payment page
Linton Heathcliff is Heathcliff and Isabella Linton’s son. After enduring terrible abuse at Heathcliff’s hands and being disowned by her older brother Edgar Linton, Isabella eventually escapes to London where she raises her young son Linton on her own, outside of Heathcliff’s influence. Upon her death 13 years later, the teenaged Linton is brought to Thrushcross Grange to be raised with his uncle Edgar and cousin Catherine. Upon meeting Edgar and Catherine, Linton shows himself to be a slight, delicate boy who tires easily and does not possess the same vivacity and hardiness that Heathcliff and the Earnshaw family share.
In terms of his character and physicality, he is a Linton through and through – weak, gentle, and built for the placid, indulgent life of the wealthy. Linton is no doubt spoiled, and he expects to receive endless affection and attention from those around him, but he does have a certain sweetness and innocence of character that make him sympathetic to Catherine and Nelly. Unfortunately, upon his arrival at Thrushcross Grange, he is immediately intercepted by Heathcliff, who, as the biological father, has legal rights of guardianship over the boy. He is moved to Wuthering Heights, and under the care of Heathcliff, any inherent goodness in his nature is beaten away by his father.
Under Heathcliff’s neglectful and ruthless care, Linton is shaped into a spineless, selfish boy that Heathcliff wields as an instrument of revenge against Edgar and Catherine Linton. Linton is preoccupied by his own failing health, although he often exaggerates his bouts of illness in order to receive attention and gifts. Nelly is irritated by Linton’s manipulative and entitled behavior, but Catherine, who is passionate like her mother and caring like her father, is unable to see through Linton’s coercion. Although Heathcliff despises his son’s weakness and spoiled nature, he doesn’t care to correct the boy’s moral failings. His ultimate goal is to corrupt everyone and everything associated with the Earnshaws and the Lintons and cause the ruin of both houses. Knowing that Linton is easily controlled, Heathcliff instructs his son to write lengthy romantic letters to Catherine. Consequently, Catherine is deceived into believing that Linton is truly in love with her. She is unaware that this belief has been engineered by Heathcliff, who hopes to marry the two children together so that, upon the deaths of the sickly Edgar Linton and Linton Heathcliff, he will inherit sole ownership of both Catherine and Thrushcross Grange.
Linton, although largely passive in the entire ordeal, is willing to do his part to coerce Catherine into marriage as he believes it might deliver him from the hands of his terrifying father and allow him to live out the rest of his life in the company of the only person who has shown him genuine care. Although Linton’s feeble nature and cowardice are often pathetic and repellent to witness, he is ultimately yet another victim of Heathcliff’s unyielding abuse. While stronger-willed characters such as Catherine Linton are able to resist Heathcliff’s influence to some degree, Linton’s isolation from society and physical frailty make him particularly vulnerable to his father’s abuse, and he dies young before he can redeem himself or be set free from Heathcliff’s grip.
