Within Wuthering Heights Essay Example

direct reflection of Satan from John Milton’s epic poem; Paradise lost.

His first description is as a ‘dark-skinned gypsy. ’ This therefore gives no knowledge to the reader of Heathcliff’s origins and therefore leaves us to decipher within our own right what background Heathcliff has exactly. As Satan is the main protagonist of Paradise Lost, his distinct reflection upon Heathcliff displays the similarities of them both as characters and gothic protagonists. Satan suffers great loss in the epic poem, just as Heathcliff overhears Catherine speaking to Nelly about marrying Edgar, which breaks his heart and leaves him to dispatch himself from Wuthering Heights due to his own loss.

Heathcliff left Wuthering heights for three years then returned to as a more socially acceptable and more financially stable man. Before Satan suffered his loss, an archangel that served god and was considered to be of ‘high ranking’ to him until God’s son Messiah was created. Immediately after God gave all of his power to Messiah, Satan decided to “erect his throne,” break God’s rules and bring chaos to heaven. As Satan was made to feel the victim, some may consider his actions only the reaction of other direct actions.

Therefore, he lost his place in heaven as a prestigious angel due to his own rebellion. After this he was only determined and had sheer aspiration to obtain his own vengeance against God. Heathcliff’s loss of Catherine, the woman he loved, and Satan’s loss of his place in heaven, are the direct sources of their revenge. Heathcliff is described physically as having “an erect and handsome figure”. He is dark, handsome and violent. As

he is also referred to as “a dark skinned gypsy,” Heathcliff is perceived as a character that stands out when compared to the rest of the characters.

Therefore, this is one direction representation of him as the central protagonist of the novel. One of the first things Lockwood, the narrator, mentions is how he sees Heathcliff’s “black eyes withdraw so suspiciously under their brows”. Straight away we are persuaded as readers of his own mysteriousness as the gothic protagonist. His past again remains ambiguous to the reader and is displayed so distinctly by Bronte as it is hidden deep inside the darkness of his eyes and is reflected in his physical appearance.

The reference of Heathcliff being “a prince of Arabia in disguise” presents again his physical attractiveness, which ultimately is the seed of Catherine’s primary attraction to him and leads unfortunately through the series of events revolved around the both of them ending in not Heathcliff’s, but Catherine’s death. Heathcliff living on throughout the novel is one direct notion to provide us with the evidence of him as the central protagonist of the novel. We must also consider the characteristics that prevent Heathcliff from being considered a typical gothic protagonist.

He possesses many redeeming features such as his passion and innate ability to protect Hareton from falling to his death, it is these characteristics that live within Heathcliff and lead us as readers to view him as somewhat, a Byronic hero. Early on in the novel Lockwood makes the mistake of assuming that Heathcliff is a man, “who would love and hate equally under cover”. It is apparently evident that this

is not the case. In his case, there is no middle ground.

The hatred and resentment felt by Heathcliff towards characters such as Hindley as well as his strong, unbreakable passionate love for Cathy, shows the reader that he is a creature of extremes, functioning at polar opposites of the emotional spectrum. While the passionate love he feels towards Cathy cause him to be held in higher esteem by the reader, the unmitigated hatred and the ferocity with which he hates characters such as Hindley and Edgar once again stand in the way of Heathcliff fulfilling the role of a gothic protagonist. This by no means should suggest that the reader does not sympathize with Heathcliff, as on many occasions we do.

It simply means that despite the redeeming qualities present in his character he cannot be said to typify a gothic protagonist in the novel. Contrastingly, it is also a valid argument that Heathcliff is a good man by nature, but has been nurtured into the ‘hard as a whinstone’ character within the duration of the novel’s timeframe. Within chapter nine of Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte directly contrasts his good-hearted ‘natural impulses’ to his nurtured desires for ‘hearty damnation. ’ Heathcliff could not help rescuing Hareton from his father, yet he then resents himself for ‘thwarting his own revenge. This is typical antiheroic behaviour, as an antihero typically strives to be villainous yet has redeeming qualities existing through his innate behaviours.

As a result of living in a hostile, profane environment such as Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff learned to take delight in ‘heathen,’ decadent behaviour and fantasises about ‘smashing the skull’ of

an innocent child just to spite his enemy. Consequently, this suggests that Emily Bronte creates an archetypal gothic protagonist out of Heathcliff through the tragic nature of his surroundings, the environment and the events which take place within Wuthering Heights.