Throughout Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights,' she shows how revenge is caused by prejudice and jealousy and leads to further disharmony. Revenge is highlighted most through Heathcliff and his ongoing feuds with Hindley and Edgar. Characters such as Isabella, Catherine and Hareton are affected by the vengeance of Heathcliff and are left in positions of powerlessness as a result. Bronte uses their weakness to generate pity towards them, reinforcing a negative image of revenge. Revenge is also shown to be caused by ideas of social hierarchy- especially through Bronte's controversial exploration of rising above one's position in society. Dumas' character Edmond Dantes also seeks revenge throughout 'The Count of Monte Cristo' generating a similarly destructive chain of vengeance and showing, in a similar manner, how society's injustices lead to resentment.
Heathcliff is key to the theme of revenge, given his position within the novel as both victim and antagonist. His vengeful nature could stem from his ill treatment by the young Hindley, or alternatively from resentment over his disrupted love with Cathy. From his first appearance amongst the family, it is shown that "Hindley hated him," seeing him as a "usurper"; this presents some proof of the suggestion that Hindley's maltreatment is Heathcliff's motivation. He is later described by Nelly as "a sullen, patient child; hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment", which supports the idea that Heathcliff began plotting from a young age. We see again that young Heathcliff was twisted early on by his desire for revenge against Hindley, as he swears to not "care how long" he has to wait, if "only do it at last". His fixation on the destruction of Hindley so early in the novel suggests, through its chronological placement, that the ideas of revenge formulated during his upbringing and were the cause of a number of the unfortunate events that follow rather than (as has been suggested) the inverse.
