Please provide a brief description of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights.

In Emily Bronte's novel Wuthering
Heights, Heathcliff is at the center of the plot's
development.

Old Mr. Earnshaw (the master of Wuthering
Heights) brings a seven-year old Heathcliff home one evening, an orphan he discovered in
the Liverpool slums. Heathcliff becomes a member of the family to an extent: where
Catherine takes to him quickly, Hindley, Catherine's brother, greatly resents
Heathcliff, becoming abusive.

The years pass, and Catherine
and Mr. Earnshaw are very dear to Heathcliff. Because of Heathcliff's demeanor, darkened
by Hindley's treatment, Catherine admits that she could not marry him, and Heathcliff
overhears this. Instead, Catherine becomes involved with Edgar Linton, new neighbors at
a neighboring estate called Thrushcross Grange.

Feeling
rejected, Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights, not returning until well after Catherine
and Edgar are married. By this time Mr. Earnshaw has died. Heathcliff's obsession is to
do all he can to gain control of both estates and ruin the inhabitants of
both.

When Catherine dies, Heathcliff begs her ghost to
haunt him. He finds no comfort or escape from the pain of his loss, even though
Catherine was still married to Edgar. The bond they shared since childhood had never
been severed.

Heathcliff eventually marries Edgar's sister,
Isabella, against Edgar's wishes. But Heathcliff is abusive (mad or evil, she fears) and
she leaves him, pregnant with his son. For a time, Heathcliff continues his attempts to
ruin all those around him, and eventually gains control of both Wuthering Heights and
Thrushcross Grange. However, as time goes on, he loses the urge to damage the lives of
others and finds little purpose in his own life.

Haunted by
Catherine's ghost for days on end, Heathcliff starves himself and dies. His coffin is
placed next to Catherine's: the side panels of each are left open so their ashes will be
joined over the years. And those who walk the moors swear they see the ghosts of
Heathcliff and Catherine "wandering their old playground."