'Heathcliff can be seen as a product of circumstance' How far and in what ways do you agree with

this view?

Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights' rests upon an enigma; her character of Heathcliff. Who, or what
Heathcliff is is open to reader interpretation. It is the questions that the reader chooses to ask that
will characterise how he is viewed. The enigmatic nature of Heathcliff rests upon the lack of
information Bronte gives of his early life. Heathcliff is simply placed at Wuthering Heights without
any suggestion of who he is and where he actually belongs. Heathcliff, for the reader, therefore is
what he is due to circumstance. He is placed at Wuthering Heights out of circumstance, he rises to
power out of circumstance, and reaches self destruction by the same fate.

It can be seen that a theme of the novel is consequence itself. Even in the first page we are given a
sense of consequence governing the situation through the narrator of Lockwood. Lockwood can be
treated as an outsider to the plot yet becomes fascinated by Heathcliff as a character, an it is through
his enquiries into Heathcliff's life that we are given the story. Yet even this is presented as
circumstance. Lockwood states, 'I think that circumstance determined me to accept the invitation.'
The reader later learns that it is through this circumstance that Lockwood becomes embroiled in the
demonic love story of Cathy and Heathcliff. Bronte presents how it is not merely the love of
Heathcliff and Cathy that is of circumstance, but that it should even be told is a circumstance in
itself. The novel is ridden with consequences, and this introduction of such on the first page is
extended into Heathcliff's life at Wuthering Heights. After having accepted Linton's proposal, Cathy
laments of her love for Heathcliff. She tells Nelly that she loves him because 'he's more myself than
I am', showing the deepest form of love that extends social conventions and superficiality, but
comes from the soul. Heathcliff however hears only the words spoken before, 'It would degrade me
to marry Heathcliff'. It is a consequence of this that Heathcliff commits himself to a life of solitude
and misery and that Cathy and himself are never together. The reader asks the question that had
Heathcliff heard comments such as, 'My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath', his
fate would have been quite different.

The idea of Heathcliff as a product of circumstance is evident in the contrast between himself and
his nature and the house he has attained and his status, creating the impression of neither truly
belonging to the other. The house itself seems to repel Heathcliff as master as described, 'I detected
the date '1500', and the name 'Hareton Earnshaw' . It is suggested very early on that it is by
circumstance that this house is in the hands of such a man, with the idea created that the house and
status doesn't 'fit' Heathcliff. Furthermore, Heathcliff's manner does not fit the status acquired
through such a property. Heathcliff is still described as wild by Catherine, 'an unreclaimed creature,
without refinement – without cultivation', creating the impression that although he has attained
property and wealth he is still 'unreclaimed', belonging to nowhere. This wild nature of Heathcliff's
does not change in the novel. The idea of Heathcliff as a product of circumstance is created by the
unchanging nature of both himself and Wuthering Heights, creating the idea that neither truly
belong together.

The most prominent aspect of Heathcliff as a character is the supernatural, demonic element that is
described, and this provides evidence against the idea of Heathcliff being a product of circumstance.
The supernatural element to Heathcliff creates the idea that it is no coincidence or circumstance that
he is as he is, that he is a sub-human force whose origins extend beyond the realms of circumstance.
Description of him such as, 'he's a lying fiend, a monster and not a human being' suggest that he is
something to be feared rather than a subject to be rationalised. Furthermore, the words 'not a human
being' creates the idea of his existence being supernatural and above the realms of humanity.
Therefore, perhaps Heathcliff cannot be described as a product of circumstance, because the very
nature of his character rises above circumstance.
Furthermore, the idea of Heathcliff being a product of circumstance rests very much on Heathcliff
being who he is and attaining his status through chance. Yet Heathcliff has manipulated his situation
at Wuthering Heights from young age, thus directing his own path. Heathcliff is aware of his power
over Mr Earnshaw, 'knowing perfectly the hold he had on his heart' and uses this to attain the better
of the two horses, antagonising Hindley, 'You must exchange horses with me...If you don't I shall
tell your father of the three lashings you've given me'. Heathcliff, therefore, is not lucky that he is in
the favour of Mr Earnshaw, but is simply clever and uses this to materially succeed. Moreover, this
can be seen as a pattern. Heathcliff does not circumstantially possess Thrushcross Grange; he
achieves it through locking young Cathy in Wuthering Heights and forcing her to marry his son, 'I
shall be your father tomorrow – all the father you'll have in a few days'. It is not, therefore, through
chance that Linton and Cathy marry – it is forced. Heathcliff becomes who he is through
manipulation. He is not a product of circumstance but a product of his vindictive nature.

It is presented as circumstance that Heathcliff arrives at Wuthering Heights. With no background

information, name or origins he beings life at Wuthering Heights as a product of this circumstance.
However, as Heathcliff's character unravels we learn that a more prominent interpretation of his
character is one of the supernatural, and therefore a product of something beyond circumstance. On
analysis, we see that Heathcliff very much governs his own fate. He is a character that does not
leave his life in the hands of circumstance, but controls and manipulates his destiny, as well as those
around him.

By Eleanor Pickering 13GD