FREE ESSAY ON WUTHERING HEIGHTS

WUTHERING HEIGHTS

I would like to analyze the conflicts that Heathcliff faced throughout the novel Wuthering
Heights. Heithcliff's character was very complex. He lived a troubled childhood that is
never completely revealed to the reader. All we know is that he was abandoned at a young
age and when Mr. Earnshaw discovered him, he was sickly looking. Heathclfidd was then
brought to live in this brand new society at Wuthering Heights. Hindly, Mr. Earnshaw's
son, was jealous of Heathcliff from the start because he felt that his father loved
Heathcliff more than himself. Hindly's hatred for Heathcliff was worsened once he
realized that he and Cathy had fallen in love. To protect his sister, he slowly turned
Heathcliff into a vagabond. This ultimatly forced her to seek love elsewhere.
When Heathcliff overheard that Cathy was to be married to another man, Edgar, he ran away
from Wuthering Heights. After fleeing Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff was forced to start a
new life and obviously succeeded at this because during this time he became very wealthy.
Upon returning he confessed to Cathy that he never stopped loving her. When Cathy didn't
reciprocate his feelings, Heathcliff became enraged and to spite Cathy, he married her
sister in law, Isabelle. At this point Cathy and her husband Edgar were expecting a baby.
Heathcliff's marriage sent her into a deep depression. She fell very ill and soon after
giving birth to her daughter, Cathrine , she died. Berfore she died though, she confessed
to Heathcliff her true love for him.
After Cathy's death, Heathcliff now became a scornful person, full of hatred. He wanted
in the worst way to get revenge on Edgar Linton for stealing Cathy from him. He spent
years and years thinking up a valid plan that would drive Edgar to his deathbed. His plan
uses Cathrine's cousin, Linton, to lure her to Wuthering Heights against her father's
will. When she arrives, Heathcliff's new revengeful side is now revealed. He locks
Cathrine up in the house and forces her to marry Linton. When she is finally free to
visit her father, Heathcliff's wish is now granted. Her father, Edgar, lies on a
deathbed, and dies shortly after Cathrine's return. Now Edgar's fortune belongs to Linton
who as according to Heathcliff's plan dies soon after their marriage. Edgar's fortune is
now passed on from Linton to Heathcliff.
Heathcliff's life persists accordingly for a while until Mr. Lockwood, a new tenant at
Wuthering Heights, ariives. He stays in Cathy's old room against Heathcliff's orders and
during the night gets a visit from her ghost which he immidiatly reports to Heathcliff.
This encounter makes Heathcliff realize that Cathy is waiting for him in heavon. Now that
he had seen Edgar die and had stolen his fortune from him, he was ready to join Cathy.
From this point on he welcomes death and yearns for his and Cathy's reunion. Heathcliff's
death comes abruptly and the only person to mourn his death is Hareton, his nephew.
Heathcliff lived most of his life as a victim, but I think that all of his hardships
turned him into a stronger person. Unfortunatly, he not only became hard, but lost all
the tenderness in his heart. Over time, he enjoyed seeing people endure pain as he
himself was forced to do so many times in his past. The ultimate thing that brought
Heathcliff to peace was to die and enter heavon where his beloved Cathy was. Now that
they are both in heavon it seems as if Heathcliff's wishes have come true because at the
end of the novel, someone comments on seeing Heathcliff's ghost with a woman. That woman
is presumably Cathy. Their love was obviously an undying love because even in death they
found a way to be together.