Anthea Carson's Blog - Posts Tagged "characters"
Heathcliff or Rochester?
If you've read both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, which character do you prefer, Heathcliff or Rochester? I joined the book discussion this morning and it got me thinking about my preference for Heathcliff, in spite of his obvious mental problems. He had an anger problem and a problem letting go. (Perhaps the two issues are inherently related?)
But there is something about Heathcliff.
Rochester is an interesting man, certainly a good man, underneath all that brooding. Heathcliff, it was said this morning in the discussions, was not a good man.
In a sense the two characters are similar. Technically, neither is capable of letting go of his first love. Heathcliff, because of his genuine feeling and Rochester, because of his sense of obligation and duty, and because of societal rules.
Heathcliff's brooding obsession for Catherine leads him to madness and death, and causes suffering for those around him.
Rochester's inability to release his obligation, whether from a sense of duty or from societal pressure, leads mainly to his own destruction.
In the end I decided that the perfect blend of these two characters is Maxim from du Maurier's Rebecca. He's the perfect combination of Rochester's nobility with Heathcliff's torment.
But there is something about Heathcliff.
Rochester is an interesting man, certainly a good man, underneath all that brooding. Heathcliff, it was said this morning in the discussions, was not a good man.
In a sense the two characters are similar. Technically, neither is capable of letting go of his first love. Heathcliff, because of his genuine feeling and Rochester, because of his sense of obligation and duty, and because of societal rules.
Heathcliff's brooding obsession for Catherine leads him to madness and death, and causes suffering for those around him.
Rochester's inability to release his obligation, whether from a sense of duty or from societal pressure, leads mainly to his own destruction.
In the end I decided that the perfect blend of these two characters is Maxim from du Maurier's Rebecca. He's the perfect combination of Rochester's nobility with Heathcliff's torment.
