The figure of the VILLAIN in Emily Brontë's WUTHERING HEIGHTS

Capacés Fabré, Mónica
Herrero Granado, María Dolores (dir.)

Universidad de Zaragoza, FFYL, 2014
Departamento de Filología Inglesa y Alemana, Área de Filología Inglesa

Graduado en Estudios Ingleses

Resumen: Wuthering Heights is a Victorian novel written by Emily Brontë, who made an excellent use of her narrative skills to make the reader play an active role in the reading and interpretation of the novel. The figure of the villain in this intense and complicated love story has become a polemic topic discussed by many different critics, whose final conclusions are not always the same. The violent, unexpected and sometimes incomprehensible actions carried out by the mysterious Heathcliff have led many readers and critics to consider him to be the villain par excellence of the novel. However, it should be noted that, despite all his evil actions, there is something that on the other hand turns him into the hero and sufferer of the story: his impossible love for Catherine Earnshaw. The narrator, Ellen Dean, has also been regarded by some critics as the devilish villain of the story, due to her capacity to control the other characters and most of the situations that take place over the course of her narration. In any case, what the reader must always bear in mind is that the perspective from which he or she looks at the story is the most important element to decide which character is the villain, since all of them –with the exception of the second Catherine and Hareton– can present villainous traits in their personalities and actions. Therefore, it is not possible to affirm that only one character is the real villain, because every single character can be regarded as such at some point, depending on the point of view from which the story is approached.

Tipo de Trabajo Académico: Trabajo Fin de Grado