(hey girls)ain't heathcliff hot?

[inbetween]

hey girls... this is no sublime topic and no intellectual discussion .. I just want to know if I'm the only one who wished she could have jumped into the story to console heathcliff (or perhaps quarrel with him)... tell me if my taste in men is strange or if you share my opinion (I do apologise to all boys for most of them won't be able to say anything about this)

[mona amon]

**SPOILER ALERT**
.

.

.

Isabella Linton felt the same way, and she married him and look what happened to her. ;)

[kiki1982]

Man, you have a strange taste! It is a very old phenomenon that girls like mysterious and moody men like the Byronic Hero, but this extreme version, I don't really fancy... Then rather a Rochester. He is still consolable. Heathcliff is even beyond that... Until the end, that is. But whether he, even at the end where he starts to wonder, would actually have himself consoled by another woman than Cathy is the question. The answer is probably 'no'?

Anyway, give me rather a softer version like Rochester. He was charming, despite his lies. Or a Brian de Bois-Guilbert (Ivanhoe). He also had the redeeming feature of strong love that conquered even prejudice (ah). Heathcliff is just scary.

But each to his own, I suppose? ;)

[Agatha]

Yeah, I don't really fancy demonic and moody characters like Heathcliff... Although I must admit that Ralph Finnes who played Heathcliff in the most famous adaptation of WH is really good looking ;) But during reading the novel I have never felt being attracted to Heathcliff.

[clareyeahh]

hmmm must say i wouldn't say no to Heathcliffe.
although i am completely entirely in love with mr darcy (:

[Lumiere]

Somehow I picture me and Heathcliff being good friends rather than anything else. I would be his partner in crime....and then perhaps fall madly in love with him. Who knows?

As for Rochester, I was completely infatuated with him when I read Jane Eyre a few years back. It's hard not to when the novel is narrated by Jane. :nod:

[kiki1982]

:lol:, Lumiere! I suppose we are now staying clear of you! :lol:

It is indeed hard not to become infatuated with Rochester, but what I find so amazing is that Brontë captured that male courtship-thing so well. That one instance where he goes to stand at the fireplace so as to show his full figure... It is so true, men would do that, only Charlotte must have observed her own suitors very well to be able to catch that. And then, she wasn't terribly good at it, because she didn't realise Nicholls was in love with her until he told her and got rejected by her father. Poor man, crying at the door post. ah...

[Cailin]

He would drive me nuts!! He defies the saying that it's women who are moody. But what would I know...I'm a mass of contradictions given that I'd head off into the sunset with Mr Rochester any day!:lol:

[kiki1982]

Ah, me too, although I don't know if I were Jane... Other times, you know.

I think it would be well worth thesorrow afterwards, all the passion! :lol:

[Lumiere]

:lol:, Lumiere! I suppose we are now staying clear of you! :lol:

It is indeed hard not to become infatuated with Rochester, but what I find so amazing is that Brontë captured that male courtship-thing so well. That one instance where he goes to stand at the fireplace so as to show his full figure... It is so true, men would do that, only Charlotte must have observed her own suitors very well to be able to catch that. And then, she wasn't terribly good at it, because she didn't realise Nicholls was in love with her until he told her and got rejected by her father. Poor man, crying at the door post. ah...

:cool: What can I say? We all have more than a bit of Heathcliff in us, eh?

The cool thing about Jane Eyre, is that Bronte wrote it based largely on her own past experiences, in my opinion. Her life followed a similar pattern to that of Jane's, except on one point....she didn't marry the master of the house she was governess at. I suspect she fell in love with him, but never made him aware of her feelings. Jane Eyre is just a manifestation of her romantic fantasies about her unrequited love.

[azamhisham]

hey he is hot.he's like the freddy prinze jr. or that guy from twilight of the 19th century.

[ElanorGamgee]

I don't think so -- even if Ralph Fiennes did fulfill the role wonderfully. Heathcliff is too mean, too diabolical, too cruel. While I did feel sympathy for him in his minority, as an adult he receives no spark of interest or care from me. Any who would be deceived, I agree, would have the same fate as Isabella. His treatment of the three children was abysmally wicked. His "love" for Catherine in no way redeems him, for it was not love but selfish, monomaniacal passion which was actually brought on her death (coupled with her own selfish paroxysm).

The one who makes my heart race is Hareton who despite all the mean treatment he has received in his life is the only person in the story (apart from Ellen) who displays true nobility of character. Think about it, inspite of the way the younger Catherine had treated him, he takes her part and in the ways that he can becomes her protector. Inspite of great obstacles from his father, Heathcliff, Joseph, and even Catherine, he endeavors to educate himself. But beyond this, is the marvelous loyalty he shows to Heathcliff despite the lifelong ill-treatment. This loyalty was evidenced by Hareton's refusal to allow evil to be spoken of his foster father. This character trait above all else makes me take interest in him (besides the fact that I always liked the strong, outdoors type).

[kiki1982]

I agree with you on the last point, but can't agree on the first.

I think he is redeemed. Heathcliff's life becomes so void, so empty, so sad that he is beyond pity. You are kind of glad that he died to join Cathy and started to doubt his way of life somehow. Strange, but true. When Ellen tells how he was found with a faint smile on his face in Cathy's bed with th window open, you kind of forget everything that has happened.

There is a kind of gloom in the book up until Catherine makes peace with Hareton. When Hareton's gruffness is broken, the gruffness in the whole house gets broken and Heathcliff is nowhere. He can only doubt and go back to God as it were. He scares Ellen with his attitude, but that's the point, there is hope for everyone.

[Wilde woman]

That one instance where he goes to stand at the fireplace so as to show his full figure... It is so true, men would do that, only Charlotte must have observed her own suitors very well to be able to catch that.

:rofl: That made me laugh so hard! Kiki, remind me where that happens in the book. I must go back and reread it, since I didn't catch it the first two times through.

To answer the thread's question...in my younger teenage days, I would've agreed, but now I think Heathcliff is really scary. I wouldn't want a man like that anywhere in my life (except safely between the pages of a good book). Rochester, on the other hand....has potential.

Elanor (adorable name, btw), I agree with you on Hareton. Honestly, though, I didn't like any of the characters in WH. All of them were so uber-dramatic, but in a way that's one of the beauties of the book. It provokes such strong reactions from readers...they either love it or hate it. I've never met someone who just had a "meh" reaction.

[kiki1982]

:rofl: That made me laugh so hard! Kiki, remind me where that happens in the book. I must go back and reread it, since I didn't catch it the first two times through.

I think it's in their first or second meeting before the guests arrive. I'm not sure anymore. But it could be their second as he is standing at the fire place when Adèle has gone to try on her new pink frock.

Chapter XIII-XIV-XV I reckon.

You're right, he has potential. You are not by any means trying to take the love of my life away, are you! :D

[Wilde woman]

You are not by any means trying to take the love of my life away, are you! :D

Not at all. But (random fact), I just realized I'm going to a university with his name. So I'll be in Rochester.:p

I actually prefer Darcy, though we could probably argue to no end on that question.

[Mudkip]

I'm not into abusive guys.

And he IS abusive. He tricked me into maintaining some sympathy for him-- until (SPOILER)
he locked Cathy Jr up. He may have changed at the end, but that was unforgivable.

[bouquin]

I felt a lot of sympathy for Heathcliff while he was a young boy; however, he was too ruthless by the time he became an adult... Ergo, not my type!

What does he die of?

[mona amon]

**SPOILERS**

As far as I remember, he goes kind of crazy, sees Catherine's ghost all the time, which prevents him from eating or sleeping, and dies of starvation and sleep deprivation. Or alternatively, Catherine's ghost really does appear to him, and prevents him from eating and sleeping till he dies and joins her.

[kelby_lake]

I don't think Heathcliff is meant to be attractive. I certainly wouldn't.

[Anne Catherick]

:cool: What can I say? We all have more than a bit of Heathcliff in us, eh?

The cool thing about Jane Eyre, is that Bronte wrote it based largely on her own past experiences, in my opinion. Her life followed a similar pattern to that of Jane's, except on one point....she didn't marry the master of the house she was governess at. I suspect she fell in love with him, but never made him aware of her feelings. Jane Eyre is just a manifestation of her romantic fantasies about her unrequited love.

For Charlotte's dreams, desires and unrequited love, we should look to Vilette, not Jane Eyre, a more powerful, more poigant, more tragic book than it's better known sister.