Is Heathcliff a typical literary hero? Essay -- English Literature

Is Heathcliff a typical literary hero? Heathcliff is introduced to the reader as anything but a hero in the beginning. He is bullied by Hindley and looked down upon by the rest of the household, including Cathy and Nelly to start with -"hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment: he would stand Hindley's blows", "spitting at the stupid little thing;". Heathcliff does not show himself to be terribly helpful, kind or brave although he does seem to show an air of strength and resilience when Hindley decides to throw a heavy weight at him. But instead of throwing it back or running away he just picks himself up and carries on with what he was doing- "and down he fell, but staggered up immediately,...". As a child Heathcliff was quite patient and irritable and did not have any real background or education. He is supposedly handsome and loyal (to Cathy) but has very low morals (he tried to kill Isabella's dog when they ran off to Wuthering Heights)- . He is strong and athletic but is in no way good-natured as the way he acts throughout the whole book shows you; like- "Don't torture me till I am as mad as yourself!" The heroic qualities we see today in our popular super heroes and other more original characters like Sherlock Holmes, all originated from Greek legends like Hercules and Perseus and from Bible stories like David and Goliath. Heathcliff does not seem to follow any of the patterns in these other heroes or act like them, but more like the opposite. Heathcliff could be analysed as a anti or Byronic hero; Heathcliff does show himself to have the same qualities as a Byronic hero because he is wild and passionate and has many dark qualities, Heathcliff is very remorse-torn and moody; these qualities may have ... ... without any emotion in his life. She shows this when she talks of Heathcliff and contrasts the both of them- "Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire." Both Edgar and Heathcliff do not have what it takes to be a heros, Edgar is too nice and emotionless and Heathcliff is too full of emotion, anger and hate. Together their qualities could make a hero, but on there own they are two different things. Heathcliff's qualities show him to be the opposite to a classic literary hero, so he could be the Byronic hero who is wild, passionate and possesses many hidden darker qualities. Heathcliff is passionate, he is slightly evil and he does represent the opposite side of a hero, he possesses all the bad qualities and mysterious qualities that make him a Byronic hero.