Interesting theory on Heathcliff — Bronte

I had heard that one of the grad students at my university was writing a thesis on the premise that Emily Bronte's Heathcliff is actually in part or wholly black and of African descent, and that this was what ultimately caused Heathcliff's rejection. I am told the student used textual evidence such as Nelly's referring to Heathcliff as a "gipsy", "dark as if it came from the devil", etc., and his speaking "gibberish" upon entering the Earnshaw household. I think the student also connected this theory ab ut Heathcliff to the young Brontes' fascination with Africa and exploration during the Gondal and Angria period. While this is interesting, I've never come across this in any Bronte scholarship I've read, nor have I found anything substantial in their biographies to suggest that this is what Emily deliberately intended for the character of Heathcliff. Has anyone heard this before? I'd be interested in seeing what the "experts" out there think. -Merry

It's an interesting theory... I can definately see that Heathcliff was noticeably different in appearance from the other characters. I'm no "expert" -- just a Bronte fan -- but I think that it seems pretty clear that Heathcliff really is of Gypsy (not African) origins. Here is some evidence: At the very beginning of the book, when we first meet Heathcliff, Lockwood tells us, " ...Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast to his abode and style of living. He is a dark-skinned gypsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman..." Heathcliff's "style of living" is in contrast to the nomadic Gypsy lifestyle. And Gypsies usually have swarthy skin, blue-black hair, expressive, dark eyes and strong teeth, and are usually hardy in constitution. Doesn't this sound like Heathcliff's description in the novel? Also, the Gypsies have a unique, exclusive society and way of life. They call themselves "Rom" and refer to everyone else as "Gaje" or "foreigners." And the fact that they still exist and still maintain their way of life in a technological, industrial world is remarkable; in other words, their failure to "fit into" the regular style of European living seems to be a perfect origin for Heathcliff. One can imagine that the Gypsies, with all their mystery, had a romantic appeal for Emily, and their impenetrable, nomadic way of life (even today it is not known really how large their population is) was an ideal setting for her hero, whose origins are wrapped in mystery. When Heathcliff is very young and depressed over his shabby appearance in contrast to Edgar Linton's more gentlemanly garb, Nelly cleans him up and tells him, "Who knows but your father was Emporer of China, and your mother an Indian queen, each of them able to buy up, with one week's income, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange together?" At the end of the novel, after Heathcliff has destroyed the two families, Nelly's musing are more negative: "But where did he come from, that dark little thing, harboured by a good man to his bane?... And I began, half dreaming, to weary myself with imagining some fit parentage for him..." She is probably remembering his first arrival in the house, when the "gibberish that nobody could understand" that he kept repeating was probably some phrase in Romani, the Gyspy language. Anyway, it seems to be a very fitting circumstance to me. Of course, I think that Emily is trying to tell us something more important, more spiritual than anything of real "social significance" that some people seem desperate to find, but it's not my thesis, so none of my business. Just an opinion. J.H.