The way society instigates certain stereotypes and trends greatly affects the lives
of individuals and even leads one to act cruelly. In the renowned gothic romance,
Wuthering Heights, many characters are affected by how society implements the social
class structure. Heathcliff was repressed by Hindley and was viewed as inferior due to the
fact that he is what society deems to be inferior because of his race and status. This also
came in the way of true love, whereas Catherine refuses to marry Heathcliff because he
was of lower class. As Heathcliff feels the anguish of both Hindley and Catherine’s
resentment towards him, he acts cruelly towards Hindley’s son as an act of vengeance.
Societal expectations are to blame for the misfortunes of the individuals in the novel. By
looking at how society influences the perspectives of Hindley and Catherine, Catherine
and Heathcliff’s affair, and Heathcliff’s mistreatment towards people around him such as
Hareton and Isabela, one can say that society is unjust and the primary cause of the pain
of an individual.
Hindley’s degrading view on Heathcliff causes him to act cruelly against his
stepbrother. When Nelly first introduces the people from Wuthering Heights to
Lockwood, she informs him that Heathcliff is despised by Hindley when he was brought
in, “Miss Cathy and he were now very thick; but Hindley hated him: and to say the truth I
did the same.” (Chapter IV pg. 33). Initially, Hindley despises Heathcliff when he was
first brought in by Mr. Earnshaw. Heathcliff being a gypsy was viewed as inferior to the
eyes of Hindley. Hindley also despises Heathcliff because he is of a different race and
thus according to this initial introduction, he is of a lower class. Since society negatively
deems Heathcliff to be inferior, it is easy for Hindley and even Nelly to resent him.
Knowing that Heathcliff belongs in the lower social class, Hindley thinks of himself as
superior. Therefore, Hindley allows himself to obtain power against Heathcliff. It is how
Hindley views Heathcliff that foreshadows Heathcliff’s inner pain and actions later on in
the novel. The way society generates a class structure burdens Heathcliff’s growth in the
story. Also, after Hindley hits Heathcliff with an iron tool used for weighing potatoes, he
insults him saying, “Take my colt, gypsy, then, and I pray that he may break you’re neck:
take him what you are, imp of Satan. – and take that, I hope he’ll kick out your
brains.”(Chapter IV pg. 35). Hindley hurts Heathcliff by throwing metal at him. His hate
and resentment is the general reason for his brutal action towards Heathcliff. After he
hurts Heathcliff, he insults him more when he emphasises on the word gypsy. It is
conspicuous that Hindley sees Heathcliff as his slave, other than a brother-like figure
even when his father treats Heathcliff like his son. This says that Hindley abides more on
the views of society than the views of his father. Hindley also compares Heathcliff to a
devil when he describes him as the child of Satan. Society lacks sympathy and
compassion for those who are deemed to belong to the lower class. In turn, Hindley sees
this, and his intentions, based on prejudice which allows him to act ruthlessly against
Heathcliff. Society is to blame for burdening Heathcliff’s development in the novel as
well as enabling Hindley to act vindictively and lose the admiration of his father.
Society is also guilty for getting in the way of true love. Catherine is a victim of
how society implements certain expectations on what it deems as “high-class” which in
turn burdens the affair between Heathcliff and Catherine. When Catherine returns from
Thurshcross Grange, she was seen as more lady-like, “The mistress visited her often in
the interval, and commenced her plan to reform by trying to raise her self-respect with
fine clothes a flattery, which she took readily; so that, instead of a wild, hatless little
savage jumping into the house.”(Chapter VII, pg. 46). Catherine’s arrival made everyone
see her differently. Her new appeal and appearance made her more lady-like and well
mannered. Thrushcross Grange is said to be more cultured and orderly than Wuthering
Heights. Catherine’s stay at Thrushcross Grange allowed her to transform into a different,
more cultured character. It is plausible that Heathcliff could have been overly
intimidated by her transformation which would lower his self-esteem and make him
reluctant in pursuing his love for her. This transition may have also altered Catherine’s
perspective on Heathcliff. Catherine, who once had an admiration for Heathcliff, could
have now seen him as inferior. A woman who bases herself in social status would not
pursue someone who is a gypsy or of the lower-class. Her perspective on social status and
her new found need for lavish necessities makes society accusable for her transition.
Society expects her to act accordingly to her status, whether or not she is happy with the
change. As well, after Edgar proposes to marry Catherine, Catherine tells Nelly about
how degrading it would be to be with Heathcliff, “It would degrade me to marry
Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him.” (Chapter IX pg. 72). It is
credible to conceive that Catherine does love Heathcliff. However, she is biased about
being with Heathcliff because of his status. Edgar appeals to Catherine because he has a
good reputation. Catherine’s stay in Thrushcross Grange made her realize that she now
reluctantly rejected the suffering, which came hand in hand with Heathcliff’s status, as an
inevitable component of deep passion. She now had no tolerance for pain and no lust for
combat. She is now grounded and realistic. Her requirements for love were based on
seriousness and stability. She had become engaged to Edgar because he is what society
deems to be successful. In turn, society allowed Catherine to forget about the beauty of
commitment and true love. She still loves Heathcliff but refuses this fantasy and accepted
the reality that her social status would suffer if they were together. Likewise, Catherine
implies that marrying Edgar would be the right decision so that she can help Heathcliff
financially and make him rise into power, “...but did it never strike you that if Heathcliff
and I married, we should be beggars? Where as if I marry Linton, I can aid Heathcliff to
rise, and place him out of my brother’s power.”(Chapter IX, pg. 74). Catherine tells Nelly
that marrying Edgar is beneficial to Heathcliff. Although this says that she still loves
Heathcliff and her intentions towards him are good, she still pursued Edgar due to his
status. This decision pertains to society’s definition of money and power. Society allowed
Catherine to choose money over true love. Catherine puts power and money before love,
which is morally wrong. This in turn allowed Heathcliff to sense the resentment from
Catherine. Heathcliff also gives in for money and power when he tells Isabella his real
intentions for marrying her, “Having levelled my palace, don’t erect a hovel and
complacently admire your own charity in giving me that for a home.” (Chapter XI pg
`03). Heathcliff’s intention for marrying Isabella is to rise socially. He describes
Wuthering Heights as his palace. If Catherine chose to marry Heathcliff, Heathcliff and
Isabella’s sorrow due to their false adulation could have been avoided. Heathcliff could
have also inherited the idea that money may be stronger than love when his real
intentions for Isabella are towards his rise in Wuthering Heights. Marriage should be
based on true love and should be unconditional. By marrying Edgar, Catherine does not
find true love when the only reason she married him is because of her social reputation.
True love also rejects Heathcliff when the circumstances from his situation with
Catherine lead him to think that she resents him. Isabella is also a victim of the concept of
money over true love when she married a man who only used her for means of climbing
the social ladder and revenge for his own benefit.
An example of how society instigates the actions of a person is Heathcliff’s
relationship with his wife, Isabella and his nephew, Hareton. Before Isabella leaves for
London, she visits Nelly and tells her about Heathcliff’s abusive treatment towards her,
“…he snatched a dinner knife from the table and flung it at my head. It struck beneath my
ear, and sprang to the door and delivered another which I hope went a little deeper than
his missile.” (Chapter XVII pg. 167). Heathcliff who married Isabella to gain more power
abuses her by throwing a knife at her. Heathcliff who was used to being abused by
Hindley because of Hindley’s degrading view on him makes him result to the vicious
actions to Isabella. Also, Catherine’s degrading view on him and her desire for to rise
socially makes Heathcliff angry. As an act of revenge from his anger, Heathcliff results to
violence and turns into a candid wife beater. His desire to gain a higher social status is the
cause of his brutal actions towards his wife. As a result of his violence Isabella admits
that she fears him, “The adjective gave mortal offence. He swore it was not, nor even
should be mine; and he’d – but I’ll not repeat his language nor describe his habitual
conduct: he is ingenious and unresting in seeking to gain my abhorrence!” (Chapter XIII
pg. 133). Isabella admits that she is both disgusted and afraid of Heathcliff. Due to
Heathcliff’s violent and aggressive actions towards his wife, Isabella suffers. Heathcliff’s
anger is not only towards Catherine and Hindley, but his revenge resonates towards
society. It is possible that his revenge by beating his wife, who belongs in good social
status, is an act that implies his superiority to society’s high-class stereotype. Another
example of cruel actions that Heathcliff commits is towards his nephew Hareton. During
a hunting trip with Linton, Catherine, Nelly and Hareton, Hareton is exposed of his
illiteracy, “the boy finding animation enough while discussing Hareton’s faults and
deficiencies.”(Chapter XXI pg. 203). Hareton is exposed of his illiteracy. Heathcliff, as
an act of revenge against Hindley’s actions towards him over the past, makes Hareton
avoid education in order to experience how people used to see him. A person who is
uneducated is deemed to be of the lower class in the social class structure. Heathcliff’s
decision to uneducated Hareton is the effect of how society implements certain
stereotypes. If Hindley in the first place did not treat Heathcliff as inferior then his son
could have not been the subject of Heathcliff’s revenge. By being uneducated Hareton as
part of the youth will have a hard time to rise socially and find success. Society’s
definition of good and bad according to the class structure makes revenge reasonable and
causes further anguish and misfortunes for other individuals.
Society’s expectations are to blame for the misfortunes of all the characters in the
novel. The way society implements certain stereotypes as well as how it gaps those who
are deemed to be in the lower class and the higher class enables individuals to suffer and
act out of revenge. Heathcliff’s suffering as a child in the hands of Hindley and his views
based on society’s definition of good and bad, Catherine’s new found identity, which
disabled her love affair with Heathcliff and settle for money, power, and social
prominence, as well as the cruel and violent actions made by Heathcliff against his wife
and his nephew as an act of revenge against his struggle with society in the past makes
society accusable for the character’s misfortunes. Trends in society are in constant
change. Many people still abide on the image accordingly on what society promotes.
Because of this, many people become judgmental, greedy, jealous, and vengeful, which
in turn the certain appeals enable people to obtain the true jewels in life, such as true
love. The old adage, “The best things in life are free”, is a statement that may liberate one
from the lust of material things and social reputations, and directs one to life’s real
sources of happiness.