How Does Heathcliff Change In Wuthering Heights

In Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Heathcliff’s strong love for Catherine guides his transformation as a character. While Heathcliff enters the story as an innocent child, the abuse he receives at a young age and his heartbreak at Catherine’s choice to marry Edgar Linton bring about a change within him. Heathcliff’s adulthood is consequently marked by jealousy and greed due to his separation from Catherine, along with manipulation and a deep desire to seek revenge on Edgar. Although Heathcliff uses deceit and manipulation to his advantage throughout the novel, he is never entirely content in his current situation. As Heathcliff attempts to revenge Edgar Linton, he does not gain true fulfillment. Throughout Wuthering Heights, Brontë uses Heathcliff’s vengeful actions to convey the message that manipulative and revenge-seeking behaviors will not bring a person satisfaction.

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.

Throughout the novel Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff’s actions serve as a backlash against the class culture that made Catherine reject him. His manipulative actions to acquire Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights reflect that internal frustration. Early in the novel, Catherine’s relationship with Heathcliff becomes tenuous after she visits Thrushcross Grange and experiences the posh culture of the Linton family. Catherine’s transformation into a proper lady and her growing awareness of class culture ultimately lead her to believe that “it would degrade [her] to marry Heathcliff” (Brontë 81). Indeed, Catherine’s choice to marry Edgar illustrates how wealth and power can trump true love, a notion that tragically divides Heathcliff and Catherine throughout the novel. Even when Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights with a newfound wealth and appearance, he is unable to overcome his orphan heritage and win Catherine back. As a result, Heathcliff channels his frustration into a plot of revenge against the Linton household, telling Catherine that “I meditated this plan–just to have one glimpse of your face, a stare of surprise, perhaps, and pretended pleasure” (Brontë 97). Heathcliff’s loathing of the class system motivates him to systematically take over and destroy all that has separated him from Catherine. His acquisition of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange is an act to prove to Catherine – and to

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.

This begins with his childhood. As the character Nellie details what life was like for the children of Wuthering Heights, we quickly understand that Heathcliff especially lived as a target for abuse. This abuse namely came from Hindley Earnshaw, who viewed Heathcliff as a usurper of his father’s affections, and grew jealous of the way Mr. Earnshaw doted on the boy. In return, Heathcliff was subjected to frequent beatings and harsh treatment, all of which he took without complaint. His only true friend at the house was wild child Catherine Earnshaw- later Catherine Linton- who granted him a reprieve from Hindley’s cruelty, and showed him love. By showing the reader this kind of brutality, we understand the potency of Heathcliff’s hatred toward Hindley, and subsequently his urge to seek retribution in adulthood. In addition, the author establishes this strong connection with Catherine early on so the reader understands Heathcliff’s

Wuthering Heights strongly acknowledges the affects of revenge and repetition; all the characters are affected by each other’s decisions. Hindley uses his unconscious mind, as he is frustrated with Heathcliff for coming to Wuthering Heights; therefore Hindley denies Heathcliff an education and manages to separate Catherine and Heathcliff. Heathcliff proceeds using his conscious mind, has an unquenchable thirst to get revenge on Hindley; Heathcliff then denies education to Hindley’s son Hareton and gets Hindley removed from Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff uses his ideas of right from wrong to plan revenge to Edgar for marrying Catherine; the characters in the novel display a domino affect as they plot their revenge on each other.

Growing up at the Earnshaw residence, Heathcliff is made to feel like an outsider and is constantly looked down upon because of his lowly social status. In his formative years, Heathcliff is deprived of love, affection and education. According to Nelly, Hindley’s maltreatment alone was “enough to make a fiend of a saint” (Bronte 65). Catherine’s selfish betrayal, paired with society’s oppression and degradation, motivate Heathcliff to become a gentleman so that he may take vengeance on those who belittled him and prove himself to Catherine. Heathcliff’s revenge becomes in a sense a “resistance” to the oppression of society (Long 6). This in itself is ironic because Heathcliff begins to accept and “live by the values of the people he formerly detested” (Shapiro 3). Heathcliff becomes so engrossed in climbing the social ladder and enacting revenge on his childhood oppressors that he risks his humanity and individuality. By the end of the novel Heathcliff finds that enacting revenge will not be enough to satisfy him, the only thing that will fulfill him is Catherine’s love. Heathcliff, though in a sense a victim of society, is far from redeemable

In literature, a hero is fundamentally a paragon of moral strength while a villain is a challenger of virtue. As the protagonist of Charlotte Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff fulfills the broadest definition of a literary hero but this only thinly veils his dark delight in causing torment that places him squarely in the realms of villainy. His only trace of humanity is revealed by the transcendent love he shares with Catherine. It is this value that evokes sympathy from the audience and mitigates his immorality, rendering him an antihero rather than a villain. Brontë’s choice to portray Heathcliff so heinously allows vengeance to overwhelm love as the salient theme of the novel and therefore elucidates the darkest and most

Catherine Earnshaw, a very complex character, happens to be fond of Heathcliff, whom was brought home by Mr. Earnshaw. Catherine’s love for Heathcliff was described by Nelly Dean as, “She was much too fond of Heathcliff. The greatest punishment we could invent for her was to keep her separate from him” (Brontë 37). Later on in her life she was proposed to by Edgar Linton, the rich young gentleman of Thrushcross Grange. She had decided to accept him despite her emotions towards Heathcliff. Catherine then chose to tell Nelly that she had accepted the proposal and that she cannot decide if she had made the right decision. At her age, Catherine should have felt the happiest she has even been after Edgar’s proposal, but her emotions toward Heathcliff change all that. And in

Furthermore, Heathcliff since he arrived to the Earnshaw's house, he be treated with not equality as Hindley or Catherine. Apparently nobody like him especially Hindley, since his father Mr. Earnshaw pay more attention to Heathcliff instead of his own son. They always remind him that he was not part of the Earnshaw family. There is a part of the novel that both parents die

Through a sinister plotline and a tempestuous poetic style, Emily Bronte’s character of Heathcliff displays a violent and bitter personality against those who have harmed, degraded, and humiliated him in her literary masterpiece “Wuthering Heights”. Creatively, this art piece portrays a great deal of the tale’s theme of revenge. Through the siren like rose, the tortured hand, and the vengeful spirit of a snake, this piece exhibits the nature of Catherine’s love, Heathcliff’s past, and his vengeful character; all of which directly relate to the theme of a sin called revenge.

Mr. Earnshaw brought a boy home named Heathcliff. Heathcliff and Catherine become great friends and Mr. Earnshaw expressed favoritism towards Heathcliff over his biological son, Hindley. When Hindley gained control of Wuthering Heights, he made Heathcliff a servant. Catherine and Heathcliff still spent as much time together as possible. Soon, Catherine suffered from an ankle injury and stayed with the Linton’s at Thrushcross Grange. During this time, Catherine spent time with Edgar Linton and learned how to act like a lady. Catherine rejected Heathcliff and choose Edgar to marry. Heathcliff became wealthy and took over Wuthering Heights; Heathcliff married Isabella Linton, Edgar's sister. Catherine died while giving birth, and Heathcliff

He’s always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.” (Bronte 82) This quote said by Catherine, shows that she is utterly in love with Heathcliff and not Edgar. The path of Heathcliff’s vengeance starts to form when he hears the news of them getting married, and he flees for three years because he cannot handle this terrible news. Upon his return, he comes back to Wuthering Heights, even worse than he was before. For example, a major problem before he left was his social status. He was never given the title of having a high social status, even after he is adopted by Mr. Earnshaw because he was never accepted by Hindley. ““Take my colt, Gipsy, then!” said young Earnshaw. “And I pray that he may break your neck: take him, and he damned, you beggarly interloper! and wheedle my father out of all he has: only afterwards show him what you are, imp of Satan.” (Bronte 47). In this quote, it is evident that Hindley is not accepting of Heathcliff at all, mostly for the reason that Mr. Earnshaw treated Heathcliff as his favorite child. This is a big part of the vengeance that Heathcliff portrays because many of his actions have to do with the uproar between Heathcliff and Hindley. Therefore, Heathcliff’s experiences of heartbreak and the feeling of being an outcast is what leads him to be the Byronic hero that he is.

Furthermore, Hindley actively seeks revenge on Heathcliff by revoking education and transforms him into a monstrous and relentless character. With Hindley’s constant torment, the reasons of Heathcliff’s ‘why’ for all of his actions and pursuits begin to appear. Hindley lives in a stage of fire burning rage with no water in sight for recover nor peace. The root of his revenge is based because his father no longer uses his attention Hindley to be a main focus. Mr. Earnshaw demanded that Heathcliff must be treated with respect because it made, “This endurance made old Earnshaw furious when he discovered his son [Hindley] persecuting the poor, fatherless child” (Bronte 38).

Heathcliff was an orphan adopted by Mr. Earnshaw and brought to live at Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff falls in love with Mr. Earnshaw’s daughter, Catherine. After time, Mr. Earnshaw dies and his son, Hindley, is very mean to Heathcliff. Catherine wants a higher social status than Heathcliff can provide so she marries Edgar Linton. Heathcliff spends the rest of his life seeking revenge on just about everyone in the novel, including Hindley and Catherine. Heathcliff is often cruel and powerful and after he gets rich he uses his power to acquire both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.