Is Heathcliff A Romantic Hero?

2018 Words9 Pages
Wuthering Heights is a story of love and hatred, tenderness and revenge. It is a novel full of opposites and contradictions, one of these, the protagonist himself. It is difficult, regardless of how many times one has read it, to tell if Heathcliff is supposed to be the romantic hero or the despicable villain. This essay will discuss Heathcliff's presentation in Wuthering Heights and how this affects the portrayal of love. On the one hand, the character of Heathcliff could be described as a Byronic Hero. This is a type of romantic hero inspired by Lord Byron, a romantic poet during the 19th century. Lord Macaulay, British historian, described the Byronic Hero as 'a man proud, moody and cynical, with defiance on his brow and misery in his…show more content…
Cathy says, when speaking of Heathcliff, that 'Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same' (p.g 57) this creates a sense of them being one and reflects Heathcliff's later statement regarding Cathy's death in chapter sixteen. Heathcliff seems, at some points in the novel, to be capable of affection and emotion, for example after Lockwood speaks of his nightmare Heathcliff is said to burst into 'an uncontrollable passion of tears' (p.g 20) and when he speaks to Cathy in chapter fifteen he says 'Hush, my darling. Hush, hush, Catherine! I'll stay' (p.g 118), he chooses to stay even as Edgar Linton is returning despite the threat of how Edgar will react. This shows the intensity of his love for Cathy, he would rather die than be apart from her. Love from a Byronic hero is passionate but also obsessive, this is obvious from Heathcliff's behaviour throughout the novel. He never truly releases himself from Cathy, his driving force his entire life is Cathy. He leaves to make something of himself in order to be good enough for Cathy, he marries Isabella and has a child in some twisted form of revenge against Cathy, his entire life revolves around this one woman to the extent that he wishes for her to haunt him after she dies, demanding that she 'Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad!' (p.g…show more content…
He remains completely devoted to her but unfortunately his devotion is not necessarily positive. He fails to care for himself and becomes increasingly unsociable, as Nelly says 'Mr Heathcliff... grew more and more disinclined to society' (p.g 226), and seems to dedicate the rest of his life to waiting until he meets Cathy again and can once more be whole. His complete loyalty to Cathy is, ultimately, what kills him in the end. This kind of obsessive love plays a key role in spite of of how Heathcliff is seen, whether as a romantic hero or a villain. The difference is that as a romantic hero it can, at a stretch, be seen as loving but as a villain it takes a much darker turn. However, if Heathcliff is taken to be a villain then his obsession with Cathy becomes a great deal more disturbing. His love for Cathy is intrinsically linked with his hunger for revenge, he first wished to be good enough for her but he then felt the need to exact revenge on the people who separated him and Cathy to begin with. This then stretches to also encompass the next generation, namely Catherine Linton and his own son, he says in chapter twenty-seven 'By Hell! I hate them' (p.g 196), this shows Heathcliff's feelings towards the characters very clearly, if not why he feels so
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