Wuthering Heights Group

Question:

goodpokemon1982
goodpokemon1982
Student
High School - 12th Grade

Examine Nelly’s speculations on Heathcliff’s character and his activities in "Wuthering Heights".

Examine Nelly’s speculations on Heathcliff’s character and his activities. How do these contribute to the notion that he is possessed? Do the descriptions she offers remind you of any other personage in literature or folklore

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Posted by goodpokemon1982 on Tuesday September 2, 2008 at 9:05 AM and tagged with characters, heathcliff, nelly.

Answers:


  1. ms-mcgregor Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    Nelly says from the beginning that Heathcliff left "a bad feeling in the house." Heathcliff is largely incomprehensible to those around him, seemingly human and inhuman. Nelly seems to agree with Isabella when Isabella writes"Is Mr. Heathcliff a man?. . . "If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil? His total focus on revenge, his obsession with Catherine and his seeming disregard for anybody else's feelings contribute to the idea that Heathcliff's character is so diabolical, he his either the devil or possessed by an evil spirit. The day before his death, Nelly asks "Is he a ghoul or a vampire? "All of this suggests that Emily Bronte took various ideas from English folklore and incorporated them into not only Heathcliff's character, but the entire novel as well.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/wutheringheights

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    Posted by ms-mcgregor on Tuesday September 2, 2008 at 8:55 PM

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