Character

∙ Heathcliff: Found, presumably orphaned, on the streets of Liverpool and taken to Wuthering Heights by Mr Earnshaw and reluctantly cared for by the family. He and Catherine grew close. Their love is the central theme of the first volume. His revenge against the man she chose to marry and its consequences are the central theme of the second volume. Heathcliff has been considered as a Byronic hero, but critics have pointed out that he re-invents himself at various points, making his character hard to fit into any single "type." Because of his ambiguous position in society and his lack of status—underlined by the fact that "Heathcliff" serves as his given name; he has no surname—his character has been a favourite subject ofMarxist criticism.[6]

∙ Catherine Earnshaw: First introduced to the reader after her death, through Lockwood's discovery of her diary and carvings. The description of her life is confined almost entirely to the first volume. She seems unsure whether she is—or wants to become—more like Heathcliff, or more like Edgar. It is as if she wants both, even perhaps cannot be fully herself without both, and yet society or human nature makes that impossible. Forced to choose between them is like being forced to choose between nature and culture. Some critics have argued that her decision to marry Edgar Linton is allegorically a rejection of nature and a surrender to culture—a choice with fateful consequences for all the other characters. Literary critics have examined her character through many different lenses, including those ofpsychoanalytic theory and feminist theory.[7]

∙ Edgar Linton: Introduced as a child in the Linton family, he resides at Thrushcross Grange. Edgar's style and manners are in sharp contrast to Heathcliff's, who instantly dislikes him, and Catherine, who is drawn to him. Catherine marries him instead of Heathcliff because of his higher social status, with disastrous results. From the perspective of feminist theory, this exemplifies the problems inherent in a social structure in which women can gain prestige and financial security only through marriage.

∙ Nelly Dean: The main narrator of the novel, Nelly is a servant for all three generations of the Earnshaw and Linton families. In a sense, she straddles the "culture versus nature" divide. She is humbly born and has lived and worked amid the rough manners of Wuthering Heights, but is an educated woman who has experienced the more genteel manners of Thrushcross Grange. She is referred to as Ellen—her given name—to show respect, and as Nelly among those close to her. Nelly comes across as an unbiased narrator. Critics have discussed how far her actions (as an apparent bystander) affect the other characters.[8]

∙ Isabella Linton: Introduced as part of the Linton family, Isabella is only shown in relation to other characters. She views Heathcliff as a romantic hero, despite Catherine warning her against such a view, and becomes an unwitting participant in his plot for revenge against Edgar. Heathcliff marries her, but treats her abusively. Pregnant, she escapes to London and gives birth to a son, Linton. Because she, unlike Catherine, suffered such abuse from her husband and ultimately escaped from it, many critics—particularly feminist-theory critics—consider Isabella the true (conventional ) "tragic-romantic" heroine of Wuthering Heights; Hindley Earnshaw: Catherine's elder brother, Hindley despises Heathcliff immediately and bullies him throughout their childhood before his father sends him away to college. After Mr Earnshaw dies Hindley returns with his wife, Frances. He is far more mature now but his hatred of Heathcliff remains the same. After Frances' death Hindley is caught in a downward spiral of destructive behaviour, and ruins the Earnshaw family by drinking and gambling to excess. Heathcliff beats up Hindley at one point where he attempts to kill him with a pistol.

∙ Hareton Earnshaw: The son of Hindley and Frances, at first raised by Nelly, but soon by Heathcliff. Nelly works to instill a sense of pride in the Earnshaw heritage (even though Hareton will not inherit Earnshaw property, because Mr Earnshaw mortgaged it to Heathcliff. Heathcliff, in contrast, taught him vulgarities as a way of avenging himself on his father, Hindley. Hareton speaks with an accent similar to Joseph's, and works as a servant at Wuthering Heights, unaware of his true rights. His appearance reminds Heathcliff of Catherine.

∙ Cathy Linton: The daughter of Catherine Earnshaw and Edgar Linton is a spirited girl unaware of her parents' history. Edgar is very protective of her and as a result she is constantly wanting to discover what lies beyond the confines of the Grange.

∙ Linton Heathcliff: The son of Heathcliff and Isabella is a weak child. His character resembles Heathcliff's, but without its only redeeming feature, the capacity to love. He marries Cathy Linton because his father directs him to do so. His early years are spent with his mother in the south of England. He learns of his father's identity and existence only after his mother dies, as he enters his teens.

∙ Themes[edit]

∙ Passion[edit]

∙ Author Joyce Carol Oates sees the novel as "an assured demonstration of the finite and tragically self-consuming nature of 'passion'."[10]

∙ Gothic[edit]

∙ In "Emily Brontë and the Gothic: Female Characters in Wuthering Heights", Yukari Oda discusses Bronte's use of Gothic conventions in portraying Isabella, Cathy Linton, and Catherine Earnshaw.[11] Catherine Earnshaw has been identified as a literary "type" of Gothic demon in that she "shape-shifts" in order to marry Edgar Linton, assuming a domesticity contrary to her nature.[12] Catherine’s relationship with Heathcliff conforms to the "dynamics of the Gothic romance, in that the woman falls prey to the more or less demonic instincts of her lover, suffers from the violence of his feelings and at the end is entangled by his thwarted passion."[13]

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character of wuthering