3.3 The return to Wuthering Heights
Not much is known about the time Heathcliff spent away from Wuthering Heights. In these three years, he acquired manners and a fortune, under suspicious circumstances. He returns as a well-dressed, educated gentleman seeking revenge on everyone who wronged him; everyone but Catherine. With his true revenge starting when he realizes that Catherine is already married to Edgar Linton.
3.4 Love and revenge
Revenge is the most dominant theme in “Wuthering Heights”, and it all started with Hindley. When it comes to Heathcliff, he is an “eye for an eye” type of person. He returns to Wuthering Heights with two goals; to marry Catherine and to punish those who hurt him. He is torn between his love for Catherine and
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One of the most important parts of his character is that he rebels against society and social norms of the time. Heathcliff defies Hindley and connects with Catherine, even tries to separate her from her husband. His sole desire was to be with Catherine and when he was denied this, he set out to destroy those who wronged him, using the same means that were used against him; position in society. Heathcliff isolates himself from society due to hopelessness and disappointment. This indifference towards everything and everyone but Catherine leads to his asocial behavior and rebellion. Heathcliff’s obsession with revenge indicates his need to rebel against the very system, that separated him from Catherine. This same system of values is what made him look for relationships that are only beneficial to his agenda and care for no one, not even his …show more content…
We could ask ourselves whether Heathcliff’s personality is a result of the things that had happened to him or a result of the conscious decisions he made. Emily Brontë is constantly putting Heathcliff in a good light, she is always explaining why is he the way he is; we see his childhood and the abuse he had to take, just because he was different and we can’t help but feel sorry for him. Heathcliff left Wuthering Heights, made something out of himself, but instead of moving on, he returned and started torturing his torturers, becoming “more of an oppressor than his original tormentors.” (5) And not just that he was good at it, he enjoyed it,