Heathcliff as the Byronic hero of Wuthering Heights It is difficult if not impossible to find a character in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights who is 100% convincing as a hero, until the qualities of the Byronic hero apply. When considering Wuthering Heights Heathcliff as an evil character immediately comes to mind. Upon his return he evilly orchestrates the economic demise of Hindley and takes control of the Heights. He attempts to win back Catherine, now a married woman, and when that fails he takes Isabelle Linton, Edgar's sister, in marriage, with the sole intention of torturing her as a way of getting revenge on Edgar for marrying the woman he loved. When Hindley died, Heathcliff took his son, Hareton, to treat him as cruelly as Hindley had treated Heathcliff, thus taking revenge on Hindley. To further punish Edgar, Heathcliff kidnaps Cathy, forces her to marry his son, Linton, and in doing so gains possession of Thruschcross Grange and has the authority to treat Cathy as he wishes. Heathcliff obviously has a vengeful side, but this makes his character perfect to carry the mantle of the Byronic hero. He rebels against the social order in his world by attempting to defy Hindley and associating with Catherine and later by attempting to woo her from Edgar's arms and house and make her his. He is downright self-destructive and doesn't care about anyone but himself and Catherine, which seems questionable at times. His passion in life is not life but getting revenge on anyone who has ever wronged him. He systematically destroys the lives of people who have hurt him, but refuses to stop there, insisting on further punishing those individuals through... middle of paper... underground until he can join her in death. so that he would not have to endure a single day without knowing of his nearness. All of Heathcliff's actions stemmed from his desire to be with Catherine. When he was denied this, mainly due to his social position and background, he decided to ruin the lives of those who believe they are better than him due to their position in society. Heathcliff cannot be classified as a villain, but rather is nicknamed the Byronic Hero and, to some extent, the victim of a manipulative and spoiled brat. Works Cited Damrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. B. Compact ed. New York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000. Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. Norton Criticism ed. 3rd ed. Ed. William M. Sale, Jr. and Richard J. Dunn. New York: W. W. Norton, 1990.