I recently joined a virtual book club sort of thing…where we had discussion on Wuthering Heights, and I found myself completely disagreeing with almost everyone else in the group. To my surprise, many people spoke about Heathcliff with deep compassion, even admiration. Some described him as tragic, romantic, and apparently found him attractive.
I sat there feeling nothing but revulsion.
To me, Heathcliff isn’t a romantic hero. He’s a sadist, an abuser, a man consumed by vengeance and cruelty and just violence. I couldn’t understand how anyone could speak about him so positively.
Yes, I understand why Heathcliff is the way he is. Or I think I do. He been through a lot of rejection, humiliation, and psychological and physical trauma of getting beat up. He was orphaned and denied love. But does that justify his actions? No.
It’s one thing to explain a person’s behavior; it’s another to excuse it. Heathcliff doesn’t just suffer, he causes a lot of suffering. He endured cruelty but he is just as cruel to others. That’s not tragic romance to me, that's the cycle of abuse repeating itself.
I kept wanting to ask people in the club if this were real life, would you still defend him? If Heathcliff had abused YOU, imprisoned you, manipulated or tormented your kids, would you pity him? But Emily Brontë writes it and we call it gothic passion and love and somehow its' okay?
And yet… part of me wonders if I’m missing something. Clearly, other readers see a complexity in Heathcliff that I can’t. Maybe they see his pain as proof of his humanity? Maybe they admire his raw passion or the power of his "love" or some sort of innocence or honesty or rebellion against social or moral convention?
I can admit that on a literary level, Heathcliff is fascinating and not your boring one dimensional villain but I kind of have a bad reaction to him as if I imagine him as a real person. I just can't buy the package of passion and obsession and cruelty together as one being labeled love.
Somebody in the club was saying Heathcliff loved too much. I think he destroyed too much. I got nothing against someone loving too much.
So, to anyone who truly sees something positive (what's the word, redeemable?) in Heathcliff, please help me understand what you see that I can’t?
by a-buss
7 Comments
Nah, fuck that guy.
Actual Nazis can be made into fascinating, rich human characters when portrayed in films like Downfall. So much so that it became a vast meme to make Bruno Ganz’ Hitler the sympathetic voice of reason. Takeaway is that attractive charisma is a different thing from morality.
I unabashedly hate Heathcliff and I have no intention (or reason) to change my feelings.
Interesting post. For me one of the major points of art is to help you understand the world and your reactions to it. The experience you’re having is the exact dream every author has about any character they write. You’re thinking about the way they make you feel, and your understanding of other people in relation to them.
It sounds like you’ve had a discussion with others at some point about this character. Why do you need to see him differently?
Did your book club members read the book or watch movies? Because he is absolutely portrayed as an abusive monster in the novel.
I think contemporary media has often portrayed him as the flawed hero, and I reject that entirely. We don’t have to excuse his behavior because he’s had trauma or because he loves so deeply. That’s the same BS every abuser spouts.
It’s not a romance it’s a tragedy exploring generational trauma. They are all awful because of the abuse they suffered, they aren’t supposed to be good people, it’s a train wreck.
You are right, it’s the cycle of abuse. He had a tragic childhood and became a nasty, vindictive person as a result, but it was also his choices.