" (50). After discovering this, Heathcliff tells Hindley, " 'You
Heathcliff is a prime example of a character with a “diseased mind” that causes him suffering. He spends the majority of his life contemplating and acting out revenge towards Hindley and the Lintons because he believes it was their fault Catherine thought it would “degrade” her to marry Heathcliff, even though she loved him; this is one example of his unstable mind set. In chapter 9 Nelly foreshadows the suffering of
When considering Wuthering Heights Heathcliff immediately jumps to mind as the villainous character. Upon his return he wickedly orchestrates Hindley's economic demise and takes control of the Heights. He attempts to win Catherine, now a married woman, back and when that fails takes in marriage Isabelle Linton, Edgar's sister, with the sole intention of torturing her as a way of avenging himself on Edgar for marrying the woman he loved. When Hindley died Heathcliff took his son,
It is important to understand that Heathcliff returning to Wuthering Heights is for the purpose of seeking revenge on the people that have wronged him. Hindley receives money and squanders it away and once he dies Heathcliff takes over. Catherine dies also during childbirth, and Heathcliff ask to be haunted by her spirit on earth. Nelly Dean was her nursemaid. Heathcliff is cruel to his own son, Linton who he forces into pursuing Catherine; this is the only way