Analysis Of Heathcliff In Emily Bronte's Novel 'Wuthering Heights'

In Emily Bronte’s novel, Wuthering Heights, people are able to sympathize with others when they have knowledge about the terms of their situation, and Bronte demonstrates this by including Heathcliff, an evil man by nature that receives sympathy from the reader because as humans, the reader justifies any of Heathcliff’s negative actions, to be a result of his situation, so rather than be angry, the reader continues to feel sympathy for them. Heathcliff is portrayed as a cruel and evil man throughout the novel, however because of the inconsistency with his portrayal, Bronte transforms how the reader feels about him, and these emotions range from appalling to appealing. The reader’s sympathies towards Heathcliff changes at different stages of the …show more content…
Bronte keeps the reader undecided on Heathcliff for the majority of the novel, and provides different situations that allow the reader to make their decision on whether or not they should sympathize with him.
Heathcliff is first introduced as a black haired child that has a sympathetic orphan background, and ultimately is treated poorly when he first arrives to his new home at Wuthering Heights. From the beginning to the end of the novel, Heathcliff is portrayed as a devilish and evil human being. Hindley takes an immediate dislike for Heathcliff and his hatred gets progressively worse as Mr.Earsnshaw takes more interest in Heathcliff than his own biological son, Hindley. Hindley does not agree with this and treats Heathcliff poorly and constantly tries to make his life difficult. At this point, Heathcliff is not yet evil but the reader begins the novel with the utmost sympathy for him, which will later on fluctuate do to Heathcliff’s