Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights is a central figure to the novel and his 'otherness' is important to his character. He's brought home by Mr. Earnshaw as a child and does not fit in with the predominately white West Yorkshire. His ethnicity is not specified, being described as "like a gypsy" and suggestions around his parents in the book vary from Chinese to Indian to African. Many scholars also suggest Heathcliff is the natural son of Mr. Earnshaw, making Heathcliff biracial.
Most adaptions cast a white man as Heathcliff, erasing that visual otherness. The only one to not is the 2011 adaption with Heathcliff played by James Howson. With the most recent adaption by Emerald Fennell there were many people upset that she cast Jacob Elordi, yet another white man. In a film she wants to be shocking, going the extra mile and casting a non-white would help create that overall mood.
But I think a white Heathcliff could work if the adaption is well done. Class is also an important element in the novel and a white Heathcliff could expand on that theme. Having the characters other him by suggesting he has a non-white identity while being visibly white would also other him. As a lower class man with a working class background, both Cathy and Isabella would be looked down upon by society for desiring him because he is in the English class system. If he has an exotic and mysterious background he would then be outside the English class system and acceptable for middle class white Cathy and Isabella.
By othering his ethnicity even though there isn't any proof, Heathcliff as himself is not accepted by the other characters. It is only after changing him that he becomes an accepted member of society. Like when Heathcliff comes back after making his fortune and acts like a gentleman, being white but viewed as ethnic means he himself is not enough and he needs to change to appease everyone, especially Cathy.
Now, do I believe Heathcliff was fully white? Only if he had Irish traveler background. But Irish travelers are usually fairly white. I personally think Heathcliff had Romani heritage because nothing is pinned down regarding his looks, but Liverpool was a trading port with may people coming in and out. Heathcliff could be part African, part Indian, part Asian, part anything. I do think they should cast an ethnically ambiguous actor to play Heathcliff, especially if the people making the movie are not going to look deeper into the themes of Wuthering Heights.
And please add the second half of the novel.
by Hightower_lioness
4 Comments
Healthcliff is orange
Heathcliff has been white in almost every single adaptation of the book
Anything “can” work but when a writer writes about an interracial relationship and goes out of their way to emphasize their otherness (“dark as the devil” spoke gibberish etc) when they were exceedingly rare it probably carries importance to the themes of the book and by extension to the movie
A more interesting question is: why has it been so hard for white directors to cast a nonwhite person in this role?
Of course, the book doesn’t specify his ethnicity explicitly.
And here in the UK, there is a type of English person who can be described as ‘swarthy’ with dark features, my father being one of them. And it’s not as if he has any black ancestry – all of his ancestors going back to the 1800s are from Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.