His Better Half

A new scholarly Brontë-related paper:

“His Better Half”: Hindley and Heathcliff as Social Foils in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights
Bethany Rozario Steinhagen, University of Northern IowaFollow
The Compass: Vol. 1: Iss. 12, Article 4.

Critical analyses of Emily Brontë’s Victorian classic Wuthering Heights often portray Hindley Earnshaw, Catherine’s older brother, as a mere analog to the Brontës’ own older brother Branwell. This paper claims that Hindley’s character is not only far more developed than commonly assumed, but that he is also integral to the development of Heathcliff becoming Heathcliff himself. Both men’s journeys can further be seen as parallel methods of navigating rigid Victorian social expectations. This analysis explores the foil relationship between these two men, who can both be described as each other’s ‘better half,’ shining a new light not only on the significance of Hindley as a character, but also the way in which restrictive Victorian class dynamics are explored in the text.