Well, I guess that depends primarily on whether you think
that Heathcliff is a character that should be defended or not. This is rather a large
question, and it seems to be related to the idea of whether Heathcliff is an essentially
good character who has been made bad through years of suffering and ill treatment at the
hands of various people such as Hindley, or whether Heathcliff is actually a thoroughly
evil character who starts out evil and remains evil throughout the entire novel. This is
a fascinating question, because I don't think that Bronte gives us enough proof to
support either extreme. Certainly the novel focuses on the way that he is abused and
mistreated as a child, but at the same time, his cold, calculated exploitation of old
Mr. Earnshaw's preference for him is something that he uses to get back at Hindley
whenever possible. Consider how he blackmails Hindley into exchanging horses with
him:
You must
exchange horses with me. I don't like mine; and if you won't I shall tell your father of
the three thrashings you have given me this week, and show him my arm, which is black to
the shoulder.
There is just
enough evidence to support our view of Heathcliff as being both abused and both evil,
and as we read through the novel, the majority of readers oscillate between these two
perspectives of his character. I guess at the end of the day, Heathcliff is a human, and
therefore he does deserve at least some kind of defence for his actions were he to be
tried for them rather than outright conviction, but the character of Heathcliff presents
the reader with a massive dilemma and is not a character that can be categorised easily.
He remains throughout the novel and after we have finished it as a character who is
tortured by his obsession and love for Catherine and who defies all easy answers about
his actions and motives.
No comments:
Post a Comment