Examination of Heathcliff's character in the plot of Wuthering Heights.

Heathcliff drives the plot, as without Heathcliff we would not have any of the problems needed to be dealt with. Heathcliff is connected in some way to almost everyone in this novel, and unfortunately in some way he deals with them negatively. Heathcliff helps to attach all of these stories together, as he is the reason such misfortune happens to everyone and thus he sits at the crux of the basic plot. He remains throughout the novel to be somehow involved in most happenings, whether it is part of the present day with Mr. Lockwood or when Nelly recalls of his doings back in the day when Catherine was still alive.
Considering this historical context, Heathcliff seems to embody the anxieties that the book's upper- and middle-class audience had about the working classes. It is easy to sympathize with him when he is powerless, as a child tyrannized by Hindley Earnshaw, but he becomes a villain when he acquires power and returns to Wuthering Heights with money and the trappings of a gentleman. This corresponds with the ambivalence the upper classes felt toward the lower classes—the upper classes had charitable impulses toward lower-class citizens when they were miserable, but feared the prospect of the lower classes trying to escape their miserable circumstances by acquiring political, social, cultural, or economic power.

What lies at the essence of Heathcliff is this question: is he a product of his circumstances, or is he a product of his conscious decisions?  Can someone really be changed for life by the home that they grow up in, or do they, at some point in their life, make a conscious decision to be good or evil? Basically, should we be somewhat sympathetic to Heathcliff given what he had to deal with in life, seeing his horrific situation as a young boy? I think not. Yes, it is quite unfortunate the place from where he has to start from, but he was given enough of a chance to make up for that and live a prosperous, healthy life. Instead, it seems he can only find comfort in revenge for the life he was given, and this revenge knows no boundaries. The question of whether he is a victim or a villain is substantial, but in the end it is he and only he who makes his life so diabolical, and so the only conclusion drawn. Heathcliff is a villain for choosing to be so vengeful and spiteful, while he is a victim solely because of what he does to himself by living the way he does.

        Heathcliff plays a pivotal role in the novel, and it is his narcissistic character that allows for this. He feels as if the world should and does revolve around his life, and his decisions and actions cement this theory. Only once do we see him act as a loving character, one who is willing to put someone else before himself. But after he misconstrues Catherine’s conversation with Nelly, he never again shows that side of him. Heathcliff’s narcissism is what drives his life beyond that point, for he always seems to act solely on his behalf and thinks only of himself.