In defense of Heathcliff

This post is a response to the discussion in Frankengirl's blog about Heathcliff's character.

This is from one of my previous personal essays on Heathliff.

Why is it that SO many people call me crazy when I tell them I am fond of Heathcliff?
Yesterday I had a conversation with a few people about it too..and they are just like "He is so evil. You must be insane to like him." To an extent I can see their point...but still...most people I've talked to just don't see ANY good in him. And I think that is just too sad: the fact that they can't appreciate his good qualites and see him for who he really is.

What about his devotion to Catherine?
What about the innocence that was stolen from his youth?
What about the fact that Cathering was drawn to him because he allowed her to be wild and free like she wanted to be?
What about the fact that Hindley mistreated him?
What about the fact that he was so imaginative?
What about the fact that he loved a woman so much he would go to the extent of digging up her grave because he couldln't let go?
What about the fact that he begged for Cathy to haunt him as a ghost because he couldnt' bear to be left alone without her?
What about the fact that he was NOT like the other pretentous insipid young men of that period (like Linton or Hindley)?
What about the fact the he was trapped by people and a Society that didn't allow him to be himself?
What about the fact that happiness and love was denied to him?
What about the fact that Heathcliff and Catherine had their own religion? their religion was love and like believers of any faith, they sought to faithfully follow their own. Their Heaven was with each other, regardless of whether it was on earth or elswhere.

People look at Heathcliff in two ways: the ideal lover or the worst nightmare. My inclination is towards the fomer.
True..I can see how one could interpret his actions as evil. Yes he should not have mistreated Isabella. Yes he should not have mistreated young Cathy. Yes he should not have been so manipulative. But if we put all that in a context based on what happened in his past, then his actions don't look so wholly evil. The best part is, Emily Bronte sympathizes with him as well-all along the course of the book. She is not wholly resentful towards even his most "evil" actions. Instead, she draws the reader's interest and sympathy. Or so I feel.

Often people fail to look at WHY Heathcliff was driven to be "evil" . He was driven to do so BECAUSE he was not allowed to be HIMSELF. When he goes against his nature, he does not know or realize how to respond. He was a poor, timid, little boy when Mr Earnshaw brought him to Wuthering Heights and he tasted real love and affection for a brief period with the old man and Cathy. When Hindley stole that away from him after Mr Earnshaw's death, Heathcliff's only respite rested in his relationship with Catherine. He only wanted to love and be loved. Now tell me, is that too much to ask? Not at all.
Heathcliff's capacity to love was like the vastness of the moors around him. In fact, the moors ARE an outward manifestation of Heathcliff's qualities. They are wild and free and a source of freedom and strength. On the moore Catherine can let go of the restraints of home (and Society) and she can let her imagination run free. She can be who she really is.
When Catherine goes against her nature and marries Linton (thereby signalling the start of her doomed existance), Heathcliff is driven to go against his nature as well. When one's only chance of love is taken away from one, what is one supposed to do? Although I don't agree with the way he mistreated and manipulated people afterward, I can sympathize with him and understand why he did so. He is NOT evil by nature; the world arond him MADE him to be so. How can you dislike someone who was intrinsically innocent, when the world with its evil propensities ought to be the real culprit?