Heathcliff as a Villain or Devil in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights

Heathcliff's faults, although largely accounted for by his depraved youth and his troublesome passion, outweigh the sympathy in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights . Throughout the story he commits numerous acts which could easily be deemed as evil. It is hard to forgive evil actions despite what motives lay behind them. Nelly affirms, “It is preferable to be hated than loved by him”.

Until he is sixteen, we are led to suspect him of nothing worse than a hot temper, a proud nature and a capacity for implacable hatred. Though Heathcliff possess inherently a savage violent nature, it is Catherine’s betrayal which leads to a steady deterioration in his character. The diabolic intensity with which Heathcliff pursues his revenge indeed, makes him seem a demon.

When Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights after several years, his frustration leads him to exact revenge on Hindley Earnshaw. He sets out deliberately to ruin Hindley, lending him money to gamble and drink and then getting him to mortgage the Heights to him so that he eventually becomes the master of the Heights. Hindley reduced Heathcliff to such a status that it would ruin Cathy to marry him. Heathcliff's villainy is shown when he returns the favour to Hindley, reducing him and his son Hareton to servant class. This is apparent when Heathcliff is talking to Nellie about his joy in degrading Hareton, he says, I've pleasure in him!..He has satisfied my expectations…”

His treatment of Hindley may still be morally justifiable, but nothing can excuse Heathcliff’s brutal treatment of innocent Isabella. He uses Isabella’s infatuation and gets her to elope with him. Isabella believes that Heathcliff is a kind decent man; however, soon after she marries him, he becomes abusive. This is also shown in a letter from Isabella to Nellie in which she says, “he is ingenious and unresting in seeking to gain my abhorrence! I assure you, a tiger, or a venomous serpent could not rouse terror in me equal to that which he awakens.”

His brutality is also shown in his last speech with his beloved Catherine. Instead of consoling her, he harshly treats her. Heathcliff says, 'Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy? I have not one word of comfort - you deserve this. You have killed yourself..They'll blight you - they'll damn you. You loved me - then what right did you to leave me?..I have not broken your heart - you have broken it - and in breaking it, you have broken mine.'  This quote shows Heathcliff's anger, and his blaming of Cathy.

His desire for revenge however doesn’t end with the death of Hindley or with Isabella’s escape from the Heights. In his devilish scheme he pursues his revenge through Hareton, the son of Hindley, and Catherine the daughter of Edgar Linton. He treats Hareton as he had been treated by Hindley. Hareton is deprived of education, fumed into a mere farm land and treated as a servant.

His treatment of Catherine defies logic. He forgets that she is the daughter of his own beloved Catherine. He has imprisoned her till he can forcibly get Catherine married to Linton. Catherine is deliberately kept in the dark about Linton’s grave state of health. Heathcliff violently hits her when Catherine bites him in a bid to escape and he does not let her visit her dying father. Hareton and Catherine are innocent. They did no harm ro Heathcliff. To take revenge on innocents is really a brutish task and we cannot forgive him for this.

His treatment of his own sick son Linton is no better. He claims rights over his son Linton but has no love for the sickly boy. It is morally reprehensible that he terrorizes and mistreats even his own son. He forces him to woo Catherine, so that a marriage between them would make Heathcliff the master of Thrushcross Grange, after the death of his son. He is totally callous, unfeeling and cruel when he refuses to get a doctor for his dying son as he feels that his life is not worth a farthing. Even when Linton Heathcliff lets Catherine escape, he punishes the sick boy and makes sure Catherine is back at the Heights, immediately after the funeral of her father,

All these, indeed make him seem a demon and the readers are unwilling to draw any sympathy to him.

Nelly Dean as a Narrator in Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights'

Nelly Dean serves as the chief narrator in Wuthering Heights. A sensible, intelligent, and compassionate woman, she grew up essentially alongside Hindley and Catherine Earnshaw and is deeply involved in the story she tells. She has strong feelings for the characters in her story, and these feelings complicate her narration.

Nelly is an eyewitness-first person participant-main narrator of Wuthering Heights. Nelly Dean’s narrative has an extraordinary sometimes breathless energy as if she were describing events that she had witnessed an hour ago, every moment of which is vividly present to her. Nelly’s narrative is an art of stark immediacy - of making the past live for us in the present.

As much of Nelly’s narrative is unfolded in the words of the actual characters, we the readers, feel that the narrative is moulded by the pressure of events, not that the shape and interpretation of events is being fashioned by the narrator. The sense of actuality is conveyed by a series of concrete details that fall artlessly into place. Nelly’s sureness in relating her narrative seems to arise out of an astonishing clear memory, the impression of rapid excitement is achieved by concentrating our attention on movement and gesture, action and reaction, intermixed with vehement dialogue which convinces by its emphatic speech rhythms and plain language. The dialogue has no trace of a conscious stylist, it is noticeable for the brief rapidity of the sentence, an example of this is Nelly’s recollection of the time leading up to Catherine’s death, when Catherine emplored her to open the window of her room - "Oh, if I were but in my own bed in the old house!" she went on bitterly, wringing her hands, "And that wind sounding in the firs by the lattice. "Do let me feel it! - it comes straight down the moor - do let me have one breath!"

Nelly’s value as a narrator is clear from this example. She brings us very close to the action and is in one way deeply engaged in it. The intimate affairs of the Grange and the Heights have taken up her whole life, however, her position as a professional housekeeper means that her interests in events is largely practical. She provides the inner frame of the narrative and we see this world of the successive generations of Earnshaw’s and Linton’s through her eye’s, although much of the dialogue, in the interests of objectivity, is that of the characters themselves. As a narrator reporting the past from the present, she has the benefit of hindsight and can therefore depart from the straight chronological narrative to hint at the future.

Nelly is a character within her own narrative, which causes her several problems. At times she is involved in the action, she is now describing and therefore she treads a difficult path between romantic indulgence and moral rectitude, she both encourages and discourages relationships. Her attitude to theme sways between approval and disapproval, depending on her mood. This is primarily evident in the role she plays in the love triangle between Heathcliff, Catherine and Edgar; at times taking Edgar’s side while yet arranging the last meeting between Heathcliff and Catherine by leaving the window open for him. She adopted a similar position between the relationship between Cathy and Linton, at time colluding with Cathy and at other times judging and betraying her for writing against her father’s wishes. 

There is an ambivalence in Nelly’s attitude and this combined with her meddling nature renders her moral stance inconsistent and even hypocritical. Despite these shortcomings, she is vigorous, lively narrator with a formidable memory whose energy and unflagging interests allow the reader an insight into the lives of characters.

As a narrator, her language is lively, colloquial and imaginative, this has the effect of bringing characters to life and providing the reader with many vivid and precise images, an example of this is her reference to Heathcliff’s life "It’s a cuckoo’s, sir - I know all about it, except where he was born, and who were his parents, and how he got his money at first. And that Hareton, has been cast out like a unfledged dunnock." In this example the tagging on of the phrase "at first" suggests that Nelly knows how he got his money later and therefore arouses our interest in Heathcliff. Nelly is limited because of her conventional, religious and moral sentiments, which often prevent her from a greater understanding of the emotions or motives of the characters.

From the above discussion we can say that Nelly is actually a narrator, rather than a character.

'Wuthering Heights' by Emile Bronte as a Class conscious Novel

The novel Wuthering Heights by Emile Bronte opens in 1801 when the old rough farming culture, based on a naturally patriarchal family life, was to be challenged, tamed and routed by social and cultural changes. These changes produced Victorian class consciousness and ‘unnatural' ideal of gentility." This social-economic reality provides the context of Wuthering Heights.

The setting of the story at Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange provides a clear example of social contrast. While the Heights is depicted as simply typical and "domestic," the Grange is described as a "scene of unprecedented richness" (80). Each house is associated with behavior fitting the description. For example, when Catherine is taken into the Grange, she experiences drastic changes, thus going from a "savage" to a "lady" (80). While at this house, she rises in status, learns manners, and receives great privileges such as not having to work. Heathcliff, on the other hand, learns to classify himself as a member of the lower class, as he does not possess the qualities of those at the Grange.

The struggle between social classes roughly resembles a real life conflict during this time. The reader sympathizes with Heathcliff, the gypsy who was oppressed by a rigid class system .But as Heathcliff pursues his revenge and tyrannical persecution of the innocent, the danger posed by the uncontrolled individual to the community becomes apparent. Like other novels of the 1830s and 40s Wuthering Heights reveals the abuses of industrialism and overbearing individualism,

Catherine is the daughter of Mr & Mrs. Earnshaw and Heathcliff is a pickup boy by Mr. Earnshaw from the slums of Liverpool city and is named Heathcliff Earnshaw by Mr. Earnshaw. Mr. Earnshaw’s treatment towards Heathcliff is likely a father’s treatment towards his own child. But the social contrast happens when Hindley returns to Wuthering Heights and forces Heathcliff to work in the fields.

The basic conflict and motive force of the novel is class conflict. Environment of the moor and same dwelling place gives both Cathy and Heathcliff a greater chance to develop their romantic love-affair. Both Cathy and Heathcliff love each other profoundly. But Catherine's decision to marry Edgar Linton rather than Heathcliff widens the gap between social classes. Edgar Linton is a wealthy man of high status, and Heathcliff is poor and possesses no assets. Catherine does not consider personal feelings, but instead, she focuses on her outward appearance to society. "Edgar Linton will be rich and I shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighborhood whereas if Heathcliff and I married, we should be beggars (81). It is obvious that wealth justifies social class, and Catherine strives to achieve high status. Cathy says to Nelley:-

“It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff, now.”’

The Earnshaw's and Linton's are part of a social class named the gentry, similar to the upper-middle class. Theirs social positions are not poor, but they try to improve their status. Another example is Heathcliff story. He begins as an orphan but moves up in status when he is adopted by Mr. Earnshaw.

Considerations of class status often crucially inform the characters’ motivations in Wuthering Heights. Catherine’s decision to marry Edgar so that she will be “the greatest woman of the neighborhood” is only the most obvious example. The Lintons are relatively firm in their gentry’s status but nonetheless take great pains to prove this status through their behaviors. The Earnshaws, on the other hand, rest on much shakier ground socially. They do not have a carriage, they have less land, and their house, as Lockhood remarks, resembles that of a “homely, northern farmer” and not that of a gentleman. The shifting nature of social status is demonstrated most strikingly in Heathcliff’s trajectory from homeless waif to young gentleman-by- adoption to common laborer to gentleman again (although the status-conscious Lockwood remarks that Heathcliff is only a gentleman in “dress and manners.”)

The writer draws a complex and contradictory relationship between the landed gentry and aristocracy, the traditional power-holders and the capitalist, industrial middle classes, who were pushing for social acceptance and political power. Simultaneously, with the struggle among these groups, an accommodation was developing based on economic interests. The area that the Brontës live in, the town of Haworth in West Riding, was particularly affected by these social and economic conditions because of the concentration of large estates ad industrial centers in West Riding.

Disordered and Destructive Relationships in Wuthering Heights

People often try to find a perfect relationship and a perfect companion. Some of them even marry without knowing what their new husband or wife is like. This kind of situation often leads to separation or hostility. Other situations may develop between two friends that stem from jealousy, desire for revenge, uncaring parents, etc. Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights displays several characteristics of destructive relationships. Three of these are uncaring parents, marriage without knowing the person, and jealousy.

Uncaring or unsympathizing parents are shown throughout this story to be an element of destructive relationships. Nelly tells Mr. Lockwood a story from Heathcliff's childhood. Mr. Earnshaw had favored Heathcliff, and he was able to get whatever he wanted. When Mr. Earnshaw gave each boy a horse, Heathcliff insisted on having the prettier one. When this one got hurt, Heathcliff tried to take Hindley's horse. Heathcliff threatened to tell father about all the times Hindley beat him, and in retaliation, Hindley hit him. Heathcliff seems to want Hindley to hit him, so he will have something to hold against him. He doesn't even need to fight back, because father will always take his side. Thus Heathcliff gained all the attention from Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley became disassociated from his father. This separation continued until after Mr. Earnshaw had died.

Another example is between Hindley and Hareton. Hindley became such a drunk and a gambler that he could not properly care for young Hareton. Even affection is violent with him, and the boy pulls away from his father's rough embrace. This led to a separation between Hareton and his father as well.

Aother primary example of an uncaring parent is shown between Heathcliff and his son Linton. Heathcliff did not even want his son for anything except enacting a part of his revenge. This is shown by Linton's fear of Heathcliff and Heathcliff's enmity toward his son. Linton even says "... my father threatened me, and I dread him - I dread him!"(244) to express his feeling about Heathcliff. The hostility and separation between father and son in this book shows that uncaring parents can cause serious damage in relationships with their children.

This element of destructive behavior may stem from an unhappy marriage in which the husbands or wives don't know each other. This had happened between Isabella and Heathcliff. Isabella did not really know Heathcliff when she married him, but after she had married him she saw that Heathcliff was not a gentleman at all. To declare her feelings she wrote " Is Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil? I shan't tell my reasons for making this inquiry; but I beseech you to explain, if you can, what I have married ..."(125). Heathcliff hangs Isabelle's dog from a tree, Another example of this is when Catherine married Edgar Linton. Although she had been happy at the beginning of the marriage, she thought having parties all the time was going to be fun. Yet, after a while, she became bored. She also realized that she loved Heathcliff more than Edgar and would always love Heathcliff. This enlightenment created separation between Edgar and Catherine during the final hours of Cathy's life. An additional marriage which was made that was doomed was the one between Catherine and Linton. Because this was a forced marriage, Cathy had not yet learned all she could about Linton. Because she did not know until after the marriage that Linton was selfish and inconsiderate, she became distressed and grew isolated in the house. These three failed marriages described in this novel show that knowing the person you will marry is very important.

While these marriages took place, jealousy also took a hold in some relationships. One example of this is when Mr. Earnshaw starts to favor Heathcliff over his own son, Hindley. Because of this, Hindley becomes jealous of young Heathcliff and sets out to make Heathcliff's life a nightmare. Hindley's jealousy becomes evident when he says ,"... be damned you beggarly interloper! and wheedle my father out of all he has; only afterwards show him what you are, imp of Satan."(35). Jealousy was also found very notably in the relationship between Heathcliff and Edgar Linton. The jealousy between them is expressed when Heathcliff and Edgar start a hostile conversation after Cathy's homecoming at Christmas near the beginning of the book. Heathcliff hates that Catherine likes him, and when Linton makes a comment about Heathcliff's hair, Heathcliff throws hot applesauce in his face. Heathcliff's violence is answered with more violence. Hindley took him upstairs and beat him, and when he came back down he told Linton that next time he should beat him himself

Hindley, crazed with the loss of his wife and his land, tells Isabella about his plan to kill Heathcliff. Every night he tries to open Heathcliff's bedroom door, and when one night it is unlocked, he plans to shoot him. He believes some kind of devil urges him to settle the score this way.

As the story progresses these two become bitter enemies who will not speak to one another. Another relationship which jealousy ruined is the one between Hareton and Linton. These two become jealous of each other over Cathy's affections. This relationship ends as Hareton and Linton hating each other. These relationships show that jealousy can ruin a relationship very quickly.

The jealousy, neglect, and unprepared nature of the many relationships in this book indicates that many of the relationships in this book have gone "sour". In spite of all these destructive elements one relationship may succeed. This is the one between Cathy and Hareton. Because there is no more jealousy or neglect, and because they are getting to know each other, their relationship has a good chance of succeeding. Because all the other failed relationships in this book containing the elements; jealousy, neglect, and ignorance concerning the nature of your companion; one can conclude that these elements will destroy any relationship.

Love Relation between Catherine and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights

The central theme of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is the relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff. The problem of the bond between Cathy and Heathcliff and its significance remains the central mystery of the novel till the very end. In fact, the novel is a revengeful love story of Heathcliff, the protagonist.

Catherine is the daughter of Mr & Mrs. Earnshaw and Heathcliff is a pickup boy by Mr. Earnshaw from the slums of Liverpool city and is named Heathcliff Earnshaw by Mr. Earnshaw. Mr. Earnshaw’s treatment towards Heathcliff is likely a father’s treatment towards his own child. Environment of the moor and same dwelling place gives both Cathy and Heathcliff a greater chance to develop their romantic love-affair. In addition, Cathy’s own brother, Hindley’s hostile and cruel treatments towards Heathliff fines Cathy’s love for Heathliff.

As children, Cathy and Heathcliff seem to represent the spirit of Freedom as they are rebelling against the tyrannical authority represented by Hindley. They are also rebelling against religious bigotry as represented by Joseph.

Their love exists on a higher or spiritual plane; they are soul mates, two people who have an affinity for each other which draws them together irresistibly. Heathcliff repeatedly calls Catherine his soul.

A life-force relationship is a principle that is not conditioned by anything but it. Catherine and Heathcliff's love is based on their shared perception that they are the same. Catherine declares, famously, “I am Heathcliff,” while Heathcliff, upon Catherine's death, wails that he cannot live without his “soul,” meaning Catherine.

Both Cathy and Heathcliff love each other profoundly. Yet we notice some ambiguity in both Cathy’s speech and action.

Cathy and Heathcliff are creatures of the wild moorland where conventional social standards are meaningless. After meeting with Edgar, Cathy develops an interest towards him. She now seems to be equally interested in Edgar and Heathcliff. She has not certainly given up Heathcliff. In fact she defines her brother Hindley and manages to meet Heathcliff secretly. Indeed there remains a striking contrast between Edgar and Heathcliff far as behavior, looks and refinement is concerned. And it is obvious for a sweet girl of fifteen to be in dilemma about both of them because one is her earlier love and later another appears with more redefined and behavior.

Cathy decides to marry Edgar for his social status. She decides to marry Edgar for his social standards. Indeed he is handsome, young and cheerful. But she informs Nelly, the house keeper, of her profound attachment to Heathcliff, saying

“Nelly he (Heathcliff) is more myself than I am. Whatever our sols are made of, his ad mine are the same.”

But Heathcliff who loves Cathy more than anything in his life overhears Cathy saying to Nelley:-

“It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff, now.”’

He would not hear further as he leaves with his heart which is teared up into several pieces and blood is blowing from his hear inwardly. From this context of Cathy’s speech we can have a clear notion that the love affair between Cathy and Heathliff is anti-social as Heathcliff is a pick up boy and then is no trait of his parents.

After overhearing such stuff, Heathcliff leaves the Wuthering Heights without saying anything to anybody and leaves no traces of him.

When Heathcliff has left, Cathy marries Edgar. After her marriages she understands her betrayal of her true self and as a result she is going to be sick and ill in accordance with the passing of days. After six months of their marriages, Heathcliff returns and seeing him live Cathy feels so delighted. Inspite of Edgars dismay, Cathy and Heathcliff sit looking at one another “absorbed in their mutual joy to suffer embarrassment.” Yet there is no romantic erotic infatuation.

Though she is married to Edgar, she feels an ardent love and desire for Heathcliff which is anti- social. She believes that Linton is subordinate and that Heathcliff is part of her.

In Chapter 15, Heathcliff himself burst into Cathy’s room and in a moment she was in his arms. He begins to show countless kisses on her. Then Cathy confesses that she is responsible for everything because she has married Edgar when she has actually been in love with him ( Heathcliff). She then asks him to kiss her again.

Twelve years have passed after Cathy’s death. Heathcliff suffers a lot and at the same time make others to suffer.

When Edgar Linton dies and the designs of Linton’s grave is going on Heathcliff bribes the Sexton to remove the earth of the lid of the coffin in which Cathy lay. And opening the lid of the coffin and has seen Cathy’s face again. In fact, he has, with his own hands, digs out her grave on this occasion. This he has done out of his titanic love for Cathy. But in view of social perspective, what he has done for love is really amoral.

Not only that he has also bribed the Sexton to pull away one panel of the coffin, his object being, that when he himself dies, his dead body should be buried close to Cathy’s dead body without being there any wall between them. His unfathomable love for Cathy makes him do such thing that is anti-moral.

At the end, we can say that the unalloyed love of Heathcliff turns to anti-moral as well as anti-social because of Cathy’s ambition to get social standard and his own psychological problem. In Wuthering Heights Catherine and Heathcliff’s love is a direct challenge to those social forces of family and class which tyrannize, oppress and restrict individuals and their relationship.

Revenge as an Expression of Love in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

The plot of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, although it involves a number of complex relationships, largely revolves around Heathcliff's pursuit of revenge. We see how revengeful can a person be for his unrequited love through Heathcliff’s character. Heathcliff's revenge is apparent in how he treats the Earnshaws, degrading Hindley and Hareton just as Hindley did him. This is also shown in his actions against the Lintons. Heatcliff’s great love for Catherine lies behind all his brutal actions.

Heathcliff deliberately ruins Hindley. Heathcliff hates the Lintons because Cathy married Edgar. He treat brutally with Isabella, Edgar Linton’s sister, Heathcliff uses his treachery to steal away the Linton fortune and to degrade their offspring. Heathcliff's revenge is shown in how he treats Cathy herself. He loves her so much he hates her. He feels that Cathy betrayed her heart and married Edgar. He pursues his revenge through Hareton, the son of Hindley and Catherine the daughter of Edgar Linton. His treatment of his own sick son Linton is no better.

Hindley reduced Heathcliff to such a status that it would ruin Cathy to marry him. When Heathcliff returns to Wuthering Heights after several years, his frustration leads him to exact revenge on Hindley Earnshaw. He sets out deliberately to ruin Hindley, lending him money to gamble and drink and then getting him to mortgage the Heights to him so that he eventually becomes the master of the Heights. He returns the favour to Hindley, reducing him and his son Hareton to servant class. This is apparent when Heathcliff is talking to Nellie about his joy in degrading Hareton, he says, I've pleasure in him!..He has satisfied my expectations…”

Cathy married Edgar Linton for his status and wealth, betraying her love for Heathcliff. So, Heathcliff takes revenge by his vengeful actions against the Lintons. Heathcliff seeks to destroy the entire Linton family. Heathcliff achieves this by marrying Isabella Linton. Isabella believes that Heathcliff is a kind decent man; however, soon after she marries him, he becomes abusive. This is shown in a letter from Isabella to Nellie in which she says, ..he is ingenious and unresting in seeking to gain my abhorrence!..I assure you, a tiger, or a venomous serpent could not rouse terror in me equal to that which he awakens.

His revenge is also shown when he talks to Cathy when she is sick. This is apparent when Heathcliff says, 'Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy? I have not one word of comfort - you deserve this. You have killed yourself..They'll blight you - they'll damn you. You loved me - then what right did you to leave me?..I have not broken your heart - you have broken it - and in breaking it, you have broken mine.' This quote shows Heathcliff's anger, and his blaming of Cathy. His acute revengeful mentality is exposed through such words. Heathcliff is so angry that he condemns her soul when she dies, hoping that she may never rest in peace, that her spirit will always wander the earth, anything just so long as she does not leave him again. This shows Heathcliff's love for Cathy; his love is strong enough to cause him to curse her soul rather than go without her.

His desire for revenge however doesn’t end with the death of Hindley or with Isabella’s escape from the Heights. He pursues his revenge through Hareton, the son of Hindley, and Catherine the daughter of Edgar Linon. He treats Hareton as he had been treated by Hindley. Hareton is deprived of education, fumed into a mere farm land and treated as a servant.

Heathcliff has imprisoned Catherine, the daughter of his beloved Cathy, till he can forcibly get Catherine married to Linton. Catherine is deliberately kept in the dark about Linton’s grave state of health. Heathcliff violently hits her when Catherine bites him in a bid to escape and he does not let her visit her dying father.

His treatment of his own sick son Linton is no better. He claims rights over his son Linton but has no love for the sickly boy. He terrorizes and mistreats even his own son because of his blood relation with Linton family. He forces him to woo Catherine, so that a marriage between them would make Heathcliff the master of Thrushcross Grange, after the death of his son. He is totally callous, unfeeling and cruel when he refuses to get a doctor for his dying son as he feels that his life is not worth a farthing. Even when Linton Heathcliff lets Catherine escape, he punishes the sick boy and makes sure Catherine is back at the Heights, immediately after the funeral of her father.

He is revengeful because of his unrequited love for Cathy. His revenge is shown through his actions towards the Earnshaws, a famliy that degraded him, the Lintons, the people he believes stole Cathy away from him, and Cathy herself, the woman he feels betrayed her heart and his love. He felt that he did not have Cathy's love, when all the time he truly owned her heart. Heathcliff did everything for his unrequited love.