Examination of Heathcliff's character in the plot of Wuthering Heights

Examination of Heathcliff's character in the plot of Wuthering Heights

WutheringHeights centers around the story of Heathcliff. The first

paragraph of the novel provides a vivid physical picture of him, as

Lockwood describes how his "black eyes" withdraw suspiciously under

his brows at Lockwood's approach. Nelly's story begins with his

introduction into the Earnshaw family, his vengeful machinations drive

the entire plot, and his death ends the book. The desire to understand

him and his motivations keeps us engaged in the novel. His many levels

cause us to delve deeper than expected, and the introspection allows

us to fully explore not only Heathcliff but also the novel itself.

Heathcliff, however, defies being understood, and it is difficult for

us to resist seeing what they want or expect to see in him. The novel

teases with the possibility that Heathcliff is something other than

what he seems; that his cruelty is merely an expression of his

frustrated love for Catherine, or that his sinister behaviors serve to

conceal the heart of a romantic hero. We expect Heathcliff's character

to contain such a hidden virtue because he resembles a hero in a

romance novel. Traditionally, romance novel heroes appear dangerous,

brooding, and cold at first, only later to emerge as fiercely devoted

and loving. However, Heathcliff does not reform, and his malevolence

proves so great and long-lasting that it cannot be adequately

explained even as a desire for revenge against Hindley, Catherine,

Edgar, etc. As he himself points out, his abuse of Isabella is purely

sadistic, as he amuses himself by seeing how much abuse she can take

and still come cringing back for more. The author does the same thing

to the readers to us that Heathcliff does to Isabella, testing to see

how many times the reader can be shocked by Heathcliff's gratuitous

violence and still, masochistically, insist on seeing him as a

romantic hero.

Heathcliff drives the plot, as without Heathcliff we would not have

any of the problems needed to be dealt with. Heathcliff is connected

in some way to almost everyone in this novel, and unfortunately in

some way he deals with them negatively. Heathcliff helps to attach all

of these stories together, as he is the reason such misfortune happens

to everyone and thus he sits at the crux of the basic plot. He remains

throughout the novel to be somehow involved in most happenings,

whether it is part of the present day with Mr. Lockwood or when Nelly

recalls of his doings back in the day when Catherine was still

alive.He Considering this historical context, Heathcliff seems to embody

the anxieties that the book's upper- and middle-class audience had