Is Heathcliff a typical literary hero?

Is Heathcliff a typical literary hero?

Heathcliff is introduced to the reader as anything but a hero in the

beginning. He is bullied by Hindley and looked down upon by the rest

of the household, including Cathy and Nelly to start with -"hardened,

perhaps, to ill-treatment: he would stand Hindley's blows", "spitting

at the stupid little thing;". Heathcliff does not show himself to be

terribly helpful, kind or brave although he does seem to show an air

of strength and resilience when Hindley decides to throw a heavy

weight at him. But instead of throwing it back or running away he just

picks himself up and carries on with what he was doing- "and down he

fell, but staggered up immediately,...". As a child Heathcliff was

quite patient and irritable and did not have any real background or

education. He is supposedly handsome and loyal (to Cathy) but has very

low morals (he tried to kill Isabella's dog when they ran off to

Wuthering Heights)- . He is strong and athletic but is in no way

good-natured as the way he acts throughout the whole book shows you;

like- "Don't torture me till I am as mad as yourself!" The heroic

qualities we see today in our popular super heroes and other more

original characters like Sherlock Holmes, all originated from Greek

legends like Hercules and Perseus and from Bible stories like David

and Goliath.

Heathcliff does not seem to follow any of the patterns in these other

heroes or act like them, but more like the opposite. Heathcliff could

be analysed as a anti or Byronic hero; Heathcliff does show himself to

have the same qualities as a Byronic hero because he is wild and

passionate and has many dark qualities, Heathcliff is very

remorse-torn and moody; these qualities may have ...

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... without any

emotion in his life. She shows this when she talks of Heathcliff and

contrasts the both of them- "Whatever our souls are made of, his and

mine are the same; and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from

lightning, or frost from fire."

Both Edgar and Heathcliff do not have what it takes to be a heros,

Edgar is too nice and emotionless and Heathcliff is too full of

emotion, anger and hate. Together their qualities could make a hero,

but on there own they are two different things. Heathcliff's qualities

show him to be the opposite to a classic literary hero, so he could be

the Byronic hero who is wild, passionate and possesses many hidden

darker qualities. Heathcliff is passionate, he is slightly evil and he

does represent the opposite side of a hero, he possesses all the bad

qualities and mysterious qualities that make him a Byronic hero.