How does Emily Bronte succeed in making Heathcliff remain to the reader a "likeable" character despite the cruel and calculated revenge he inflicts on the other characters in Wuthering Heights?

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How does Emily Bronte succeed in making Heathcliff remain to the reader a “likeable” character despite the cruel and calculated revenge he inflicts on the other characters in Wuthering Heights?

Wuthering Heights first appeared in May 1846, but it was not the great success it is today, as the book did not sell many copies, following this Emily Bronte along with her sisters sent their novels and poetry along to publishing houses where it was published properly.  They deceived the public at first by using pen names, because at that time women were not seen as intelligent or capable enough to write such a novel.  The audience of this book would have been upper class, as they would have been the only people who could afford books, and also be able to read them.

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The public reaction to Wuthiering Heights were fairly mixed for example, these are extracts from magazines or newspapers at the time of Wuthering Heights publishing: New Monthly Magazine from January 1848 “Wuthering Heights by Ellis Bell is a terrific story” on the other hand: The examiner, 8 January 1848 “it is wild, confused, disjointed and improbable; and the people who make up the drama…are savages.”

The law has changed considiberally from the time set in the book, and this is important when reading the book as Heathcliff’s revenge revolves around the laws at the time reflecting how wrong they were, ...

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