Heathcliff doesn’t have a very good start in life. We assume he is orphaned, and that he is left all alone to scrounge what he can from the streets of Liverpool (although we don’t know anything about his life prior to Mr. Earnshaw bringing him to Wuthering Heights). This must have deeply affected Heathcliff, especially in his youth. When he is adopted by the Earnshaws he is given the name Heathcliff, but he is not given a surname. This gives him a limited identity in a very close-knit community, singling him out even further. Not all of the Earnshaw family accept him and because he is Mr. Earnshaws favourite child Hindley has a great jealousy of Heathcliff: it was this jealousy that sealed Heathcliff’s fate. ‘So, from the very beginning he bred bad feeling in the house; and at Mrs. Earnshaw’s death, which happened in less than two years after, the young master had learned to regard his father as an oppressor rather than a friend, and Heathcliff a usurper of his parent’s affections and his privileges’; Heathcliff was welcomed only by Mr. Earnshaw and Catherine, Mrs. Earnshaw is seldom mentioned connected with Heathcliff, but it is said that, ‘Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to fling it out of doors: she did fly up, asking how he could fashion to bring that gipsy brat into the house’; the emphasis in this is on ‘fling it out’- he is not considered to be human, showing us that she did not welcome him either. This rift in the family continued until the death of all the members: Catherine despised her brother, shown to us in her diary entries (‘Hindley is a detestable substitute- his conduct to Heathcliff is atrocious), because of his treatment of Heathcliff, and Hindley never forgave his father- ‘at Mrs. Earnshaw’s death, which happened in less than two years after, the young master [Hindley] had learnt to regard his father as an opressor’.
Because Heathcliff looks different, he looks like a common gypsy, he is not trusted. Even Mr. Earnshaw who was very protective over Heathcliff and became paranoid about people being cruel to him said,’you must e’en take it as a gift of God; though it’s as dark almost as if it came from the devil.’ Mr. Linton said, ‘Miss Earnshaw scouring the country with a gypsy!...he is that strange acquisition my late neighbour made, in his journey to Liverpool- a little Lascar, or an American or Spanish castaway’: they give him no respect and as Heathcliff says, ‘they had not the manners to ask me to stay’. This shows us how little respect people had for him: if Heathcliff had been considered a true member of the Earnshaw family, he would have been respected and the Lintons would have been hospitable towards him.
Hindley makes Heathcliff a farm labourer, taking everything from him. Heathcliff is treated in such an appalling way by Hindley that it leaves a serious scar in Heathcliff’s mind, shown later in the way he treats Hareton and the revenge he wreaks upon Hindley and Edgar. Even Catherine is deeply affected by the way her brother treats Heathcliff; she was very close to him from being very small, 'The greatest punishment we could invent for her was to keep her separate from him.’ Catherine says, ‘Poor Heathcliff! Hindley calls him a vagabond, and won’t let him sit with us, nor eat with us any more; and, he says, he and I must not play together, and threatens to turn him out of the house if we break his orders.’ She documents Hindley’s treatment of Heathcliff (‘H’) in her diary, ‘I wish my father were back again. Hindley is a detestable substitute- his conduct to Heathcliff is atrocious-H. and I are going to rebel.’ Hindley beats Heathcliff, and denies him food; even denies him of all company, ‘as the prisoner had never broken his fast since yesterday’s dinner, I would wink at their cheating Mr. Hindley that once.’ This particular incidence pushed Heathcliff over the line, and bred his plan for revenge against Hindley: ‘I’m trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back. I don’t care how long I wait, if I can only do it at last…God won’t have the satisfaction I shall…I only wish I knew the best way! Let me alone, and I’ll plan it out: while I’m thinking of that I don’t feel pain.’ After Frances (Hindley’s wife) dies, Hindley becomes much worse. ‘The master’s bad ways and bad companions formed a pretty example for Catherine and Heathcliff. His treatment of the latter was enough to make a fiend of a saint.’ A good example of the effect of Hindley’s behaviour is this: ‘Intelligence of Mr. Hindley’s arrival drove Linton speedily to his horse, and Catherine to her chamber. I went to hide little Hareton,’ the family don’t want to be around him. Hindley destroys Heathcliff, but at the same time he destroys himself, widening the rift in the family created by Heathcliff’s arrival. The beginning of Heathcliff’s revengeful life is his three year disappearance: by the time he returns, Hindley is a gambling alcoholic (he ‘gave himself up to reckless dissipation’). Heathcliff stage directs Hindley’s demise; he stays at Wuthering Heights and lends Hindley money- after a time Hindley is so much in debt to Heathcliff that he has no choice but to mortgage the house to him. This act is the start of a long period of hatred and revenge for Heathcliff.
Hareton shows many of the typical family traits associated with the Earnshaws: his pride (‘My name is Hareton Earnshaw and I ask you to respect it’); his sullen attitude (‘looked down on me from the corner of his eyes…mortal feud between us’); his closeness to nature; his free spirited character (‘his bearing was free’) and his mood swings from very dark and moody to very sensitive. He is born into a landowning, wealthy, passionate and emotionally charged family, but his inherited importance is taken away from him fairly early on in life by Heathcliff: Hareton’s demise is the second stage of Heathcliff’s vengeance.
Hareton is uneducated, and speaks in an accented way. He is not corrected if he swears, or is rude. He works on the farm, so he dresses as a labourer: all of these things contribute to what outsiders think of him- they wouldn’t think he was part of the Gentry class; they would consider him unimportant and so he isn’t respected. This is controlled partially by the influence of Joseph: ’If the lad swore, he wouldn’t correct it…Joseph had instilled in him a pride of his name, and of his lineage; he would, had he dared, have fostered hate between him and the present owner of the Heights.’ Joseph is a great traditionalist: he believes the only book that should be read is the bible, he believes all others are evil- when Cathy begins to teach Hareton to read he threatens to hide the book, ‘Ony books that yah leave, I shall take’ into h’ hahse…and it’ll be mitch if yah find ‘em again.’ So in the name of tradition, he thinks Hareton ought to have control of Wuthering Heights.
What we know of Lockwood’s first impression of Hareton is that he ‘began to doubt whether he was a servant or not’. He goes on to say that ‘his dress and speech were both rude, entirely devoid of the superiority observable in Mr. and Mrs. Heathcliff’, he follows with a description of Hareton, including that ‘his hands were embrowned like a common labourer’: but the most interesting part of this is that ‘his bearing was free, almost haughty, and he shoed none of a domestic’s assiduity in attending the lady of the house.’ Hareton may have been reduced to a common farm labourer by Heathcliff, but this shows us that he still has pride in himself. This could then be attributed to either genetic nature, or the pride that Joseph instilled in him of his family background.
Hindley’s influence on Hareton is not long lasting, as he dies when Hareton is still young. But the effect that he does have on Hareton is important, as it affects Hareton’s relationship with Heathcliff: Hareton finally considers Heathcliff his father; if Hindley hadn’t treated him so badly as a child he might think more of his true father. Hareton is subject to the extreme violence of his father Hindley at regular intervals, violence heightened by the death of his mother, Frances: Hindley ‘grew desperate: his sorrow was of the kind that will not lament…he cursed and defied…and gave himself up to reckless dissipation.’ Hindley was so unhappy he took to gambling and alcoholism, and became very violent to members of the house: ‘The servants could not bear his tyrannical conduct long: Joseph and I were the only two that would stay.’ Hindley was not only violent towards the servants; Hareton was also subject to it, once Hindley even tried to kill him. ‘Kiss me Hareton!...By God, as if I would rear such a monster! As sure as I’m living, I’ll break the brat’s neck.’ He then carried Hareton upstairs and held him over the banister; Hareton fell down, but he was saved by Heathcliff. This has a profound effect on Hareton; ‘He attempted to touch the child, who, on finding himself with me, sobbed off his terror directly…”He hates you- they all hate you.”’ Apart from the immediate effect of Hindley’s actions, Hareton is not left with anything of his father: He is only five when his father dies so the memory of him cannot be strong in adulthood, and he doesn’t have Wuthering Heights under his control which is the legacy that Hindley would have given him.
Heathcliff’s nurturing of Hareton is much more profound. Essentially, it mirrors the treatment Heathcliff received from Hindley; when Hindley dies, Heathcliff says, ‘Now, my bonny lad, you are mine! And we’ll see if one tree won’t grow as crooked as another, with the same wind to twist it’: Heathcliff considers Hareton the way he can get his revenge on Hindley, ‘If he were a born fool I should not enjoy it half so much’, ‘‘I’ve got him faster than that scoundrel of a father secured me, and lower…Don’t you think Hindley would be proud of his son, if he could see him?...And the best of it is, Hareton is damnably fond of me! You’ll own that I’ve out-matched Hindley there.’ Heathcliff treats Hindley terribly, and yet Hindley’s and Heathcliff’s reactions to the same situation are entirely different- Heathcliff hates his oppressor, Hareton loves his.
Even though Hindley is dead, Heathcliff still feels that he has to prove himself. He takes control of the Heights, and reduces Hareton to a farm labourer: ‘Earnshaw had mortgaged every yard of land he owned, for cash to supply his mania for gaming; and he, Heathcliff, was the mortgagee. In that manner Hareton, who should now be the first gentleman in the neighbourhood, was reduced to a state of complete dependence on his father’s inveterate enemy; and lives in his own house as a servant, deprived of the advantage of wages: quite unable to right himself because of his friendlessness and his ignorance that he has been wronged.’ He denies him of education, and life experience: he doesn’t learn any social interaction because there are never any guests at the Heights, and the only company he has includes Joseph who doesn’t punish him if he ever does wrong, and Heathcliff who revels in Hareton doing wrong, because it brings him further down in the social ladder.
Hareton and Linton have very different understandings of social interaction: Linton lives with his mother until he is twelve or thirteen in London, where he learns a great deal about conversing with others. When he is taken to Wuthering Heights upon his mother’s death his education is continued (‘Linton learnt his lessons and spent his evenings in a small apartment’), giving him further opportunities and understanding of the world. Hareton, on the other hand, is never really educated. When he is small the servant Nelly Dean begins to teach him to read, but it is only for a very short time. This lack of education deprives him of the experience, and understanding that Linton is indulged in.
This contrast in nurture affects how they act when they are around Cathy (the daughter of Catherine and Edgar). Hareton is very quiet and reserved when he is around her, having not been in such a situation before. Heathcliff tells him, ‘Don’t use any bad words; and don’t stare when they young lady is not looking, and be ready to hide your face when she is; and when you speak, say your words slowly, and keep your hands out of your pockets’: if Hareton had been subjected to guests before, be they male or female, these instructions wouldn’t have been necessary. This quote also shows us how great Heathcliff’s desire for control is. Hareton’s shyness around Cathy shows us that he is completely taken aback by having company: ‘he watched the couple walking past the window. Earnshaw had his countenance completely averted from his companion.’ At Wuthering Heights guests are rare because of the suspicion under which Heathcliff places them; Wuthering Heights was described as a ‘perfect misanthropists heaven’- it’s far from any social stir, showing us clearly that Heathcliff likes to keep himself to himself. This lack of company concludes in Hareton being confused and shy around guests.
However Linton, Heathcliff’s son, is much bolder with Cathy. They keep in touch by letter, ‘a mass of correspondence- daily almost, it must have been- from Linton Heathcliff,’ but the fact that they have to communicate by letter shows us just how far their interaction is controlled by Edgar Linton and Heathcliff. Linton is brought up by Isabella until he is around thirteen; she dies and he has to live with his father. If Linton had lived with Heathcliff for the whole of his life it is unlikely he would be so self-assured, as he would have been removed from society by his father, who doesn’t like Linton. When Cathy has to end her written correspondence with Linton, Heathcliff tells Linton he is a ‘pitiful, shuffling, worthless thing’- no use to him any more. Linton likes attention seeking with Cathy, and when they see each other he says, ‘I wish she felt as I do…you’ve hurt me so, that I shall lie awake all night choking with this cough’: he has a nature which makes him very faint-hearted, he isn’t very considerate to others and he often puts others down in order to make himself feel better. He is described as this: ‘In weak health…tiresome inmate.’ This nature affects how Cathy feels when she is with him: ‘It was not to amuse myself that I went: I was often wretched all the time. Now and then I was happy, once a week perhaps.’ This shows us that one of the only reasons Cathy goes to see Linton because she feels sorry for him, he makes her feel guilty by placing the blame for his illness on her.
When Hareton is teased by both Linton and Cathy he shows us his proud and sensitive nature; he forgets how to be a gentleman and retreats, ‘while his face burnt with mingled rage and mortification.’ Linton treats Hareton as a simpleton, saying, ‘There’s nothing the matter but laziness,’ and it is Linton who first promotes teasing Hareton as amusing. He and Cathy ‘remained chattering in the doorway: the boy finding animation enough while discussing Hareton’s faults and deficiencies…I began to dislike, more than to compassionate Linton, and to excuse his father, in some measure, for holding him cheap’: Nelly doesn’t like Linton because of his apathy towards other people.
At first, due probably to Linton’s prompting, Cathy and Hareton don’t like each other. Cathy relishes in teasing him, ‘commenting on his stupidity and idleness.’ Nelly describes her as being, ‘as soft and mild as a dove, and she had a pensive expression: her anger was never furious; her love never fierce: it was deep and tender’: this nature affects her actions with Hareton- she changes her mind about him, and wants to bridge the gap between them with friendship: ‘I’ve found out, Hareton, that I want- that I’m glad- that I should like you to be my cousin now’. Cathy tries very hard at this point to make friends, but Hareton is rude to her still, saying, ‘Get off wi’ ye!’, ‘Will you go to the devil!’ His attitude softens when Cathy offers him a book: he understands that this opportunity of education is very significant and from this act of kindness from Cathy, ‘the enemies were, thenceforth, sworn allies.’ This is very significant because within the two families, the Lintons and the Earnshaws, everyone is an adversary, and Heathcliff especially wants Cathy and Hareton to be enemies too- this breaks that cycle, and brings the story full circle.
Cathy’s way of nurturing Hareton changes his character greatly. She talks to him softly, and rewards him for being correct; ‘pupil claimed a reward, and received at least five kisses.’ Hareton’s appearance and manner change too, shown to us when Lockwood remarks that he is ‘respectably dressed and that Hareton speaks in ‘deep but softened tones.’ These things are unexpected, because prior to this we see Hareton as a farm labourer who dresses shabbily, and we are always aware of the way he speaks; gruff, accented and uneducated. ‘His honest, warm, and intelligent nature shook off rapidly the clouds of ignorance and degradation in which it had been bred’- the nurturing from Cathy brings out Hareton’s nature.
Hareton and Heathcliff have very different outcomes. Heathcliff doesn’t achieve anything positive in the end, he only creates the unhappiness and demise of his enemies- but even this is short term, because the story comes full circle with the love between Cathy and Hareton. Heathcliff spends almost all of his life seeking revenge, much of it against people long dead. He thinks he has finally destroyed Hindley with his hold on Hareton, and Edgar with his hold on Cathy, but when they fall in love all of this is shattered: the two family names he wants so intensely to fall from grace begin to flourish again. Heathcliff says, ‘It is a poor conclusion, is it not?...an absurd termination to my violent exertions?’: Heathcliff spends such a long period of his life seeking revenge, stopping at nothing, and yet in the end he has nothing. Heathcliff gains naught in the end, and the only thing he ever grieves losing is Catherine.
Hareton achieves the opposite to this. From the very beginning of his life he has lost out: his father never accepts him because it is the birth of Hareton that kills Frances, and after his death Hareton is under the control of Heathcliff, who takes everything from him. He gains nothing for a very long time- he works as a servant in his own home, but he doesn’t get wages: his life is entirely controlled by a man who is obsessed by the thought of Hareton’s downfall. But Hareton is never really aware that he is being cheated by Heathcliff (‘quite unable to right himself because of his friendlessness and his ignorance that he has been wronged’), and he is very fond of him- Hareton, for a very long time, is in a ‘lose-lose’ situation. With the arrival of Cathy, this changes. She teaches him to read, and from her he gains much of what is taken from him: he gains education, experience, confidence, a friend, and love. After Heathcliff’s death Hareton can rise up into the position he born into: bringing the story full circle.
Heathcliff is subject to many cruel things during his life, events that would affect anybody’s view of the world: he is orphaned and then adopted into a family where he is not widely accepted; he is treated in an appalling way by Hindley, who demotes him to be a common servant; he is rejected by his friend and love, for reasons of status; he is shunned by the local people and labelled a common gypsy: his life is turbulent and complex, it would be surprising if his attitude was not affected at all by this. This is why I think Heathcliff is a product of his unstable and violent nurture: without this it is unlikely these traits would exist to such extremes. If Heathcliff had been brought up without hostility his desire for revenge against these people wouldn’t have been so strong, if it was there at all. Heathcliff wishes evil on the Linton family because he is not respected by them, and he is treated as a thief and a beggar. Also, it is Edgar Linton who Catherine chooses over him: a very significant turning point in Heathcliff’s life. If he was not an orphan Heathcliff wouldn’t have been singled out to such an extent; if he hadn’t been degraded so much by Hindley Catherine wouldn’t have rejected his love on grounds of social status: throughout his life Heathcliff is rejected by those around him, be it Mrs. Earnshaw, Catherine, Hindley or perhaps even his true family (after all, we are not told that Heathcliff is definitely an orphan).
However we can’t consider all events in Heathcliff’s life to be products of his nurture, his nature has to be taken into account too. When he imprisons Cathy and Nelly Dean in Wuthering Heights so he can gain control over Thrushcross Grange he may be acting to get revenge, but this is not the only possible way; when he marries Isabella out of spite, it was unnecessary- it seems that Heathcliff’s nurture has highlighted an evil side to Heathcliff that lies quiescent at first. So although Heathcliff’s outlook and manner are a result of his nurture, they are there as part of his nature too: nurture affects Heathcliff’s nature, heightening parts of it and toning down others.
When considering Hareton’s nature and nurture, it changes dramatically over time. For a great part of his life he is a product of his nurture: he speaks and dresses as a common labourer, which is the role created by Heathcliff for him; he is rude and uneducated, also signifying his upbringing with Joseph and Heathcliff. The desire for revenge in Heathcliff is what affected Hareton’s life so greatly: without this, he would have been ‘the gentleman of the neighbourhood’, not a farm labourer. Joseph’s nurturing also affects how Hareton develops as an adult: he is spoilt and the lack of discipline in the household heightens the lack of social awareness in Hareton. When Cathy comes to live at the Heights Hareton is introduced to a new kind of nurture: this changes Hareton’s personality. He becomes gentler and has more awareness of people around him- Cathy gives him education, but also the gift of friendship and love which enables Hareton to become a more complex character with greater respect not only from other people, but of other people too. In Heathcliff’s death, Hareton can become what he was always supposed to be.
Even though Hareton is affected very greatly by his nurture, we see his nature too. We see his pride, his passion and sensitivity; we see that he is very close to nature: all of these things are genetic character traits, visible in Hareton’s father and aunt, Hindley and Catherine Earnshaw. With Heathcliff, his nurture enhances parts of his personality, whereas in Hareton’s nurture, his nature is dulled and moulded so it is less extreme. This is done by denying Hareton of experience. At the end of the novel, Hareton is very much a product of his nature; Cathy’s nurturing allows this to change.
