How Does Heathcliff Change Throughout The Novel

Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Bronte, is an elaborate love story centered around Mr. Heathcliff and his vengeance after losing his true love because of segregation, social class, and jealousy. Mr. Heathcliff was introduced in Chapter One as a mysterious man whose secretive past and rude behavior captured the interest of Mr. Lockwood. Segregation was the first noticeable hardship that Heathcliff endured because of his appearance and education. When Hindley returned to Wuthering Heights, Hindley’s jealousy was an additional obstacle that kept Heathcliff and Catherine from becoming anything more than friends. The biggest hindrance that kept Heathcliff and Catherine apart was social class.

Mr. Lockwood is Heathcliff’s property renter who learns all of Heathcliff’s past from Mrs. Dean, who remarks very quickly within her story how even she distanced herself from Heathcliff in the beginning because of his appearance. In the story Mrs. Dean tells Lockwood that “Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to fling it out the doors, she did fly up, asking how he could fashion to bring that gipsy brat into the house…”(page 36). Immediately Heathcliff is cast aside because of his looks and homelessness. Although Heathcliff quickly becomes Mr. Earnshaw’s “favorite” and Catherine’s friend, he also makes a longterm enemy, Hindley.
Earnshaw’s son, Hindley, automatically takes a disliking towards Heathcliff because of jealousy. Hindley became the master of the house when Mr. Earnshaw died, and immediately seeked revenge on Heathcliff. Hindley “deprived him of the instructions of the curate, and insisted that he should labour out of doors instead…” said Mrs. Dean(page 44). Hindley eventually caused Catherine to choose Mr. Edgar over Heathcliff because Heathcliff was never properly educated. Hindley lowered Heathcliff’s social class, and in doing so he became another target of avengement in Heathcliff’s eyes later in the