Reconsidering Heathcliff in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights

Abstract

Since Emily Brontë published Wuthering Heights in 1847, critics have debated the nature of Heathcliff’s background. Overwhelmingly, they have viewed Heathcliff as the representation of an Irish, Black, or Roma individual. This paper argues that Brontë incorporated nineteenth-century stereotypes of Jews into her character. Brontë would have been familiar with these stereotypes through her reading of Blackwood’s Magazine which regularly published articles that negatively depicted Jews. Heathcliff’s physical characteristics, his initial inability to speak English, his lineage, and his eventual success all support my contention that Brontë used Jewish stereotypes to create Heathcliff. Additionally, Heathcliff wanders the earth after death, and he is denied access to the Christian afterlife, an idea that confirms his Jewish roots. Such a representation ultimately challenges configurations of Christian identity in Victorian England. By invoking these cruel and unflattering stereotypes, Brontë comments on English society. Heathcliff becomes a character who incorporates both positive qualities and negative stereotypes and allows us to rethink stereotyping.