Heathcliff enters the scene as a boy who was picked from the street to start a new life at the Wuthering Heights; home of Mr Earnshaw. He was quite selfless and kept to himself as he matured, but was despised by Mr Earnshaw's son Hindley because he felt that Heathcliff was taking his place in his father's heart. Heathcliff was teased whipped and tormented by Hindley as he grew older, countless times he was referred to as the “devil”, “wicked boy”, and imp of satan”. Hindley then was sent to school by his father and Heathcliff was finally left alone and fell in-love with the young mistress Catherine, Mr. Earnshaw's only daughter. They were together every second of every day and Heathcliff began to open up. Fast-forward to a moment in the story where Catherine returns home from being schooled into becoming a young lady. Heathcliff wanted to impress and show his good qualities to the company so he dressed in his best attire and went to greet the visiting guest. In chapter seven Hindley curses him and tells him he is nothing more than a dirty servant. This shows that Heathcliff wants to be a gentleman but is constantly told that he can not be anything but a lowly gypsy boy. …show more content…
When he returns in chapter ten he hears that Catherine married the neighbor boy Linton. His heart is broken and in this moment he starts to seek his revenge. Throughout the rest of the book, Heathcliff never ceases to seek his revenge over Catherine and the rest of the family including Mr. Linton and his family. This shows Heathcliff's cruelty and harshness that he has kept deep down inside from his childhood. If Wuthering Heights was a game, Heathcliff's future actions would tie the scoreboard with what he experienced growing
Heathcliff is a victim of class hatred but he also manipulates situations to his advantage and becomes an arch - exploiter. For example, after the death of his wife, Hindley went insane. Heathcliff used this opportunity to take revenge and took Wuthering Heights away from Hindley. He then went further and married Edgar’s sister, not for love or monetary gain but to get back at Edgar for marrying Catherine, and treated Edgar’s sister terribly.
The relationship between Heathcliff and Hindley revealed and developed the abusive nature of Heathcliff. Heathcliff was taken in as a young boy into a wealthy family that had two children. Ever since the day he was brought home the eldest son, Hindley, resented how the father favored him more. For example, Heathcliff threatened to tell their father if Hindley did not let him have his horse. This one childish threat had created the foundation of the resentment between the two men. Heathcliff threatened to tell their father that Hindley was making him feel unwelcome and abused emotionally, Hindley decided to not see if Heathcliff was going to follow through with the threat therefore gave him the horse. Later on through life, once the father dies, Hindley decides to take his absence as an excuse to start really physically abusing Heathcliff. He would beat him and punch him without thought of how this would transfer into the rest of his life. Heathcliff was also verbally assaulted by Hindley which is a twist on the traditional sense of cruelty. Hindley is demeaning towards Heathcliff and calls him a slave and make sure that he know that he is not equal with himself or his sister Catherine. This point planted the seed of doubt and not being good enough for the rest of his life. This continual mental assault forged the mindset of little Heathcliff to how he would exact revenge on Hindley for all of his wrongdoings. This cruelty from Hindley was due to the favoritism that Heathcliff received as a child, the death of his father, the death of his wife, and the constant reminder of his wife through his son. The constant cruelty is the motive for Heathcliff's actions once he returns to the Heights. Through baiting Hindley, in his own personal torment from his wife's passing, all the money and possessions are gambled away with Heathcliff as the new owner. Wuthering Heights itself
Brontë shows how cruelty passes through generations through Hindley’s mistreatment towards Heathcliff. From the moment Mr. Earnshaw adopts Heathcliff, Hindley enters a state of melancholy and loathes that his father clearly favors Heathcliff over him. Mr. Earnshaw’s adoption of Heathcliff upsets Hindley, his father clearly favors Heathcliff over him. Consequently, Hindley reciprocates this hatred when he meets Heathcliff, comparing him to satan and wishing for his death. Heathcliff, unable to act against these cruel words, silently absorbs them. This interaction reveals traits of each character: the maliciousness of Hindley’s character, who hates on the young Heathcliff without reason; and the timidity of Heathcliff, fostered by his inability to stand up for himself. Although timid at the moment, Heathcliff assimilates this cruelty so that he can inflict it upon others, just as Hindley does the same to him. This depicts how the victim of suffering develops into the bearer of cruelty. Soon after Mr. Earnshaw’s death, Hindley assumes control of his household and unleashes even more cruelty on Heathcliff. In a fit of
Ultimately, this example paints a clear picture of just one of the two distinct ways that Heathcliff was a victim before his transformation into a villain. In addition to this, Heathcliff is also a victim of a permanently wounding betrayal. Catherine, Heathcliff’s one love, betrays him by choosing to marry Edgar Linton, a man of wealth, despite her undeniable feelings for Heathcliff. Catherine, when referring to Heathcliff states, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.” (Page 102)
As soon as Catherine arrives to Wuthering Heights, she is hardly recognizable. Hindley, is treating Heathcliff as a servant, so he allows Catherine's playmate to go up to her and greet her when she arrives. Heathcliff is given welcome kisses from Catherine, but while doing so, Catherine comments upon his dull appearance and compares him to Edgar in very unfavorable manner. Heathcliff is damaged by the changes in his friend's attitude and physical appearance.
When Heathcliff returns three years later, his love for Catherine motivates him to enact revenge upon all those who separated him from her. Since he last saw Catherine, he has “fought through a bitter life”; he “struggled only for [her]” (Brontë 71). Nelly observes a “half-civilized ferocity” in Heathcliff’s brows (Brontë 70); she views him as “an evil beast…waiting his time to spring and destroy” (Brontë 79). Heathcliff’s obsessive love for Catherine becomes a menacing threat. Heathcliff reproaches Catherine because she “treated [him]
Acting as an evil force, the aggressive nature of his young childhood created his capacity for violence later in his life. As he grew older, the environment in which he lived did not become better. Later in the novel, Catherine’s return from Thrushcross Grange to Wuthering
From the beginning of the novel and most likely from the beginning of Heathcliff's life, he has suffered pain and rejection. When he is brought to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw, he is viewed as an inanimate object rather than a child. Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to fling him out of doors, while Nelly put him on the landing of the stairs hoping that he 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, he suffers cruel mistreatment at the hands of Hindley. In these formative years, he is deprived of love, sociability and education, according to Nelly, Hindley's treatment of Heathcliff was "enough to make a fiend of a saint". He is separated from the family, reduced to the status of a servant, forced to become a farm hand, undergoes regular beatings and is forcibly separated from Catherine.
As a young orphan who is brought to Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff is thrown into abuse as Hindley begins to treat Heathcliff as a servant in reaction to Mr. Earnshaw’s death. As a reaction to both this and Catherine discarding Heathcliff for Edgar, Heathcliff’s sense of misery and embarrassment causes him to change and spend the rest of his time seeking for justice. Throughout this time, Heathcliff leans on violence to express the revenge that he so seeks by threatening people and displaying villainous traits. However, Heathcliff’s first symptom of change in personality is when Heathcliff runs into Hareton after Cathy “tormented
Heathcliff is a character from the novel “Wuthering Heights” that feels like life didn’t treat him fairly due to his lack of social status and due to his ambiguous nature. He and Catherine had both grown up together and in fact, his relationship with her provides the theme for the first volume. It was because of this relation as children that Heathcliff felt a strong connection with Catherin however, she later on didn’t feel the same way towards him. This would influence the story as a whole for their called “love” as children would be very influential in the second volume. Heathcliff feels like life was unjust to him due to the fact that later in the novel Catherine marries another man named Edgar Linton. The main reason why Catherine married
Heathcliff overhears this conversation between Nelly and Catherine and leaves Wuthering Heights after hearing Catherine say that it would degrade her to marry him. Heathcliff tries to make himself more presentable to Catherine by moving up the social system. However, he does this by cheating and taking advantage of people. Heathcliff takes advantage of Hindley's state of alcoholism and takes over Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff also takes advantage of Edgar Linton's will my making young Catherine (the daughter of Catherine Earnshaw and Edgar Linton) marry Linton (the son of Heathcliff and Isabella Linton)
Self-Centered. Heathcliff is self-centered, caring for himself and his interests and having little concern for others. This trait is greatly amplified by his love for Catherine and hatred for Mr. Linton. One example of this is when he trapped Cathy and her companion for no less than five days in his house at Wuthering Heights, forcing Cathy to marry Linton (255, 260). “And there I remained enclosed [in a chamber], … [for] Five nights and four days I remained, seeing nobody but Hareton [when he brought food],” shows how little Heathcliff is concerned for others, and how much he cares for his own interests (260). His own self-interest causes him to want control over Thrushcross Grange, as evidenced by the fact Linton will gain control of it after Mr. Linton, who is in poor health, dies if he (Linton) marries Cathy (263). However, Linton was also in poor health and was going to
The prime theme of Wuthering Heights may be stated as the love of Heathcliff for Catherine and the revenge that he takes upon various individuals, the revenge being evoked by the social contempt or disdain piled upon him by Hindley and Edgar and the frustration of his love. Hindley had a superior attitude towards Heathcliff from the time Heathcliff was brought as a boy to Wuthering Heights. He treated Heathcliff ruthlessly and made him work on the fields like other servants.While Edgar is his rival in love, and a successful rival as Catherine has married him in preference to Heathcliff. Wuthering Heights has a gripping plot with many dramatic situations which arouse feelings of pity or awe or fear
His wife, Mrs. Earnshaw, is furious that Heathcliff has been brought into the house and the Earnshaws’ son, Hindley, is jealous of the apparent love his father
Threw out the story you will see that Heathcliff has a very unhealthy passion; this is the next attribute of a Byronic Hero. This unhealthy passion is driven by revenge. As you read the book it seems that Revenge is the only thing that keeps Heathcliff going. Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights filthy rich after running away for 3 years when Catherine married Edgar. He uses some of his money to loan to Hindley’s gambling problem so that Hindley will become even more engulfed into debt. Heathcliff also wanted to seek revenge against Edgar for obvious reasons. So he