Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

In the book Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Heathcliff has taken it upon himself to seek revenge against anyone who mistreated him. While doing so, his cruel acts lead to the demise of the first generations of Earnshaws, the family who adopts him. Although his animosity is aimed to one it becomes out of control, it spreads to everyone like a disease of cruelty and heartbreak. Unfortunately a bitter childhood and betrayal of the heart turns a kind soul into an evil sour man searching for vengeance. The avengement of Heathcliff brings on the rage and corruption to the Earnshaw – Linton families tearing through the first generation.

The anger Heathcliff has for Hindley stems the deepest because of the abuse Heathcliff endured as a child. Heathcliff’s childhood was swept away by Hindley; this is the cause of his revenge. Mr. Earnshaw adopted Heathcliff into the Earnshaw family, making him an outsider. He had much love for Heathcliff, which infuriated Hindley, who became envious. Because of Hindley’s feelings towards Heathcliff, the reader feels that “he is almost like a stray dog brought home to Wuthering Heights by Mr. Earnshaw.”(McClinton –Temple 1). These feelings caused him to mistreat Heathcliff. After Mr. Earnshaw died, Hindley had complete control over the estate. Heathcliff was deprived of education and was “treated more as an animal than a human.” (McClnton-Temple 1) This ill treatment enforced by Hindley, made it Heathcliff’s goal to bring reprisal and annihilate Hindley. Hindley’s trouble with drinking, which is his ultimate downfall, allowed the revenge be easygoing. Heathcliff involving Hindley in gambling overloads him in debt. In order to pay it off Hindley must mortgage the estate making Heathcliff the new own...

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...ldhood and his love and this brought on the vengeance. The outcome of his retaliation took a massive toll on the first generation and part of the second. Hindley died from drinking, and Catherine dies in childbirth. Isabella, Heathcliff’s first wife, couldn’t take his cruelty and ran away. All of the first generation Earnshaws has died from this tyrannical orphan. But too much anger can also give a person a visit with fate and Heathcliff dies putting the estate back into order once again.

Works Cited

Brontë, Emily, Virginia Woolf, David Cecil, and Charlotte Bronte. Wuthering Heights. Philadelphia: Running, 1991. Print.

"Wuthering Heights." Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 308-327. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.

McClinton-Temple, Jennifer. "cruelty." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 10 Feb. 2014