Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights)

"Heathcliff"' is the central male character of the novel "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë. Owing to the novel's enduring fame and popularity, Heathcliff is often regarded as an archetype of the tortured Romantic Byronic hero whose all-consuming passions are powerful enough to destroy both himself and those around him. Heathcliff can also be interpreted as a reflection and product of his psychological past. Unfortunately, he has also been somewhat stereotyped into a romanctic hero that is known more for his love for Catherine Earnshaw rather than the fact that the second half of the novel details his final years of vengeance, growing into a bitter, haunted man. His complex, mesmerizing, and altogether bizarre nature makes him a rare character of both an anti-hero's and a hero's character and story.

Character

born c. 1764 - dies April 1802

Heathcliff, called after a dead child of his adopted father, Mr. Earnshaw, and who is known only by that single name, is characterised as passionate, dark, brooding, and vindictive. He is largely defined by his all-consuming but thwarted love for Catherine Earnshaw, his equally passionate foster sister. Much of the novel's narrative concerns both their doomed romance and Heathcliff's vengeful reaction to Catherine's betrayal when she marries his rival, Edgar Linton.

A dark-skinned gypsy foundling discovered on the streets of Liverpool and raised by the Earnshaw family of Wuthering Heights in Yorkshire, Heathcliff's past and early childhood before his adoption is not explored by Brontë. In keeping with the supernatural themes present in the novel, it is speculated that Heathcliff might be a demon or a hellish soul. His appearance would be faithfully interpreted as resembling a Roma, or gypsy. He becomes a gentleman "in dress and aspect." Mrs. Linton of Thrushcross Grange states that he could be a "little Lascar or American castaway."

A silent and at first solitary child, Heathcliff is initially resented by both Catherine Earnshaw and her elder brother, Hindley; whilst Catherine later befriends and loves Heathcliff, Hindley continues to resent him, seeing him as an interloper who has stolen his father's affection. Upon Mr. Earnshaw's death and his inheritance of the estate, the spiteful Hindley proceeds to treat Heathcliff as little more than a servant boy and makes him work the fields, which creates Heathcliff's lifelong anger and resentment. Catherine, however, remains close to her foster brother.

As she matures into her young teens, however, Catherine grows close to Edgar Linton, a timid and well-bred young man of the neighbouring estate, Thrushcross Grange, and accepts his proposal of marriage; but she insists that her true and only love is Heathcliff. She claims that she cannot marry him because it "would degrade her" and that the two would be beggars were such a union to take place. Nevertheless, she also declares her passion for him in such ways as "whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same," and the famous quote "I "am" Heathcliff." Aware only of Catherine's decision to marry Edgar, rather than her proclamation of her true love for him, a bitter Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights upon overhearing Cathy say that it would degrade her to marry him and, by means unknown, makes his fortune. Nelly Dean describes him as "athletic" when he returns, and that his "upright carriage suggested his being in the army." No other hints are given as to where Heathcliff was and how he made his fortune over the course of three years. Upon returning, he is ruthlessly determined to destroy those who had degraded him and prevented him from being with Catherine, which thus enables him to become an "anti-hero," rather than a "romantic hero." Not only does he swindle Wuthering Heights from the now-drunken and self-destructive gambler Hindley, but he heartlessley seduces Linton's sister Isabella and marries her, treating her in a cruel and contemptuous fashion. Although he describes to Catherine that he despises Isabella and would "cut (his) throat" if he imagined Catherine wanted him to marry Edgar's younger sister, the marriage will result in his inheriting Thrushcross Grange upon Linton's death. Nevertheless, this can only be acheived by Heathcliff's forcing he and Isabella's son Linton into marriage with Catherine's daughter, also named Cathy.

After Catherine's death, Heathcliff's vindictive cruelty intensifies, aimed at destroying not only his enemies but also their heirs: Hareton, son of Hindley and his late wife Frances (whose death destroyed Hindley and reduced him to alcoholism) and Catherine, daughter of Edgar Linton and Catherine the elder. He forces his son, Linton, who entirely resembles his mother, Isabella, into marriage with Cathy Linton, Catherine and Edgar's daughter, hoping to marry them before the weak Linton dies, and gain control of Thrushcross Grange. Shortly after the two are married in their loveless match, however, Linton dies. Nevertheless, Heathcliff treats Cathy mercilessly and turns her into a cold, distant creature rather than the bright, lively girl that she used to be. However, Hareton and Cathy, who in some ways mirror and in some ways oppose the relationship between Heathcliff and the elder Catherine, eventually fall in love, and this manages to break the cycle of hatred, with Heathcliff no longer caring to continue his vendetta. Hareton, resembling Catherine Earnshaw much in looks, creates a sense of uneasiness for Heathcliff, as Emily Bronte often implies that he has a secret regard for Hareton, and that Hareton sees Heathcliff as his true father. The novel ends with the death of Heathcliff, who has become a broken, tormented man haunted by the ghost of the elder Catherine, whom he is buried next to. At the very close, a servant boy declares that Heathcliff and Catherine's ghosts are walking the moors together, although Nelly Dean insists that they must be treated as if their souls were at peace. As Charlotte Bronte, Emily's older sister, said, "Heathcliff, in deed, stands unredeemed," certainly adds to the uncertainty that Heathcliff not only repented of his sins, but also was a real human being after all. This, combined with the vengeful mystery that Heathcliff's character leaves behind, truly ends the novel in a mesmerizing, eerie way, justifies Heathcliff's intriguing, complex nature as an iconic anti-hero of literature.

Portrayals

Laurence Oliver's Oscar-nominated role as Heathcliff is the most popular of all of the attempts at portraying this intriguing, dangerous figure. Nevertheless, that 1939 film only covers half of the story, thus succeeding in making Heathcliff out to be a romantic hero, and failing in delivering the whole story of the character's merciless vengeance following Catherine's death.

Timothy Dalton starred as Heathcliff in a 1970 movie, which, like the '39 version, only covered the first generation of characters, and completely leaving Hareton, Cathy, and Linton's story untold. A 1978 TV Miniseries did succeed in telling the entire story, and starred Ken Hutchinson in the role of Heathcliff.

Ralph Fiennes's portrayal of Heathcliff, in 1992's Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, marked the second film adaption to attempt to involve Hareton and Cathy in the story as well. The first was the 1919 silent film now believed to be lost. ITV's 1998 TV Drama, which had Robert Cavannah in the starring role also told the full story. 2006 saw reports that Johnny Depp would be attached to star as Heathcliff in a new film adaption (Angelina Jolie was rumored to play Catherine Earnshaw), but the news quickly died down.

In 2008, director John Maybury, together with a screenwriter, Olivia Hatreed, created a script yet another movie depicting the iconic novel. While Maybury quit the project because of casting controversies, he did succeed in casting a Heathcliff: German-born U.K up-and-coming star Michael Fassbender. The actor is still attatched to the role as of now.