It's me, your Cathy, I've come home

One of my favorite books is Wuthering Heights - I wrote my last ever research paper on the novel - and with Kate writing about her first read of the book, I thought I'd address its latest big screen adaptation (first promo poster above).

For the first time, a black actor has been cast to play Heathcliff. The film is set to be released this year or next, it's a major picture, not made for TV, and directed by Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank). I couldn't be more excited - it's always bothered me that white (not to mention old) actors have traditionally been used to portray Heathcliff. While Brontë never outright stated that Heathcliff was black, she clearly described him as non-white. As a child, Heathcliff was adopted by Mr. Earnshaw after being found abandoned at a slave port in Liverpool, and he was written as a "dark-skinned gypsy in aspect and a little lascar," that last word being a 19th century term for sailors from India.

While his ethnicity is uncertain, I always felt his non-whiteness was a vital part of Wuthering Heights as it affects his relationship with every character in the novel, especially Catherine (especially himself!), and I've been disappointed to never see this portrayed in film. I like to think that Brontë intentionally set out to write a novel where the main love interest was of a different ethnicity, but given the time period probably had to address the issue about as head-on as Thomas Hardy's rape scene from Tess of the d'Urbervilles.

p.s. Haven't read it? You can read online for free, here.

p.p.s. Oh goodness, this post was featured on the Brontë Blog! Welcome, Brontites.