Chenay Charles 11JN Wuthering Heights: Essay While Heathcliff is portrayed as brutal, vindictive and utterly ruthless, he also

evokes the readers sympathy because of his strength of character and his ability to love Catherine Wuthering Heights tells the story of the suffering and revenge of a powerful character, a dark-skinned surly man of few words , so unyielding in his hatred of those he considers his enemies. A character so uncontrolled he resembles a fierce tempest and is described as hard as whinstone. A man who loves as equally as he hates, without restraint. These juxtaposing sides give us the enigma that is Heathcliff. He is seemingly brutal as he commits immoral deeds. Consider the sadistic abuse of young Catherine Linton, Isabella Linton, his wife ,and the punishment of his childhood tormentor Hindley. The aim of these actions was to exact his revenge on those who betrayed him, namely the Lintons and Hindley Earnshaw. In these deeds he is portrayed as a ruthless villain. However, in order to fully analyse the quote and understand how Heathcliff evokes the readers sympathy it is necessary to consider Heathcliffs background. Heathcliff was an orphaned gypsy boy rescued from the slums of Liverpool by Mr.Earnshaw, and then degraded and abused by Earnshaws tyrannical son Hindley. Finally he was betrayed by the only person whom he could find it in his scared heart to passionately love and who loved him, his soul mate: Catherine Earnshaw. She betrayed Heathcliff by marrying another man, Edgar Linton. This cold betrayal broke his spirit and ultimately leads to his change in character and his cruel, vindictive behaviour. Heathcliff became embittered and believed that if he could not be happy with his one true love, then no one deserved to be happy. Catherines love was his last chance at the redemption of his character, her love alone could help him gain back the humanity he had lost through the rough treatment by Hindley Earnshaw. However she could not marry him as the nameless gypsy had no social standing or wealth. In this manner Heathcliff evokes the readers sympathy and can be considered a victim of his harsh circumstances and loss of love. Heathcliffs actions must be considered, especially the twisted manipulation of his own son Linton, to lure in young Catherine Linton. This emphasises Heathcliffs ruthlessness and lust for revenge. He kidnapped her and force her to marry his son in order to get revenge on Edgar Linton and secure his wealth and Thrushcross Grange. These deeds are evidence of a thoroughly perverted nature. However, one must consider that Hindley cruelly beat him and made him a common farm hand. This evokes the readers sympathy, as does the fact that Catherine betrayed him with her marriage to Edgar Linton. It broke Heathcliff as a man and as a character when he heard her say it would degrade me marry Heathcliff now, so he shall never know how I love him this robbed him of his one chance of happiness, leaving him hurt and seeking revenge. Yet, despite Heathcliffs hard life, he manages to attain primitive nobility. This is because of his strength of character; he still manages to find it in his dark soul to never stop loving Catherine. When Catherine died he could never find peace, until he blissfully joined her in death. His love for Catherine evokes the readers sympathy as it is a love that was so powerful and unyielding, it transcended death. He loved her so passionately even though she was dead for twenty years, nothing could make Heathcliff stop loving Catherine. We see this is the novel when Heathcliff weeps and calls out to Catherines ghost at her bedroom window at Wuthering Heights. He says Cathy do come. Oh do-once more! Oh my hearts darling; hear me this time. The notion of the quote While Heathcliff is portrayed as brutal, vindictive and utterly ruthless, he also evokes the readers sympathy because of his strength of character and his ability to love Catherine is thus proved to be valid and Heathcliff remains a c haracter that defies being clearly understood. One must come to the conclusion that Heathcliff was not a romantic hero, with a concealed virtue. His sinister behaviours do not conceal the heart of a reformed hero. Heathcliff is indeed brutal, vindictive and utterly ruthless because of the intensity of his hate for the Lintons and Hindley Earnshaw. However, as the blackest character in all English literature Heathcliff defies logic and shows his only character strength; that he is capable of loving Catherine. In this we see Heathcliff as a man who came from a socially disadvantaged background lose the one person whom he loved, the one thing that mattered the most to him. Now we can understand why he became vengeful and bitter. The loss of Catherines love ultimately leads to his degeneration, until he finally finds peace in death where he can be with his love for eternity. Simultaneously only with Heathcliffs death can Hareton and young Catherine find peace. The lesson we take from Heathcliff is that the ability to love can be found in all people no matter how inhuman they may seem, and the strength of love to destroy or build up a character can never be underestimated.