How Does Heathcliff Change Throughout The Novel

Wuthering Heights takes place in an era, 19th century, in which social class played a major role. Heathcliff, a major character in the novel, starts off as an orphan, and Mr. Earnshaw takes him in as his own. When Mr. Earnshaw passes away, his son, Hindley Earnshaw, begins to treat Heathcliff differently since he’s of a different social class. All throughout the novel, Heathcliff is turned away because of his lower social status. Heathcliff is alienated from his society, and thus in return he goes out seeking revenge. The main plot of the story contains Heathcliff seeking out revenge to those who wronged him all due to his social status. In Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff’s social status affects his choices, people around him, and influences the direction of the novel.
Heathcliff’s determination to marry Catherine allowed himself to control his revenge feelings. However, this changed when he realized Catherine said she could not marry Heathcliff due to his social status. Catherine went off to marry Edgar Linton, a young rich golden boy from Thrushcross Grange. After their marriage, Heathcliff was determined to make Edgar’s life miserable because he married the love of his life, Catherine. Throughout the entire novel, Heathcliff is always plotting revenge on the people who wronged him all due to his social class. Hindley, Mr. Earnshaw’s son, treats him the worst out of all the characters in the novel. Hindley believes his father has been treating him “too liberally; and swears he will reduce him to his right place--.” (Brontë 22). Due to this, Heathcliff is determined to take control of all of the land in Wuthering Heights as well as in Thrushcross Grange. In order to get back at Edgar, Heathcliff chooses to marry Edgar’s sister, Isabella to acquire his land. Heathcliff’s social status affected his decisions throughout the entire