Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

After being putdown by Hindley for the majority of his childhood, Heathcliff is now the victim turned malefactor. Once he returns the roles of the characters in the book have changed. Heathcliff plays on Hindley’s gambling addiction and lends him money. Now Hindley is in debt to Heathcliff and through exchange, Heathcliff wins Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff used to be savage and a slave and now, Heathcliff owns Hindley and this makes Hindley seem more savage. Heathcliff gains control of Wuthering Heights through gambling with Hindley, the previous owner of Wuthering Heights. The Gypsies of the time period where thought to be skilled in gambling and fortune-telling. His envy of Edgar’s handsomeness partly fuels his anger toward Edgar and Catherine’s choice to marry him. Heathcliff wants revenge on Edgar for stealing away Catherine. So he takes advantage of Isabella, Edgar’s sister, and marries her. “[Heathcliff] seized, and thrust [Isabella] from the room; and returned muttering – "I have no pity! I have no pity! The more the worms writhe, the more I yearn to crush out their entrails! It is a moral teething; and I grind with greater energy in proportion to the increase of pain." (151). Immediately, it is a loveless marriage between Heathcliff and Isabella. He is so malicious to take revenge, which he engages in acts of violence, for example hanging Isabella’s dog.

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.

Heathcliff resents her scorn. He desires to regain her approval. He attempts to be “decent” and “good” for her sake (Brontë 40). However, his attempt to be decent fails miserably. He resents the attentions that Catherine gives to Edgar. Catherine would rather wear a “silly frock” and have dinner with “silly friends” than ramble about the moors with him (Brontë 50). Heathcliff keeps track of the evenings Catherine spends with Edgar and those that she spends with him. He desperately wants to be with Catherine. When Catherine announces to Nelly her engagement to Edgar, Heathcliff eavesdrops, but leaves the room when he “heard Catherine say it would degrade her to marry him” (Brontë 59). Catherine has spurned his love, choosing Edgar over him. Heathcliff cannot bear this rejection. The love he possesses for her transcends romantic and filial love (Mitchell 124). He feels that he is one with her (Mitchell 123).

At one point in Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff locks Catherine and Nelly into a room for several days and even “seized her [Catherine] with the liberated hand, and, pulling her, on his knee, administered, with the other, a shower of terrific slaps on both sides of the head” (271). Heathcliff slaps Cathy after she refuses to say in the room with Nelly for the sole reason that Cathy is Catherine’s daughter, and Heathcliff takes out his anger at Catherine on her daughter, which shows how much fury he still has after all of these years. Heathcliff also tries to marry Cathy to Linton in order to take control of Wuthering Heights when Edgar dies. He says that Wuthering Heights would “go to me; but, to prevent disputes, I desire their union, and am resolved to bring it about” (215). The hope of preserving the memory of Catherine is what drives Heathcliff to force his son to marry Catherine. If Linton were to become heir of the property, it would ensure Heathcliff's ownership of Wuthering Heights, fulfilling his

Soon after Heathcliff forces Linton and Cathy to marry, he feels an uncertain change within him. He has lost the motive for revenge on Hidleys son, Hareton. This change is unexplainable, but he knows that death is approaching him. In April of 1802, Nelly Dean finds

In Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Catherine Earnshaw is in love with Heathcliff, a poor orphan who has become her foster brother. Their inseparable bond helps them survive the harshness and cruelty of their lives. However, wealthy Edgar Linton is in love with her as well, and Catherine must choose between them. Cathy sacrifices her future with Heathcliff so that she can marry Edgar Linton. This reveals that she is selfish enough to want a comfortable life at the expense of her "true love", but that she is also pragmatic and knows that having more money will help Heathcliff into a better social situation.

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 has just run away from Wuthering Heights after overhearing a conversation between Catherine and Nelly where he hears Catherine saying, “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now”. Heathcliff is very upset after hearing this. He left the room before being able to here Catherine confess her true feelings towards Heathcliff. Catherine panics and feels greatly upset after finding out that Heathcliff had overheard this conversation. She also feels guilty due to the fact that she believes she is the reason why Heathcliff left Wuthering Heights.

For Heathcliff and Hindley, the two most bent on revenge, stolen love fuels their need for revenge. Hindley needs revenge because he sees “Heathcliff as a usurper of his parent’s affections and his privileges; and he gr[ows] bitter with brooding over these injuries” (33). Hindley was always the entitled child, but because his father favors a mere orphan over him, he feels the pain of rejection. Eventually, Heathcliffe also wants revenge because he believes that Edgar causes the death of his beloved Catherine. He tells Isabella that “she

This leads to him running away from the heights entirely, leaving Catherine to marry Edgar. “He had listened till he heard Catherine say it would degrade her to marry him.” (81). Upon his return (two years later), Heathcliff marries Isabella to get back at Catherine, and her speech about how marrying him would degrade her. Isabella is also taken against her and her family’s will. Heathcliff kidnaps her and locks her away at the heights. In a letter written to Nelly, Isabella confirms that it was truly against her will for her leaving, and that she cannot return in the time of crisis in her brother’s life. “… an entreaty for kind remembrance and reconciliation, if her proceeding offended him: asserting that she could not help it then, and being done, no power to repeal it.” (140). In the act of kidnapping Isabella, Heathcliff’s intent is to hurt Catherine. Catherine would develop almost a jealous-like temper towards the whole situation, as Heathcliff knew it would. Even on Catherine’s deathbed, there is a constant push and pull (in almost a literal sense) of the cruelty that goes on between the two of them. Between the crying, the vexing, and the constant apologies, comes the brutal cruelty of the words Catherine speaks to Heathcliff. “I shall not pity you, not I. You have killed me – and thriven on it, I think.” (164)

To begin, one cannot find inner peace if one has an utmost desire for revenge. This is shown through the many conflicts between the characters and themselves. First of all, Heathcliff is primarily interested in gaining land and vengeance towards others who have abused him or doubted him. To backtrack, he was adopted by Mr.Earnshaw, and he had a stepbrother named Hindley. Hindley mistreated and downgraded Heathcliff, and for that he feels the need to pay him back. After Hindley died from over drinking, Heathcliff went in to raise Hindley’s son, Hareton. Heathcliff’s plan was to abuse Hareton and make him miserable to pay back Hindley. For instance, Nelly, the housekeeper has stated her

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

Catherine was no the only character who married for certain advantages; Heathcliff forces his son Linton to marry Cahterine Linton, so their family could gain control over Thrushcross Grange. Education was also affected by the society, Hindley attended college, while Heathcliff was not allowed to go. Heathcliff was adopted as a young boy, throughout the novel Heathcliff works his way from the bottom to close to the top of social standings.

While at Thrushcross Grange, she grows infatuated with Edgar, despite her love for Heathcliff. Edgar came from an upper class family as well and took care of her when she was in a dog accident. This leads to her acceptance of Edgar Linton’s marriage proposal despite her statements regarding her love for Heathcliff. Heathcliff overhears unfortunate passages of Catherine's discourse and disappears for a period during which he mysteriously makes his fortune and changes irrevocably from the person he was. Vengeance consumes him, and Heathcliff attempts to destroy the lives of those who wronged him, (as well as their children). Ultimately, Heathcliff’s bitterly executed vengeance is effaced by a love between Hareton and Cathy that mirrors Heathcliff’s own love for Catherine. Hareton is Catherine’s nephew and Cathy is Catherine’s daughter, which makes the two first cousins.