History Literature / WutheringHeights

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Mr. Lockwood, who thinks Heathcliff is "a capital fellow." And Isabella, who thinks Heathcliff is is a good man to marry. Partially excusable by Heathcliff's Byronic personal magnetism, and in Lockwood's case because he sees himself as a misanthopic loner too, so he initially thinks Heathcliff is a kindred spirit.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Joseph is an abrasive, Bible-thumping Calvinist.

* HolierThanThou: Joseph, who in Nelly's opinion only stays at Wuthering Heights so he can act sanctimonious in contrast to its inhabitants.

* InterracialAdoptionStruggles: Heathcliff starts out as an AmbiguouslyBrown foundling--described as a "gypsy," but largely as a convenient shorthand for his dark skin, as we never find out his actual ethnicity. Even after adopting him, the white English Earnshaw family treats him as a mere servant, and his outcast status drives him down the path of vindictive villainy as he grows up.
* IRegretNothing: To the end of his life, despite all his cruel actions, Heathcliff declares "I've done no injustice, and I repent of nothing."

* {{Jerkass}}: Oh so many: Joseph, Hindley, Heathcliff, Catherine, Linton...

* MajorCharacterMainstreamAccent: Joseph is a gloomy and sour stereotype with an impenetrable Yorkshire accent that no one else shares. The [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] reason is that no reader wants to parse a FunetikAksent for a whole novel. The {{Watsonian|VersusDoylist}} reason is due to the accent only being used by the lower classes. The Lintons are gentry and the Earnshaws an old family of sufficient means to be employing servants. Mr Lockwood notes how Nelly -- the other major servant character -- barely sounds lower class, and she says she's "read more than you would fancy, Mr. Lockwood," including every book in the Linton library that isn't in Greek, Latin, or French. Given the mutual hatred between Nelly and Joseph, it wouldn't be surprising if she intentionally tried not to sound like him. In addition, Nelly grew up alongside Hindley and Catherine, and likely picked up on their own mannerisms and accents.

* OopNorth: The setting. Most strongly represented by Joseph, a gloomy and sour stereotype with an impenetrable Yorkshire accent that no one else shares. This is mainly due to the accent only being used by the lower classes, since the Lintons are gentry and the Earnshaws an old family of sufficient means to be employing servants. Mr Lockwood notes how Nelly, the other major servant character, barely sounds lower class, and she notes that she's "read more than you would fancy, Mr. Lockwood," including every book in the Linton library that isn't in Greek, Latin, or French. Given the mutual hatred between Nelly and Joseph, it wouldn't be surprising if she intentionally tried not to sound like him. In addition, Nelly grew up alongside Hindley and Catherine, and likely picked up on their own mannerisms and accents.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys:
** Deconstructed as the love between Catherine and Heathcliff is passionate but is between two people who are rather selfish and the fact they don't get a non-conforming HappilyEverAfter leads to nothing but the ruin of the lovers and almost everyone around them.
** Isabella's childish crush on Heathcliff, which she quickly gets over when she realizes what he's really like. Still she marries him, as was standard for the time period, and he destroys her life. Somehow she leaves him and is able to live separated from her brute of a husband with her child.

** Catherine (I) and Heathcliff can be as cruel to each other as to everyone else around them. This is seen most clearly [[spoiler: when Catherine is dying]], as she grabs his hair and he bruises her arm while they blame each other [[spoiler: for her impending death]], yet at the same time desperately hold and kiss each other, and [[spoiler: after her death, when Heathcliff [[HowDareYouDieOnMe wishes torment on her soul]].]]

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: There are a couple ghost sightings -- but it could also be characters imaging they see things in the mists on the moors because they're (but not literally) haunted by the past. Heathcliff is sometimes compared to malevolent supernatural creatures -- but maybe he's just a creepy dude. There are some... ''odd'' coincidences involving the weather -- but maybe they're just coincidences.
** Nelly finds herself thinking Heathcliff may be a demon, but quickly reminds herself he is human with feelings like everyone else.

** Lockwood encounters Cathy's undead form outside his window one night and informs Heathcliff about it. Heathcliff rushes up to the room to invite Cathy in and thereafter spends a lot of time in the room and never lets another in again. His appetite drops completely, causing his housekeeper Nelly to wonder if he is a [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghoul]] or a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]], implicitly referencing "Literature/TheStoryOfSidiNouman" and Creator/LordByron's eating disorder. Cathy and Heathcliff might be either, but just as well Lockwood and Heathcliff both imagined Cathy's return from death.

* MosesInTheBulrushes: Heathcliff is discovered by old Mr. Earnshaw as a homeless toddler and comforted as a child by Nelly telling him he is a lost prince. In hindsight, this might not have been such a good idea.

It is 1801. The foppish gentleman Mr. Lockwood has moved to Thrushcross Grange, a manor house in the windswept and desolate Yorkshire Moors. He introduces himself to Heathcliff, his surly, ill-mannered and unwelcoming landlord, and master of the nearby Wuthering Heights. Forced to stay at Wuthering Heights overnight, Lockwood suffers a nightmare wherein the ghost of a young woman, named Cathy, desperately pleads to be let back into the house. Intrigued, disturbed, and also bedridden with a cold, Lockwood asks his housekeeper Nelly Dean to [[FramingDevice tell him the story of Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights]].

Has been adapted or filmed many times :
* For movies, possibly most notable is ''Film/WutheringHeights1939'', directed by Creator/WilliamWyler, starring Creator/LaurenceOlivier as Heathcliff, Merle Oberon as Cathy, and Creator/DavidNiven as Edgar, with Music/AlfredNewman composing the score.
* A Creator/LuisBunuel version in 1954.
* A French TV production in 1964-1968, with Creator/PatrickDewaere as young Heathcliff.
* A 1967 and 1978 TV serial produced by [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]].
* A younger, pre-''Film/JamesBond'' Creator/TimothyDalton played Heathcliff in the 1970 film version.
* A 1992 movie with Creator/JulietteBinoche and Creator/RalphFiennes, scored by Music/YellowMagicOrchestra frontman Music/RyuichiSakamoto.
* 1978 Music/KateBush song of the same name, off of her debut album ''Music/TheKickInside'' ("Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy, I've come home...")
* An [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqiUGjghlzU adaptation]] in ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''
* A Music/{{Genesis|Band}}' album ''Music/WindAndWuthering'', which used a quotation from the book's ending for two of its song titles.
* Creator/{{MTV}}'s adaptation of their own with Heathcliff as a guitar-strumming song-writer pitted against classic cello-playing Edgar.
* Music/DeathCabForCutie's "Cath...", which is fairly transparently based on ''Wuthering Heights'', but in their own style.
* Creator/{{BBC}}'s ''Series/{{Sparkhouse}}'', with both Cathy and Heathcliff [[GenderFlip gender flipped]]; also it's sort of a modern retelling.
* A 1991 Filipino film, ''Hihintayin Kita Sa Langit (I'll Wait For You In Heaven)'', loosely based on the novel.

!!The adaptations provide examples of:

* AdaptationDyeJob: Edgar is blond in the novel, but is played by dark-haired actors David Niven in the 1939 version and Andrew Lincoln in the 2009 version.
* AdaptationalHeroism:
** Hindley is much more sympathetic in the 1970 version than in most other versions. Instead of being oppressive of Heathcliff, he is in turn opposed by Mr. Earnshaw and lives in Heathcliff’s shadow. He’s also able to pull himself out of his hedonistic stage after his wife’s death unlike in the novel.
** The 2009 version of Linton doesn't get up to as much of the DomesticAbuse actions as he does in the novel.
* AdaptedOut:
** Mr. Lockwood in the 1970 and 2009 adaptations. The former only tells the first half of the book, while Catherine (II) is told the story by Nelly in the latter.
** The second half of the novel tends to be left out of earlier adaptations, such as the 1939 adaptation. This means such important characters as Catherine's daughter Cathy, Linton, and Hareton make no appearances.
* AgeLift: Catherine (I) is 25 instead of 19 when she dies in the 2009 version, judging by the dates on her gravestone.
* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Heathcliff forces Catherine (II) to marry his son Linton, so he can get her inheritance.
-->'''Heathcliff (2009)''': By this time tomorrow, I ''shall'' be your father. So you had ''better'' get used to appeasing me.
* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:Heathcliff in the 2009 version commits suicide this way, instead of his more mysterious death in the novel.]]
* DeathByAdaptation: Type II (the character dies in the source material, but sooner in the adaptation): [[spoiler:Heathcliff is shot and killed by Hindley shortly after Cathy's (I) death in the 1970 film.]]
* DemotedToExtra: Joseph plays little part in the events of the 2009 version.
* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: Several adaptations, particularly the ones that only adapt the first half, [[spoiler: change both Heathcliff and Cathy (I)'s causes of death.]]
** The 1939 film, both of the two opera adaptations, and the 2001 ballet adaptation all [[spoiler: omit Cathy's pregnancy and just have her succumb to her illness instead of [[DeathByChildbith childbirth]].]] Meanwhile, two modern TV adaptations, ''Series/{{Sparkhouse}}'' and ''Wuthering High'' (aka ''The Wrong Boyfriend''), [[spoiler: have their Cathy character DrivenToSuicide: in ''Wuthering High'', she drowns herself in the ocean, while in ''Sparkhouse'', [[GenderFlip Andrew]] slits his wrists.]]
** In both the 1954 Mexican film and the 1970 British film, [[spoiler: Heathcliff is shot by Hindley Earnshaw, the latter being SparedByTheAdaptation.]] And in the 2009 TV adaptation, [[spoiler: he commits suicide by shooting himself in the head.]]
** The 2016 stage version uniquely has [[spoiler: Cathy I murder Heathcliff]].
* FramingDevice: The 2009 miniseries makes the second half of the novel the framing device for the past events.
* GenderFlip: The BBC created a modern day adaptation of the book called ''{{Series/Sparkhouse}}'' in 2002, where the roles of Cathy and Heathcliff are gender flipped to Andrew and Carol, respectively.
* HowWeGotHere: The story begins with most of the events already taken place. The novel and many adaptations begin with Lockwood meeting the principle characters, seeing Catherine (I)'s ghost in a nightmare, and then learning the full story from Nelly Dean. However, a few adaptations simplify things by removing [[AdaptedOut Lockwood]] and framing the flashbacks in a different way: The 1970 film opens with Catherine (I)'s funeral, as Heathcliff watches from afar. The 2009 film opens first with Heathcliff haunted by Catherine (I) in his sleep, then as Linton is brought to Wuthering Heights by Edgar. The 1939 film includes Lockwood but substitutes some characters present in the frame story to conform it to its unique continuity.
* KubrickStare: Heathcliff gives one to Catherine (II) when he returns to Wuthering Heights after digging up her mother's grave in the 2009 version. It leads directly into the flashback.
* LetMeTellYouAStory: In the 2009 version, Catherine (II) is told the story by Nelly while the two are trapped by Heathcliff at Wuthering Heights.
* TheMeadowRun: Heathcliff and Cathy (I) do this in the movie versions, at any rate.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown:
** Heathcliff dishes one out to Hindley in the 2009 adaptation, when the latter states that Heathcliff's love for Cathy is pretend, slamming him against the floor and throttling him.
---> '''Heathcliff:''' DON'T SAY HER NAME!
** Catherine (II) also dishes one out to Linton in the 2009 adaptation when he reveals Heathcliff's plan to have them married.
* OffscreenCrash: Right after Heathcliff follows Catherine (I) into a room at the very end of the 2009 version, a loud banging is heard, as Hareton and Cathy appear while running through the house. It's either from Hareton slamming a door or from [[spoiler:Heathcliff shooting himself in the head]].
* OhCrap: Cathy (II) in the 2009 version when she finds that all of the doors are locked and Linton reveals Heathcliff's plan.
* RaceLift: Heathcliff is described as swarthy like a gypsy on many occasions in the book, but he's definitely not a black African. The 2011 film made him one, though.
* SparedByTheAdaptation:
** [[spoiler: Hindley]] in the 1970 adaptation and the 1954 Mexican adaptation. He even gets to kill [[spoiler:Heathcliff]] in these two versions.
** [[spoiler: Isabella]] in the 1939 adaptation. She's still [[spoiler: married to Heathcliff]] at the time of his death.
** [[spoiler: Heathcliff]] in the 2011 adaptation, both of the two opera adaptations, and several modernized TV versions.
** [[spoiler: Cathy I at the end of]] the 2016 stage version, although [[spoiler: she still has her illness and won't last much longer]].
* SurpriseIncest: Implied with Catherine (I) and Heathcliff, at least for some readers. There are hints that Heathcliff might be Mr. Earnshaw's illegitimate son. The 1970 version with Timothy Dalton certainly believed it was no coincidence.
* WhamLine: Early in the 2009 version, Cathy (II) finds a portrait of her mother at Wuthering Heights and asks Linton about it.
-->'''Cathy (II)''': Why would Mr. Heathcliff keep a portrait of my mother? Why? Why would he do that?\\
'''Linton''': Because he loved her. Because he loved her before your father did. And she loved him too.
* WindowWatcher: The 2009 version ends with Heathcliff and Catherine (I) as ghosts through an upstairs window, watching Cathy (II) and Hareton leave Wuthering Heights.

* MagicalRealism: Implied. Heathcliff is sometimes compared to a [[TheLegionsOfHell demon]], and there are some... ''odd'' coincidences involving ghosts and the weather. Nelly even finds herself thinking Heathcliff may be a demon, but quickly reminds herself he is human with feelings like everyone else.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's never made clear if the various sightings of Cathy (I)'s ghost and later Heathcliff's are real or just imagined.

* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: Lockwood encounters Cathy's undead form outside his window one night and informs Heathcliff about it. The latter rushes up to the room to invite Cathy in and thereafter spends a lot of time in the room and never lets another in again. His appetite drops completely, causing his housekeeper Nelly to wonder if he is a ghoul or a vampire, implicitly referencing "Literature/TheStoryOfSidiNouman". Cathy and Heathcliff might be either, but just as well Lockwood and Heathcliff both imagined Cathy's return from death.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Lockwood encounters Cathy's undead form outside his window one night and informs Heathcliff about it. The latter rushes up to the room to invite Cathy in and thereafter spends a lot of time in the room and never lets another in again. His appetite drops completely, causing his housekeeper Nelly to wonder if he is a ghoul or a vampire, implicitly referencing Creator/LordByron's eating disorder. Cathy and Heathcliff might be either, but just as well Lockwood and Heathcliff both imagined Cathy's return from death.

* AmoralAttorney: A dying Edgar Linton sends for Attorney Green to ensure Heathcliff won't be able to touch his daughter's property. He was too late; Heathcliff already had him in his pocket.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Heathcliff's race is never clear; he's referred to as "dark" and a "gipsy." He might literally be {{UsefulNotes/Romani}}, but it could equally be that people just don't know what else to call him. At one point Nelly fancifully speculates that he could be the son of the Emperor of China and an Indian queen. At another point in his childhood, Mr. Linton calls him "a little Lascar, or an American or Spanish castaway" ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascar Lascar]] being a term for an Indian sailor). Mr Earnshaw found Heathcliff in {{UsefulNotes/Liverpool}}, which at the time (the 1760s) was a huge port city and the slave-trading capital of Britain. While Heathcliff's not, in Nelly's words, "a regular black", he might be black-biracial.

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Cathy, in her famous "I ''am'' Heathcliff!" speech. Unfortunately it's also a LoveConfessor, as she doesn't make it '''to''' Heathcliff.

* IncestSubtext: The fact that Catherine and Heathcliff were raised together as brother and sister adds an element of incest to their love regardless. Going beyond NotBloodSiblings, there's also the possibly Heathcliff is actually Mr. Earnshaw's illegitimate son and they're biologically half-siblings (see BastardBastard).

* JerkassHasAPoint: While Cathy’s warning to Isabella about Heathcliff does mostly come from a place of [[ClingyJealousGirl jealousy and entitlement]], it doesn’t change the fact that she’s not the least bit wrong that a relationship between someone like [[TheIngenue Isabella]] and someone like [[BastardBoyfriend Heathcliff]] can only end badly. Isabella too late realises this…

* MamaBear: Say what you will about Ellen Dean but you ''will not'' mess with Cathy (II) or Hareton if she’s got anything to say about it! She takes her role as a ParentalSubstitute very seriously and will stand up to a drunken Hindley for the latter and a vengeful Heathcliff for the former, in fact the whole reason she tells the story to Lockwood is because she was [[ShipperWithAnAgenda hoping]] he would become Cathy’s KnightInShiningArmour.

* GenderFlipped: The BBC created a modern day adaptation of the book called ''{{Series/Sparkhouse}}'' in 2002, where the roles of Cathy and Heathcliff are gender flipped to Andrew and Carol, respectively.

* StockholmSyndrome: Heathcliff brags to Nelly about how successfully he's done this to Hareton, who loves him like a father despite being thoroughly degraded by him and [[spoiler: is the only person who mourns his death in the end.]]

* RiddleForTheAges:
** Where exactly ''did'' [[AmbiguouslyBrown Heathcliff]] come from? What's his actual birthdate and what was his ethnicity? When he first arrives at Wuthering Heights he is unable to tell anyone who might ask due to a language barrier, but even after he learns English he never discloses that information to anyone (or at least no one [[CharacterNarrator Nellie]] ever talks to). And even if he is Mr. Earnshaw's [[BastardBastard bastard son]] that still leaves a lot of other questions about his background unanswered.
** How did Healthcliff make his fortune?
--->'''Lockwood:''' Did he finish his education on the Continent, and come back a gentleman? or did he get a sizar’s place at college, or escape to America, and earn honours by drawing blood from his foster-country? or make a fortune more promptly on the English highways?\\
'''Nelly:''' He may have done a little in all these vocations, Mr. Lockwood; but I couldn’t give my word for any. I stated before that I didn’t know how he gained his money; neither am I aware of the means he took to raise his mind from the savage ignorance into which it was sunk[.]

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Heathcliff's race is never clear; he's referred to as "dark" and a "gipsy." He might literally be {{UsefulNotes/Romani}}, but it could equally be that people just don't know what else to call him. At one point Nelly fancifully speculates that he could be the son of the Emperor of China and an Indian queen. Mr Earnshaw found Heathcliff in {{UsefulNotes/Liverpool}}, which at the time (the 1760s) was a huge port city and the slave-trading capital of Britain. While Heathcliff's not, in Nelly's words, "a regular black", he might be black-biracial.

* BastardBastard: Is Heathcliff Mr. Earnshaw's bastard son? Some say this is {{Implied|Trope}}, while others say it's just a fan theory. Only Creator/EmilyBronte herself could say what was intended; all we can say is that this certainly ''is'' an interpretation the book has. On one hand, MosesInTheBulrushes is an established trope, so if you take Heathcliff's origin story at face value, while it's a ContrivedCoincidence, it's not necessarily that weird as a literary IncitingIncident. On the other hand, the idea that Mr. Earnshaw had a mistress in Liverpool, Heathcliff was their illegitimate son, and after his mother died his father took him home to raise does fit into the story seamlessly. Mr. Earnshaw visits Liverpool on a regular basis, leaving the rest of his family squarely at home. Mr. Earnshaw randomly finds an orphan boy, feels driven to bring the child home to raise, names him after his dead son, and then favors this boy over his other children. Mrs. Earnshaw just happens to [[AffairBlameTheBastard take an instant loathing]] to Heathcliff the minute he enters their house.

* RiddleForTheAges: So just where exactly ''did'' [[AmbiguouslyBrown Heathcliff]] come from? What’s his actual birthdate and what was his ethnicity? When he first arrives at Wuthering Heights he is unable to tell anyone who might ask due to a language barrier but even after he learns English he never discloses that information to anyone (or at least no one [[CharacterNarrator Nellie]] ever talks to). And even if he is Mr. Earnshaw's [[BastardBastard bastard son]] that still leaves a lot of other questions about his background unanswered.

* ContrivedCoincidence: Heathcliff's origin story, as told by Mr. Earnshaw, is odd. There are two possible interpretations: 1) This is the IncitingIncident of the story and so ''must'' happen like this, even if it's contrived. And how odd is it really, in light of MosesInTheBulrushes being an established trope? Or the oft-speculated by fans 2) Mr. Earnshaw had a mistress in Liverpool, Heathcliff was their illegitimate son, and after his mother died his father took him home to raise.
-->...a tale of his seeing it starving, and houseless, and as good as dumb, in the streets of Liverpool, where he picked it up and inquired for its owner. Not a soul knew to whom it belonged, he said; and his money and time being both limited, he thought it better to take it home with him at once, than run into vain expenses there: because he was determined he would not leave it as he found it.

* IncestSubtext: The fact that Catherine and Heathcliff were raised together as brother and sister adds an element of incest to their love regardless. Going beyond NotBloodSiblings, though, it would certainly make a lot of sense if Heathcliff was actually Mr. Earnshaw's illegitimate son. It's a bit of a ContrivedCoincidence otherwise. Mr. Earnshaw just ''happens'' to find this orphan on the streets. The streets of the town he just ''happens'' to visit on a regular basis, leaving the rest of his family squarely at home. And Mrs. Earnshaw just ''happens'' to [[AffairBlameTheBastard take an instant loathing]] to Heathcliff the minute he enters their house. And Heathcliff's AmbiguouslyBrown appearance is hard to pin down, suggesting he might be of mixed race.

* ItIsDehumanizing: Heathcliff refers to little Linton as "it" and his "property" when they first meet. In her story, Nelly refers to the young Heathcliff as "it," only switching to "him" after he recieves a name.

* WhosYourDaddy:
** Some readers have debated whether or not Catherine Linton is in fact the biological child of Heathcliff and Catherine, due to the close timing of his return to the Heights and her conception. However, the book mentions the strong resemblance between Cathy II and Edgar, making this unlikely, as does the timespan of Cathy I's pregnancy.
** The bigger question: Is Heathcliff old Mr. Earnshaw's bastard son?

* JerkassHasAPoint: While Cathy’s warning to Isabelle about Heathcliff does mostly come from a place of [[ClingyJealousGirl jealousy and entitlement]], it doesn’t change the fact that she’s not the least bit wrong that a relationship between someone like [[TheIngenue Isabelle]] and someone like [[BastardBoyfriend Heathcliff]] can only end badly. Isabelle too late realises this…

* StalkerWithACrush: Heathcliff, amongst his various and [[SarcasmMode endearing]] qualities could be considered this. The reason he catches the first part of Cathy's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove was because he had been eavesdropping and later after she’s married Edgar he spends many nights at Thrushcross Grange watching Cathy through the windows. There’s also that little matter of [[spoiler: [[{{Squick}} digging up her dead body]]]]! Though Cathy being [[{{Tsundere}} Cathy]], [[StalkingIsLove she doesn’t seem to mind]] all that much…

* RiddleForTheAges: So just where exactly ''did'' [[AmbiguouslyBrown Heathcliff]] come from? What’s his actual birthdate and what was his ethnicity? When he first arrives at Wuthering Heights he is unable to tell anyone who might ask due to a language barrier but even after he learns English he never discloses that information to anyone (or at least no one [[CharacterNarrator Nellie]] ever talks to. And even if he is Mr. Earnshaw's [[BastardBastard bastard son]] that still leaves a lot of other questions about his background unanswered.

* MosesInTheBulrushes: Heathcliff is discovered by old Mr. Earnshaw as a homeless youth and comforted as a child by Nelly telling him he is a lost prince. In hindsight, this might not have been such a good idea.
* MrsHypothetical: Mr Lockwood first becomes interested in the story of Heathcliff and Catherine when he finds evidence of this trope in Catherine's old room. He reads her old diary which she kept in some empty pages of a book. Her maiden name was Catherine Earnshaw and she wrote Catherine Earnshaw, Catherine Heathcliff and Catherine Linton all over some pages. Turns out she was torn between Heathcliff and Edgar Linton.

* BadassBookworm: Edgar Linton, despite coming across as a nerd and a weakling, thrashes Heathcliff the one time they actually fight. Forever after, Heathcliff won't risk confronting him unarmed, even during the many long, solitary walks Edgar takes out on moors.

* NotBloodSiblings: Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw are raised in the same household from the age of 6. Heathcliff is only seen as a full family member by perhaps Mr. Earnshaw and Cathy--everyone else views his status there as secondary and tenuous. Thus, no one in the story calls them siblings or says that it would be incestuous for them to be together. But they're LikeBrotherAndSister and it ''feels'' incestuous, giving their love affair an additional level of forbidden passion (not to mention slight awkwardness on part of the reader). See also IncestSubtext above.

* WeaponOfChoice: Hindley carries "a curiously constructed pistol, having a double-edged spring knife attached to the barrel."

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Heathcliff's race is never clear; he is referred to as "dark" and a "gipsy." He might be literally {{UsefulNotes/Romani}}, but it could equally be that people just don't know what else to call him. At one point Nelly fancifully speculates that he could be the son of the Emperor of China and an Indian queen. All we know is that he's ethnically different from the white English other characters, and he's also not, in Nelly's words, "a regular black". Heathcliff was born in the 1760s, and Mr. Earnshaw found him in {{UsefulNotes/Liverpool}}. At that time Liverpool was a big international port city and part of the African slave trade. Though not readily visually indefinable as black, Heathcliff could be black-biracial.