Wuthering Heights- Is Heathcliff a man or a devil?

“Wuthering Heights” was written by Emily Brontë and was first published in 1847, it was written during the “romantic period”, it is a story of love, lust and sorrow all held together by extreme passion, love and hate.

One of the main characters in the book Wuthering Heights is Heathcliff, he was a orphan who lived in Liverpool, we find very little about Heathcliff’s past before he is adopted by the Earnshaw’s, which makes Heathcliff a mysterious character. When Heathcliff comes to live at Wuthering Heights after being adopted by the Earnshaw’s, he feels displaced as he does not know where to fit in with the family who seem to have “tight knit family system”. In the beginning it is clear that Heathcliff is rejected by his older step brother Hindly and turns to Catherine for affection, but Heathcliff feels he is not worthy of the affection shown to him by his step father and the family and this causes problems with members of the family. Hindly automatically feels threatened by Heathcliff’s presence and his hate for Heathcliff grows as Heathcliff gets the attention from there father that Hindly feels he deserve and this causes friction between the two characters. But Heathcliff has needs and one of these is to be loved which he feels only Catherine can do even from a very young age, they become the best of friends and feel wild together running in fields and playing together, and it shows when Heathcliff is young Catherine is his sole source of self esteem.

When Mr. Earnshaw dies Catherine takes comfort with Heathcliff, and Hindly comes back from university to attend to the funeral after a while Heathcliff was degraded by Hindly because of Hindlys jealousy of Heathcliff, Heatchcliff hated Hindly for this, he was degraded for no apparent reason but hate for something he could not control his love, and the affection he received for being himself. Catherine and Heathcliffs friendship could not be broken so they ran away together which shows there great devotion to each, to leave everything for each other. They ended up at Thruscross grange where the Linton's lived; Catherine gets hurt and can not be moved from Thurscross grange. At Thruscross grange she learns how to be a lady. When Catherine returns from Thruscross grange she looks down on Heathcliff but Heathcliff never stops loving her, he decides to clean himself up and make himself look like a gentleman as he feels exiled from the rest of the people at Wuthering Heights and hopes to win Catherine’s affection once again, Nelly helps him to do this but he is laughed at but Hindly and Edgar, Heathcliff hates Edgar Linton as Edgar is trying to win the affection of Catherine, Edgar and Heathcliff have very different personalities as Heathcliff is full of passion and seen as a rebel but Edgar is a cold and civilized man. Heathcliff also doesn’t like Edgar as he doesn’t think of himself as equal to him as he didn’t come from money , like Edgar did and thinks Edgar is more desirable because of his status, Heathcliff hates Edgar for all he has, good looks, money, status and for being a gentle man, Heathcliff doesn’t feel he is any of these due to his own insecurities. Heathcliff says to Nelly “But, Nelly, if I knocked him down twenty times, that wouldn’t make him less and handsome and me more so. I wish I had light hair and fair skin, and was dressed as well, and behaved as well, and had a chance of being as rich as he would be”, this doesn’t sound like a devil but a desperate man who not only desires status and money but needs them to win the love he needs so much from Catherine. Heathcliff receives a beating by Hindly after an outburst by Heathcliff this makes Heathcliff’s hate grow for all the people at Wuthering Heights apart from Catherine who he seems to be addicted to, he swears revenge on Hindly and even swears to kill him. Catherine and Nelly talk about Catherine’s engagement to Edgar but she is not sure if this the right thing to do, as she still has feelings for Heathcliff, she is dwelling over who she should marry the man who she loves or the man who can give her everything. Heathcliff hears Nelly and Catherine talking and is shocked by what Catherine says “I’ve no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in Heaven: and if the wicked man in the there not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldn’t have thought of it. It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now” but Heathcliff only hears Catherine saying it would degrade her, his hopes and dreams of himself and Catherine to be a couple seem to be crushed and he runs from Wuthering Heights. Heatchcliff does not seem to be a devilish type but a man torched by others, and there anger especially Hindly he seems to be tormented and has no hope of receiving what he works for Catherine’s love, but a devil can not love only a man can love.

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When Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights he is a new man, rich, well educated and a gentleman. He still loves Catherine and hopes to win his love back and punish all those who punished him in the past, his pure hate for the people who punished him shows in his attitude as he seems to be a different man a heart, maybe a devil. The mystery of how Heathcliff got his money is never known and arouses suspicion amongst readers as did he acquire this though evil doings. To gain revenge on Edgar Linton who had married Catherine, Heathcliff marry’s Edgars sister Isabella and moves to Wuthering Heights which he now owns, Heatchcliff seemed to have a cunning plan to get Hindly into debt with gambling so Hindly would have to give Heathcliff the house which is one of Heathcliff methods of revenge by expropriating peoples lands and possessions and seizing them himself. While Isabella stayed at Wuthering Heights she wrote a letter to Nelly first asking the question “Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? And f so is he mad? And if not, is he a devil?” In the letter Isabella expresses Heathcliff’s madness and mood swings, as explains him to be a tyrant living “in an ancient castle”, Heathcliff does not feel anything for Isabella it is only a way to seek revenge, even on Catherine for marrying Edgar to let her know he loves someone else. But Heathcliff does not know this but plays psychological games with people, even Isabella one moment being kind and the next degrading her by making her sleep downstairs. Heathcliff’s sworn revenge goes deeper than hate but for his purpose for living, so a "man" with all this hate for everyone, is it possible for him to be a man? He abuses Isabella mentally and physically, and she feels trapped by Heathcliff’s overpowering attitude. To Heathcliff this is all apart of his plan to crush those who opposed him and to seize back his one love Catherine but making all the people suffer who get in his way, his addiction to Catherine is almost like a drug he needs her, and comes back for her, he would kill for her and crush anyone no matter how long it takes to get her, but all this love, hate and fiery passion can only foresee Heathcliff’s to be a man tortured by love with he sees is being refused to him, and this is the only thing he sees that is worth having.

When Catherine becomes ill, and eventually dies, Heathcliff is disturbed by this and calls to her “And I pray one prayer- I repeat it till my tongue stiffens- Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as I am living! You said I killed you- haunt me, then! The murders do haunt there murders, I believe. I know that ghosts have wandered the earth. Be with me always, take any form, drive me mad! Only not leave me in the abyss, where I can not find you! I can not live without my soul!”, this shows deep emotions by Heathcliff, he considers him and Catherine to be one soul, this is stated throughout the book and shows Heathcliff’s human side is undying love for Catherine but when Catherine dies Heathcliff becomes filled with hate for everyone he has the notion it’s everyone else’s fault that him and Catherine didn’t spend the time together that he thought they deserved. Heathcliff then sets himself out to destroy everyone’s life by inflicting physiological pain on the people who hurt him and there children, this is another way of Heathcliff’s revenge methods by oppressing and exploiting the people who hurt him children. Heathcliff thought the story hurts himself, and wont let anyone get close to him except Catherine, it is quite clear that he has been affect by being degraded by Hindly and is full of hate which is his “devil side”, but his love and great love fiery passion for Catherine shows Heathcliff to be a man addicted to the one he loves.

I think Heathcliff’s place in the story “Wuthering Heights” is not to be a man or a devil but to be a Byronic hero. He is usually isolated from society in the case of Heathcliff being degraded and running away from Wuthering Heights isolating himself from his past only returning when he knows his revenge can be had, Heathcliff is also filled with dark qualities which make him return to seek revenge, but a Byronic hero is usually passionate about a particular issue, this particular issue for Heathcliff is Catherine and we see this as he seems to be addicted to her. A Byronic hero exhibits several characteristic traits, and in many ways he can be considered a rebel. The Byronic hero does not possess "heroic virtue" in the usual sense; instead, he has many dark qualities. With regard to his intellectual capacity, self-respect, and hypersensitivity, the Byronic hero is "larger than life," and "with the loss of his titanic passions, his pride, and his certainty of self-identity, he loses also his status as [a traditional] hero" (Thorslev 187).

Wuthering Heights- Is Heathcliff a man or a devil?

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