The figure of Heathcliff as an embodiment of coercive male power. To what extent can he be seen as an emblem of patriarchy.

It goes without saying that “Wuthering Heights” is one of the most impressive novels of his epoch. The main characters drawn by Emily Bronte with all her inner power strikes the reader. One of the most powerful images in this novel is the image of Heathcliff, the main character of the novel.
Heathcliff is surely one of the most contradictory character in this novel. Under the opinion of many scientists Heathcliff became an embodiment of evil power in the novel. And it is supported in many ways in the novel: furious passion, aggression, anger, hate of this character made Virginia Woolf name him “the most vivid male image in the literature”. He embodies not only the evil power, but also masculine power, which made him so attractive to Catherine Earnshaw and Isabella Linton.

Emily Bronte put all her inner soul into this character. She gave him her blind fury, her frustrated restrained sexuality, her passionate unsatisfied love, her jealousy, her hate and defiance to the every human being, her cruelty. In anyway his extraordinary image can’t leave the reader indifferent and even all the characters of the novel are unusual, Heathcliff charms with his evil nature Catherine Earnshaw. Once she told Nelly Dean “I am Heathcliff”, believing that a part of evil nature of him partially lived in her.

Reading the novel the reader finds out that everything Heathcliff did was quite a successful thing. He is absorbed with his vengeance and strictly moves to his aim. Nothing could stop him as his soul in vengeance and it is always stronger in him than love. Even when Catherine died and he was killed with pain, he couldn’t keep his hate and vengeance inside “‘May she wake in torment!’ he cried, with frightful vehemence, stamping

his foot, and groaning in a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion. ’Why, she’s a liar to the end! Where is she? Not there-not in heaven-not perished-where? Oh! you said you cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer-I repeat it till my tongue stiffens-Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you–haunt me, then!”

The struggle inside Heathcliff could never let the love win. He is seeking for revenge and never let any other feelings to overcome this one: A man said – a man did. That is his attitude. I think that this character could be undoubtedly named an emblem of patriarchy because of his position. Yes, he suffered because of his attitude to people and Catherine in particular, but he can do nothing with that and doesn’t want to do. His frustrated anger is very attractive not only for the female part of the novel, but for himself too. He is reveled by his hate and anger. This brutal image of Heathcliff was quite a good attraction for Isabella Linton. She saw a kind of Byronic hero in Heathcliff and many investigators of “Wurthering Heights” agree to her, but it is just a shell that keeps not only magnetism, social and sexual domination but also indomitable character, which can destroy everything on its way.

Such type of men was quite a typical thing for the novels of that type. Such men are usually attractive to girls and women, who read romantic novels and associated vices, anger and hate with social unfairness to such a man. Isabella Linton was trying to find a diamond inside the dark soul of Heathcliff and he didn’t stop he attempts, using his sexual attraction in the aim of revenge.

His impenitent hate was accompanying during his life and made his figure so much interesting for investigators of Emily Bronte’s workd and for the reader himself. It is very interesting to note that Heathcliff is set as an evil creature, who doesn’t know the words “forgiveness” and “mercy”. Emily Bronte often use a comparison with the wild beast, which puts Heathcliff on the position of brutality, but still despite all these he is attractive and can cause positive emotions.

His masculine nature makes the character vivid and real and Somerset Maugham written “powerful, frightening and sinister” the same time.

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