Wuthering Heights Heathcliff Quotes

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‘How is Heathcliff presented in what you have read so far?' In the novel ‘Wuthering Heights’ Heathcliff is presented to us as the central character and is depicted in a number of ways; he is fiercely passionate, tortured, obsessive, violent, with few redeeming qualities. Heathcliff is the embodiment of a Byronic hero. His character is consumed in a dark malevolent aura from the moment we meet him as a ‘dirty ragged black haired child’ and onwards throughout the book. When we are first introduced to Heathcliff, he is described as an antithesis to the traditional Victorian gentleman; ‘dark-skinned gipsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman’ implying that in all aspects other than dress, Heathcliff did not look how one would consider…show more content…
It shows that he would not give Hindley the satisfaction of being able to cause him pain, it also however does not necessarily make him seem more human to the reader, his failure to respond to the harsh treatment brought upon him contributes to the ominous aura of unearthliness that follows him through the novel. Such examples of this are the names he is given by others, for instance; ‘Imp of Satan’ an ‘Imp’ is a mythological being similar to a goblin, continuing with this theme of unworldly creatures. By calling Heathcliff an Imp of ‘Satan’ would have had deep effects on the Victorian audience, who at the time were deeply religious and anything associated with hell and Satan would have instantly unsettled them and brought about negative connotation, causing further mistrust for Heathcliff and adding to his sinister character. These demonic and unearthly connotations attached to Heathcliff continue consistently throughout the

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