Poor Gordon. Poor Emily. Part 3

And so it continues...

John Mullan gives his opinion in The Guardian which follows the textual Heathcliff approach:

What kind of man is Heathcliff ? Gordon Brown might have found it worth asking this question before he likened himself to the protagonist of Wuthering Heights. Was the prime minister saying that he, too, was an outsider and man of brooding passion? If he were being accurate to the book, he would have known that Emily Brontë's main man is a wife-beater, a child abuser and a sadist.
Some plot summary is in order. Heathcliff is a foundling - rescued as a child by Mr Earnshaw, the owner of Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff grows to love Earnshaw's daughter Catherine, but, after Earnshaw's death, is persecuted by his son Hindley. Heathcliff disappears for three years. He returns, mysteriously rich, to find Catherine married to Edgar Linton, heir to Thrushcross Grange. Heathcliff's uncouthness is replaced by "a half-civilized ferocity". He seeks revenge, tricking the now alcoholic Hindley out of ownership of Wuthering Heights, then marrying Edgar's sister Isabella. His encouragement of Hindley's drinking leads to his death. Worse, he brings up Hindley's son, Hareton, only to degrade and humiliate him.
Catherine dies and years later, Heathcliff forces her daughter, Cathy, to marry his son, Linton (gaining possession of Thrushcross Grange). After Linton's death, Heathcliff forces Cathy to live at Wuthering Heights. She is drawn into affection for Hareton. It is this love that destroys Heathcliff, for he has been nourished only by bitterness.
Does the PM really want to model himself on a man who - and this is the ultimate vote-loser - in order to torment his wife, cheerfully strangles her dog?

David Lister in The Independent thinks of Cliff Richard's Heathcliff:

I think I can cast some light on Gordon Brown's bizarre comparison of himself to Heathcliff this week. The newspapers all carried pictures of Laurence Olivier in the 1939 film of Wuthering Heights. But I suspect it was not Olivier and his dark, brooding intensity that the Prime Minister was thinking of. Neither was it the Heathcliff of Emily Brontë's novel.
It was, I am sure, the 1996 stage musical of the book, entitled simply Heathcliff and starring none other than Cliff Richard in the title role. I was unfortunate enough to see the show, and witnessed how Sir Cliff unforgettably achieved the impossible – turning the dangerous, romantic anti-hero of English literature into a jolly nice, mischievous chap.
That, of course, is Gordon Brown's fantasy – not to be intense and brooding, but to be jolly and lovable. I'll bet it was Cliff he had in mind all along.

Also in The Independent we found this rather twisted reference to "the incident":

At my mother's local theatre in Guildford the other day, I saw a play by Dion Boucicault, an Irish playwright hailed by Richard Eyre as "a Victorian Andrew Lloyd Webber", and the writer who inspired Oscar Wilde. The play, London Assurance, was written at about the time that the Brontës were dreaming up role models for future prime ministers. (Christina Patterson)

Well, the play was written in 1841 and Wuthering Heights was published in 1847 but we get the point.

Photoshop and the Daily Mail's staff are not exactly the best of companions as this article shows. The Mirror, not unsurprisingly but making a good point, defends Gordon Brown:

Oh, what larks the Tories think they're going to have after the PM compared himself to Heathcliff. But why?
The hero of Wuthering Heights is described in the novel as "in dress, and manners a gentleman", but "rather morose".
Both solid characteristics I'd say. And, anyway, my GMTV mate Gloria De Piero, whose chat with Gordon Brown revealed the comparison, says she asked him about his likeness to Heathcliff and "he laughed in an 'as if' kind of way. He was joking."
Which proves he's not even "rather morose" either. (Fiona Philips)

According to the Homeground & KBNI Forum:

Last nights edition of BBC1 politics show 'THIS WEEK' played out (end credits) with Wuthering Heights!!!!
I think this was in reference to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's comparison to being like Heathcliff!
I never expected to hear a Kate Bush song aired on a political debate show.
For those of you with access to BBCiplayer the show is available to watch for the next 6 days. (The Bee Keeper)

Categories: In the News, Weirdo