Heathcliff is a fictional character in the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.Owing to the novel's enduring fame and popularity,he is often regarded as an archetype of the tortured Romantic Byronic hero whose all-consuming passions destroy both himself and those around him.Heathcliff can also be viewed as a reflection and product of his psychological past:the abuse,neglect and scorn of those with whom he grows up render him abusive,neglectful and scornful.
Legend has stereotyped him somewhat into a romantic hero,and he is generally known more for his love for Catherine Earnshaw than his final years of vengeance in the second half of the novel,in which he grows into a bitter,haunted man (although there are also a number of incidents in Heathcliff's early life that show that he was an angry and sometimes malicious individual from the beginning; again,these tend to be glossed over in the popular imagination).His complicated,mesmerising and altogether bizarre nature makes him a rare character,with components of both the hero and the anti-hero.
Catherine Earnshaw,known as Catherine Linton after her marriage,is the main female protagonist of Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights.
While residing in her ancestral home Wuthering Heights,she forms a deep romantic bond with foster brother Heathcliff,one that leads them both into misery,violence and despair.
Edgar Linton is a character in Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights.His role in the story is that of Catherine Earnshaw's husband.He resides at Thrushcross Grange and falls prey to Heathcliff's schemes for revenge against his family.
Edgar is the father of his and Catherine's daughter,Catherine Linton,and the brother of Isabella Linton.He is a complete foil of Heathcliff as a character,as shown by his tender,gentle,and weak personality as opposed to Heathcliff's savage,tyrannical nature.
Isabella Linton is a female character in Emily Brontë's only novel Wuthering Heights.She is the sister of Edgar Linton and the wife of Heathcliff.
Hindley Earnshaw is a male character in Emily Bronte's novel Wuthering Heights.The brother of Catherine Earnshaw,father of Hareton Earnshaw,and sworn enemy of Heathcliff,he descends into a life of drunkenness,degradation,and misery after his wife Frances dies in childbirth,enabling Heathcliff to seek revenge on him for his cruelty towards him in his childhood years.
Ellen "Nelly" Dean is a female character in Emily Bronte's novel,Wuthering Heights.She is the main narrator for the story,and gives key eyewitness accounts as to what happens between the characters.Ellen is for the most part called "Nelly" by all characters.
Catherine Linton,or Cathy Linton,is a character in Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights.She is the daughter of Edgar Linton and Catherine Earnshaw,and,despite Heathcliff's attempts at exacting revenge on her for the indiscretions of her family,she eventually marries her true love,Hareton Earnshaw,re-establishing long-lost equilibrium in the story.
Hareton Earnshaw is a character in Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights.He is the son of Hindley Earnshaw and Hindley's wife Frances.At the end of the novel,he makes plans to wed Catherine Linton,with whom he falls in love.