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Essay / Analysis of Heathcliff as a Sympathetic Character in Wuthering Heights
Many aspects of Heathcliff's personality are seemingly "evil", complementing his role as the "Byronic hero" of Wuthering Heights, a dark, rebellious, and antisocial character. However, the Byronic hero is also seen as an attractive and romantic character, while Heathcliff displays a very different type of character with his childhood abuse, isolation, and psychological deterioration after Cathy's death. likeable character.Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original EssayBronte presents Heathcliff's childhood as a harsh one, full of abuse, which makes us sympathetic towards him since he is so vulnerable. We learn that Heathcliff is already an orphan, and knowing that "Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to throw him [Heathcliff] out" invokes the gothic theme of injustice. Heathcliff’s objectification through “it” cements him as. a dispensable item to Mrs. Earnshaw, a person who can be “discarded” like trash. To further illustrate his mistreatment, Heathcliff is also subjected to great physical violence, but "bears Hindley's blows without blinking an eye", showing how Heathcliff does not retaliate against those who have hurt him. Instead, he simply endures the violence. However, some might argue that even though Heathcliff suffered physical and psychological torment as a child, he is still a demon because he is a "usurper of [Hindley's] parents' affections" and manipulates Hindley in a more intelligent way. Heathcliff tells Hindley to give him his horse or he will "tell his father about the three blows he gave him this week", using his role as victim to manipulate Hindley. This sly rebuttal, some will say, makes Heathcliff as bad as Hindley, perhaps cruel enough to qualify as a demon. However, this argument can be refuted by the fact that Heathcliff is simply reacting to the situation he has been given and is not initiating the evil behavior. with Heathcliff because he can't really defend himself against the cruelty he suffered as a child, due to the fact that he is not part of the Earnshaw family, he is simply a "dirty, ragged and with black hair. Heathcliff's isolation too. begins in his childhood; however, this isolation carries over to a large extent into his adult life, eliciting even more sympathy from the reader. Heathcliff's isolation begins intellectually when Hindley denies him an education. This feeling of denial later evolves into physical isolation when Hindley shouts "Leave!" You vagabond! » at the Christmas party. The word “vagabond” refers to someone who travels and who does not really have a place in society; we can infer that Heathcliff's isolation stems from such moments, as he never really settles into the Earnshaw family dynamic. This isolation is cemented when Heathcliff is “administered a brutal remedy” away from everyone; the euphemism illustrates how the violence Heathcliff endures is kept away from others so that they cannot describe exactly what is happening to him. An event like this also demonstrates the others' reluctance to accept the brutality Heathcliff experiences and view him as one of them; instead, he is ignored and isolated. To a Victorian reader, the violence Heathcliff experiences may not be as striking as a modern-day reader would find it, as violent tyrannical figures in Victorian households were not uncommon. In this regard, readers of the time of..