WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Heathcliff. A. Towey.
Old Mr Earnshaw says of the foundling Heathcliff: “Take it as a gift from God. It’s as dark almost as if it came from the Devil”
Nelly later calls him “a mad dog”.
She asks “Is he a ghoul or a vampire?”
Hindley calls him “an imp of Satan”
Cathy tells Isabella that he is “a fierce, pitiless wolfish man”
Isabella says: “He’s a lying fiend, a monster, not a human being.”
He is also described as a “cuckoo”---a cuckoo in the nest, a usurper.
Nelly tells us that “from the beginning he bred bad feeling in the house”. Heathcliff was rejected from the beginning, even by the patient Nelly who leaves him out on the landing “hoping it might be gone on the morrow”. He is described by Nelly as “a sullen, patient child, hardened perhaps to ill-treatment. He would stand Hindley’s blows without winking or shedding a tear, and my pinches moved him only to draw in his breath and open his eyes…”
So Heathcliff is rejected as an intruder and despised, especially by Hindley, who sees him as a threat to his own privileges. He is persecuted by Hindley and deprived of love and education. This degradation and humiliation sow the seeds of hatred and revenge. We remember when Hindley and Heathcliff were given colts by old Earnshaw, and Heathcliff demands Hindley’s colt. A savage fight ensues where Hindley hits Heathcliff on the chest with an iron weight. Heathcliff falls, but “staggers up again immediately, breathless and white.” Hindley shouts “take my colt, gypsy, then…and I hope he breaks your neck” Nelly is amazed at the child Heathcliff’s stoic, uncomplaining hardness and endurance.
Only in Catherine Earnshaw does he find, not just a companion, but a
soul-mate. Nelly also becomes fond of him. She nursed him during a dangerous attack of measles, and notes his uncomplaining nature “he was as uncomplaining as a lamb”.
When the young Lintons come for a Christmas celebration at the Heights, Hindley spurns Heathcliff:: “Begone, vagabond”. When young Edgar Linton joins in the teasing of Heathcliff, he flings a tureen of hot apple sauce at the boy. He is beaten by Hindley and confined to the garret, while the others celebrate below. Catherine, in her love and loyalty, creeps up to visit him in his room and attempts to comfort him.
He tells Nelly: “I’m trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back….Let me alone and I’ll plan it out. While I’m thinking of that I don’t feel pain”.
We must remember this cruel treatment of the child Heathcliff when we judge his later actions.
He is treated as a servant. “You may come and wish Miss Catherine welcome, like the other servants” Hindley tells him, when the newly refined and fashionably dressed Cathy returns from her stay at the Grange. Cathy also thoughtlessly laughs at the boorish Heathcliff, so different from the refined Lintons whom she has grown used to.
Heathcliff overhears Cathy’s remark that it would “degrade” her to marry him. He leaves the Heights, and .Cathy marries the refined, wealthy and handsome Edgar.
Heathcliff leaves as a boorish servant and returns rich, with the outward manners of a gentleman. But appearances are deceptive. He has changed into a sadistic brute seeking revenge on the Lintons and on Hindley. He uses Hindley’s gambling and degradation for his own ends, eventually robbing him of the Heights, and Hareton of his inheritance. In a typical mirroring in the novel, the child Hareton will be deprived of care and education, just as the child Heathcliff was. Heathcliff can never totally degrade Hareton, however, and his goodness and gentleness win out in the end. But he tries. “Let’s see if one tree won’t grow as crooked as another, with the same wind to twist it” Environment shapes character---one of the themes of the novel.
Heathcliff takes pleasure in destroying Hindley, and in degrading Isabella Linton. As his schemes unfold he seems to be an evil force, rather than a man. “Is he a devil?” Isabella asks. His treatment of her, after he has cynically seduced her into marrying him, is particularly cruel.
He has an obsessive personality. His passion for Cathy seems crazed and treacherous. He seems sustained and energised by revenge. When his desire for revenge burns itself out, he seems to lose the will to live. Life and energy gradually ebb from him.
But we feel some compassion for him---the child mistreated, the soul in torment seeking reunion with Cathy, the object of his undying love.
On his deathbed he says: “I repent of nothing”
Old Mr Earnshaw says of the foundling Heathcliff: “Take it as a gift from God. It’s as dark almost as if it came from the Devil”
Nelly later calls him “a mad dog”.
She asks “Is he a ghoul or a vampire?”
Hindley calls him “an imp of Satan”
Cathy tells Isabella that he is “a fierce, pitiless wolfish man”
Isabella says: “He’s a lying fiend, a monster, not a human being.”
He is also described as a “cuckoo”---a cuckoo in the nest, a usurper.
Nelly tells us that “from the beginning he bred bad feeling in the house”. Heathcliff was rejected from the beginning, even by the patient Nelly who leaves him out on the landing “hoping it might be gone on the morrow”. He is described by Nelly as “a sullen, patient child, hardened perhaps to ill-treatment. He would stand Hindley’s blows without winking or shedding a tear, and my pinches moved him only to draw in his breath and open his eyes…”
So Heathcliff is rejected as an intruder and despised, especially by Hindley, who sees him as a threat to his own privileges. He is persecuted by Hindley and deprived of love and education. This degradation and humiliation sow the seeds of hatred and revenge. We remember when Hindley and Heathcliff were given colts by old Earnshaw, and Heathcliff demands Hindley’s colt. A savage fight ensues where Hindley hits Heathcliff on the chest with an iron weight. Heathcliff falls, but “staggers up again immediately, breathless and white.” Hindley shouts “take my colt, gypsy, then…and I hope he breaks your neck” Nelly is amazed at the child Heathcliff’s stoic, uncomplaining hardness and endurance.
Only in Catherine Earnshaw does he find, not just a companion, but a
soul-mate. Nelly also becomes fond of him. She nursed him during a dangerous attack of measles, and notes his uncomplaining nature “he was as uncomplaining as a lamb”.
When the young Lintons come for a Christmas celebration at the Heights, Hindley spurns Heathcliff:: “Begone, vagabond”. When young Edgar Linton joins in the teasing of Heathcliff, he flings a tureen of hot apple sauce at the boy. He is beaten by Hindley and confined to the garret, while the others celebrate below. Catherine, in her love and loyalty, creeps up to visit him in his room and attempts to comfort him.
He tells Nelly: “I’m trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back….Let me alone and I’ll plan it out. While I’m thinking of that I don’t feel pain”.
We must remember this cruel treatment of the child Heathcliff when we judge his later actions.
He is treated as a servant. “You may come and wish Miss Catherine welcome, like the other servants” Hindley tells him, when the newly refined and fashionably dressed Cathy returns from her stay at the Grange. Cathy also thoughtlessly laughs at the boorish Heathcliff, so different from the refined Lintons whom she has grown used to.
Heathcliff overhears Cathy’s remark that it would “degrade” her to marry him. He leaves the Heights, and .Cathy marries the refined, wealthy and handsome Edgar.
Heathcliff leaves as a boorish servant and returns rich, with the outward manners of a gentleman. But appearances are deceptive. He has changed into a sadistic brute seeking revenge on the Lintons and on Hindley. He uses Hindley’s gambling and degradation for his own ends, eventually robbing him of the Heights, and Hareton of his inheritance. In a typical mirroring in the novel, the child Hareton will be deprived of care and education, just as the child Heathcliff was. Heathcliff can never totally degrade Hareton, however, and his goodness and gentleness win out in the end. But he tries. “Let’s see if one tree won’t grow as crooked as another, with the same wind to twist it” Environment shapes character---one of the themes of the novel.
Heathcliff takes pleasure in destroying Hindley, and in degrading Isabella Linton. As his schemes unfold he seems to be an evil force, rather than a man. “Is he a devil?” Isabella asks. His treatment of her, after he has cynically seduced her into marrying him, is particularly cruel.
He has an obsessive personality. His passion for Cathy seems crazed and treacherous. He seems sustained and energised by revenge. When his desire for revenge burns itself out, he seems to lose the will to live. Life and energy gradually ebb from him.
But we feel some compassion for him---the child mistreated, the soul in torment seeking reunion with Cathy, the object of his undying love.
On his deathbed he says: “I repent of nothing”