The less direct but far more pervasive antagonism of the surrounding cast largely informs the villainy in Wuthering Heights. Indeed, the characters provide diverse prejudices and cruelties, which, though often less extreme than Heathcliff, are pivotal in developing him and, thereby, equally as dangerous and reprehensible. This article serves to illustrate the outside forces that give rise to Heathcliff and Catherine’s unhealthy dynamic.
Nelly Dean
As the criticism section discusses, many critics despise Nelly more than the other characters because of her role in events of the novel. Nelly’s actions can largely be characterized by her social and religious prejudices, spiteful response to personal injury, and inclination towards deception. It is impossible to confirm the veracity of her narration at any given point, so readers can never truly know if Heathcliff behaves quite so terribly or if she herself is not more directly guilty. The power Nelly exerts throughout the narrative is a particular point of interest, especially in scenes where Cathy and Linton are first building their relationship. When she threatens to reveal Cathy’s secret liaison with Linton to Edgar, she presents it as a matter of protecting Cathy from her own foolishness and Edgar from the worry. However, her negligence in this scene gives rise to many of the later tragic events, with the most obvious being their subsequent kidnapping and Cathy’s marriage to Linton. Prior to this, Nelly was also the one who (under duress) enabled Heathcliff to sneak into the Grange before Cathy died, further agitating her condition. The main issue here is that it proves difficult to delineate Nelly’s charity from her perverse powerplays and self-serving actions. The worst events of the novel take place in front of her, and she does relatively little to stop them, thus creating a tension between her low social position and her obvious emotional involvement with the family.
Joseph
By far the most one-note, seemingly one-dimensional character is the oppressive Calvinist housekeeper, Joseph. He speaks in an accent so thick that even Heathcliff comments that he is difficult to understand, but, as a general rule, it is safe to assume he is judging or condemning someone at any given point. Despite his supposed moral high ground, Brontë makes a point of showing him enjoying and coveting worldly goods, like his pipe and garden. His perverse relationship to the Earnshaw family is even more problematic. He acts very much like a viper in their midst, trying to poison whoever heads the household against others. He reveals this disposition through not reprimanding Hareton’s vices, as he does other characters, because he was the original successor to Wuthering Heights. As an emblem of false-morality, Joseph exemplifies the inclination of the wider society to judge others and the sheer intolerance set against the likes of Catherine and Heathcliff.
Hindley
Hindley alone manages to rival Heathcliff in cruelty and violence, but he is not completely without reason. In his youth, his father’s affections were displaced in favor of Heathcliff, and when Heathcliff matched Hendly’sown cruelty with insidious threats, Hindley lacked any outlet for his growing bitterness. After Mr. Earnshaw’s death, it is no surprise that Hindley seized the opportunity to destroy a person whom he perceived as a thief of his natural rights. Later down the road, Hindley enjoys his wife Frances’ companionship greatly and her death destroys him. As this point, the similarities between himself and Heathcliff are quite apparent, and, in their ensuing engagements, Hindley loses largely because he cannot match Heathcliff’s cunning and self-control. He takes up alcoholism, and the remainder of his life is spent hating himself and everyone around him, blaspheming, and threatening to kill others and himself. He gambles away all of his property before finally shooting himself, leaving his son an orphan after years of abuse and neglect. Like Heathcliff, there are few who truly mourn his passing.
Edgar Linton
Edgar is unique among the antagonists for his general lack of malice. In his youth, he disdained Heathcliff, but no more so than anyone else did. However, his love of Catherine marks him as Heathcliff’s most bitter rival. At no point does he actively wound or disparage Heathcliff out of cruelty, but he retaliates against Catherine’s obsession (which threatens to make him an emotional cuckold) by forbidding Heathcliff from entering Thrushcross Grange after a major argument. For his part, Heathcliff constantly seeks to undermine and destroy Edgar, even before Catherine’s death. Despite being one of the most peace-loving characters and least morally-degenerate, Brontë still portrays him in a negative light as an obstacle to Heathcliff and Catherine’s love. To understand how he serves as an antagonist, then, it is important to look at Catherine’s poor reasoning for marrying him. She tells Nelly her “love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I’m well aware, as winter changes the trees” (). She gives his luxury and refinement as the chief (and poor) reasons for marrying him and betraying Heathcliff. Edgar represents the milquetoast, dispassionate trap of the civilized world with all of its rules and passivity. Indeed, his counterpart in the second generation, Linton Earnshaw, casts his kind as scarcely alive.
Linton Earnshaw
In a narrative filled with difficult and unlikable characters, there are few who match Linton’s utter abhorrence, and Bronte makes a point of using him to better illustrate the living death he and his kind represent to Catherine and Cathy. From the outset, he is a sickly fellow who is unable to participate in the fun Cathy best enjoys and, instead, largely contents himself to lay around, forever drinking milk and bundling against the cold. While this alone cannot deter Cathy, his abiding selfishness quickly renders him loathsome. When she becomes sick and Nelly chastises his negligence, he explains how he tried to get her to stop crying by having Heathcliff threaten her. Linton goes on to get her beaten, steal her precious few treasures, and blame her treatment on her refusing him. It is difficult to say if his character proves a heavy-handed portrayal of the civil monster or if it is simply the bitter and maddening proof of Heathcliff’s work. Regardless, by the end, Heathcliff is quite pleased with his son’s death and even Cathy, to her dismay, feels relieved that he is gone.
Wicked Ends: Villainy in the Gothic 