Heathcliff was an orphan brought to live at Wuthering Heights by Mr Earnshaw. He falls in love with Mr Earnshaw's daughter (Cathy) and throughout their time growing up together they are inseparable. Cathy sees them as the same person and almost twin like however they are in love with each other and this will never work as he is essentially an adopted child of the Earnshaw family. Cathy ends up marrying Edgar Linton for social prominence. This prompts Heathcliff to seek revenge on Edgar to try and win Cathy back. Heathcliff acquires a fortune through gambling and makes himself look more presentable for Cathy. He then uses his power and wealth to acquire both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.
'He is a dark-skinned gypsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman, that is, as much a gentleman as many a country squire: rather slovenly, perhaps, yet not looking amiss with his negligence, because he has an erect and handsome figure—and rather morose. '
This quote from the novel states the kind of character that Heathcliff is portrayed as. He is a 'gypsy' like character however still comes across as a gentleman. Throughout the novel everyone treats him as if he is a minor compared to everyone else. Especially Cathy as that is the reason they can't get married and also Hindley, Cathy's brother. When Cathy dies Hindley treats Heathcliff as if he is a servant. After the novel was written a lot of people questioned whether Heathcliff was seen as a gypsy or a gentleman throughout the book. He is a very unusual character as there are a lot of different ways the reader could portray him.
Other romance novels contained heros that appeared to be dangerous and mysterious at first, however as the novel progressed they would turn into this lovely character that had fallen in love and was devoted to their other half. Wuthering heights was different in the sense that throughout the book Heathcliff almost stayed the same if not got worse. From the very beginning he was a shy, but powerful and dangerous character that although people made out he was of a lower social class he still had a big impact on peoples lives. Throughout the book he became more dangerous, especially when Cathy agreed to marry Edgar as he felt he needed to seek revenge on Edgar and try and obtain both Wuthering Heights & Thrushcross grange once Cathy had passed away. Even though he was portrayed by Lockwood/Nelly as an evil character that only caused mischief throughout he still deep down was in love with Cathy and he would always have a soft spot for him. Whenever he was around her he transformed into a gentleman and was always trying to better himself to make her happy. That is why i believe that this novel is a mixture of a revengeful love story, as he is clearly so in love with Cathy but throughout is portrayed as a horrible gypsy like person who seeks revenge on anyone who comes between him and his love.
The chose the Tom Hardy 2009 adaptation of Wuthering Heights to focus on as i believe this is the best version of the character Heathcliff i have seen. He is a presentable character which shows his 'gentleman' side, however his hair constantly over the face and the hollow features on his face give him the 'gypsy' like character that he is described as. I really like the depth and darkness that has been shown through Tom Hardy's character, and that's what i wanted to focus on. He has a clean and innocent look, but still hollow and dark in places. This describes the whole novel very well, parts are clean and romantic and others are dark when he is attempting to seek revenge.
References:
1. Brontë, E., Bronte, E. and Bront, E. (1992) Wuthering heights. United Kingdom: Wordsworth Editions.
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