Character portrayal of Heathcliff / Psychological Study / Development or Change in Character (Wuthering Heights)

Wuthering Heights is a psychological study of an elemental man whose soul is torn between love and hate. He is a creature about whose past nothing is known. A dark, dirty beggar, Heathcliff was picked up on the Liverpool streets by Mr. Earnshaw and brought to the secluded part of the world known as the moors, where he has ample space to work out his destiny. Only the elemental passions of love and hate receive any development in the elemental environment by which he was molded. He brought with him his strength of will and steadfastness of purpose, but there they were prevented by external events. There he was hardened by his physical surroundings, toughened and embittered by the harsh treatment of Hindley, disillusioned by what he considered the treachery of Catherine, on whom he had poured love out of his boundless store. He deserts Wuthering Heights and returns mysteriously rich and educated, destroying the equilibrium of Cathy’s marriage. He elopes with Isabella Linton to destroy her brother, Edgar, and lures Hindley Earnshaw into gambling away his rights to Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff’s thirst for revenge is only checked when he senses the imminence of his own death and, with it, a final reunion with his ghostly beloved.

       There are primarily two factors behind the change in Heathcliff’s personality — Catherine whom he loves marries Edgar Linton and  Hindley’s harassment of Heathcliff after Mr Earnshaw’s death. While all the characters in Wuthering Heights are unique, it is especially Heathcliff who, despite his ill-tempered and cynical attitude, engages with his intense and dark emotions. His frustration for not finding his love has made him sadistic and evil. Still, despite his arrogant attitude, it is his longing for his lost love that proves him a hero. 

       There is a lot about Heathcliff that is not understandable, but that is what actually makes him unique. Heathcliff has undergone a major change but then his frustration is well understandable, especially in the light of his love for Catherine. Yet, it is Heathcliff’s pain that makes the novel so interesting and engaging despite all the gloominess in it. Till the end, readers keep feeling the intensity of love that Heathcliff holds in his heart and which he keeps trying to hide after Catherine’s death. He is also the monster in the novel who is frustrated, for he never got what he desired. The melancholic tone of the novel makes the two main characters look all the more romantic even if they are tragic. The novel concludes at a point where readers understand that human emotions can take several indefinite forms.