In which ways does Heathcliff deserve to be hated and in which ways does he deserve our sympathy?

Lydia Millington

Wuthering Heights

Task: In which ways does Heathcliff deserve to be hated and in which ways does he deserve our sympathy?

Heathcliff is the man with a desire for revenge, which means we should hate him; or should we? In the novel Heathcliff does search for revenge in anyone who has done him harm, or in some cases punishes somebody else in order to seek revenge on others. This is just one of many reasons why you could indeed hate Heathcliff, but there is another side to him. At certain places in the novel you do sympathise with him, as at times what he is put through is very tough. Through out the novel there are many ways in which we could hate Heathcliff but also times where we could sympathise with him for his words and actions he takes.

At the start of the novel Mr Earnshaw brings Heathcliff into the story. He is picked up by Mr Earnshaw on his trip to Liverpool and brings Heathcliff back with him. This is one of the first times we feel sympathy for Heathcliff. The description of him was,

“ A dirty, ragged, black-haired child.”

He’s a lonely orphan who needs to be loved and this makes him seem like a poor little innocent child in some ways deceiving the reader. Mr Earnshaw’s two children take to Heathcliff very differently. Catherine likes him and their relationship becomes very intense; Whereas Hindley does not take to Heathcliff very well at all. He hates him and despises him. The reason he does this is because his father (Mr Earnshaw) treats Heathcliff very well, if so better than he does Hindley. He victimises and degrades him with his actions and language.

“He would stand Hindley’s blows without winking or shredding a tear.”

This makes the reader believe that Hindley is the violent, jealous child, whereas Heathcliff comes across as ‘ a sullen, patient child; hardened, perhaps to ill-treatment.’ Phrases like this appear in the early chapters of the novel, therefore leading us as readers to feel sympathy for this child at this stage. We are not given a picture of childhood happiness here. Instead the children are violent and jealous, yet Heathcliff is cool and strangely without any emotion for such a young child, again making us sympathise with him.

Further on in the novel, Catherine and Heathcliff escape Wuthering Heights and explore the freedom and wildness of the moors. Their love for each other is strong and at the moment this shows no reasons why we should hate Heathcliff. As they spy on Thrushcross Grange, they are spotted, but later recognised. Catherine recognised as Miss Earnshaw, but Heathcliff recognised as the ‘ strange acquisition from Liverpool’. This is showing that Heathcliff, though having been in the family for a few years now is still an outsider and not accepted properly. As the reader you once again feel sympathy ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Once Catherine has spent five weeks at Thrushcross Grange, she came back a changed, young lady; her manners and appearance improved. When her and Heathcliff welcome each other her first words are,

“ Why, how very black and cross you look! And how – how funny and grim!”

These first words from Catherine’s mouth are not only hurtful, but also humiliating for Heathcliff. His one true love has been changed and in his eyes not for the better. She now looks down on him. Sympathy for Heathcliff is shown here as he is mistreated and hurt, but after this he confides in Nelly about his plans for revenge on Hindley his true character starts to show through. Nelly tells him that revenge is a matter for God. His answer;

“ God won’t have the satisfaction that I shall.”

These words are not the words of the Heathcliff we thought we knew. Maybe all the anger and hate for Hindley since his childhood has now built up and he needs to show how he’s feeling? This theme of hate and revenge now starts to develop throughout the novel and Heathcliff showing great lengths of it.

The world of Wuthering Heights is becoming a personal hell for its inhabitants, as Hindley is distraught with grief from the death of his wife after childbirth and Heathcliff being degraded. At this point Catherine is torn between her desire for a social advancement and her love for Heathcliff. Soon her and Edgar pronounce their love for each other. Though you start to see Heathcliff’s bad side emerge through at this point, as a reader you are still feeling a bit of sympathy for him as Catherine in some ways has betrayed him.

Whilst Catherine and Nelly are talking in the kitchen, Heathcliff overhears Catherine say,

“ It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now…”

After hearing this Heathcliff leaves, before he got the chance to listen to what else Catherine was about to say.

“ …so he shall never know how I love him: and that not because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am.”

They are soul mates and Catherine knows this but would rather have the lifestyle and riches of Edgar. Her love for Heathcliff ‘resembles the eternal rocks beneath a source of little visible light, but necessary’; whereas her love for Edgar ‘is like the foliage in the woods. Time will change it’. This is where you feel really sorry for Heathcliff in that not only did he not here this and left feeling that Catherine did not love him but that Catherine would rather have an upper class lifestyle than spend the rest of her days with her true love, her soul mate; Heathcliff.

Heathcliff disappears for many years after this and when he returns, its almost as if you have been deceived by Emily Bronte as he is now not the lonely, helpless child you once felt sympathy for. He still wants to settle the score with Edgar and does this through other people as well as Edgar himself. Firstly, he and Isabella Linton ‘fall in love’ as Isabella is Hindley’s heir. Also he takes as much money from Hindley in gambling as he can. Nelly realises what is going on and tries to warn the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights but no one takes notice. Nelly describes him as ‘ an evil beast’, ‘waiting his time to spring and destroy.’ These show how much Heathcliff has changed and as the reader you start to dislike Heathcliff and your sympathy for him slowly starts to disappear, like he did.

Catherine confronts Heathcliff about Isabella, but is disturbed by Heathcliff’s lust for revenge and his accusation that she has treated him ‘ infernally’. In a way Heathcliff has a point, to the extent that she married Edgar, but this once again shows his jealously and revenge coming through, making us as readers dislike him and feel no sympathy for him.

Thrushcross Grange is now a house in turmoil. Isabella is depressed from Heathcliff and her brother disowning her, Catherine has shut herself in her room and Edgar stays in the library. Nelly finds Isabella’s beloved dog hanged outside. Which was the well doing of Heathcliff. This was a savage action to take, making the reader hate him more and more. His violence and brutality might shocks and repels the reader of his character.

The theme of sympathy for Heathcliff does come back as once Cathy dies after childbirth, Heathcliff is obviously destroyed inside and cannot possible live without her. In his bitterness and despair he wishes Catherine to haunt him and to continue being with him.

Though we do start to feel sympathy for Heathcliff again, this soon vanishes once again as his revenge on Hindley still persists. He manages to force Cathy (Catherine’s daughter) and Linton (Heathcliff’s son) to marry so that now all the property, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange will belong to him as his son Linton is ill and will die soon. Cathy being wild like her mother tried to defend her herself and escape his clutches but is unable to as Heathcliff hits her.

“ Keep your eft’s fingers off; and move, or I’ll kick you! Cried Heathcliff, brutally repulsing her”

This action is a key event where the reader realises how evil Heathcliff has become. He wants revenge and he’s willing to hurt anyone to get it. Hitting a young lady comes across as a very wrong action to take especially to modern readers of the book, as this is looked down upon in our society today. Therefore this makes the reader feel hatred for Heathcliff and his true colours finally show through.

Finally Heathcliff’s lust for revenge dies down as he confides in Nelly. He admits he has lost his taste for revenge and he sees the irony of this.

“ I’m too idle to destroy for nothing.”

This doesn’t necessarily make the reader feel sympathy towards Heathcliff as it’s saying that he can’t be bothered with it anymore really, rather than that he doesn’t want to. To me as a reader this just forgives some of the bad things that have occurred to him, making me feel less hate for him. Heathcliff dies soon after this and is finally with his loved one, his soul mate, Catherine.

Overall, the theme of sympathy has a pattern throughout the book appearing and reappearing at certain key events. In the early chapters of the novel you feel a lot of sympathy towards Heathcliff, due to his bad childhood and mistreatment from his surrogate family. He’s hurt from Catherine marrying Linton, but as soon as this lust for revenge emerges, your feeling of sympathy for him disappears. This is when the reader starts to hate and repel Heathcliff’s character. After Catherine’s death, his desire for revenge destroys all those around him as well himself in the end. Heathcliff is like a catalyst, in that he seems to change everyone around him. The reader looks upon his strong role throughout the novel in different ways. In the conclusion of the novel your hatred for him dies down. This is because you realise that all along all he really wanted was to be with Catherine, but as she hurts him along the way, his lust for revenge becomes too powerful. I believe that some of his actions he takes make us repel and hate him, but his past and poor childhood makes us as the readers sympathise with him. Once him and Catherine are both dead, they are reunited in the afterlife and although it’s a very morbid event the sense of happiness is there and always will be.