Discourse around the Heathcliff casting

Heathcliff requires no introduction. He has become synonymous with the archetype of tortured antiheroes privy to letting vengeance, wrath, and jealousy consume their soul. Truly, Heathcliff requires no introduction, and offers no new room for discussion or interpretation as Wuthering Heights has stood the test of time as a transcendental gothic epic, and has been dissected and cross-sected a million times. However, with the recent casting of one Australian heartthrob Jacob Elordi for the upcoming film adaptation of the novel, the importance of the character's ethnicity rears its head into literary discourse once again.

The news for the movie came slowly. First director Emerald Fennell was attached, coming off hot from the relative success of Saltburn. Then fan casting took rounds across social media, until the bombshell announcement came: Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff. The internet was slow to catch on to the glaring issue in one half of the main duo's casting. Only after promotional material—images and one teaser trailer were released did people collectively become cognizant. Overnight the internet turned on the movie before it even had a full trailer, holding it accountable for whitewashing a beloved character who was notably a person of colour in the source material. That being said however, Heathcliff's race goes beyond just sentimentality, representation, and the colour of his skin; his defining character trait,his masculinity—in the novel stemmed from his race.

Heathcliff portrays a very unique strain of masculinity. It is not one that comes from being a man in a patriarchal society, nor from one being amongst majority women. This is important to note because the aforementioned kind of masculinity was ever present in contemporary 19th century literature–i.e., Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre. Conversely this kind of masculinity had presence in literature only because the men of that era emanated the same masculinity. But Heathcliff was different. His masculinity stemmed from his marginalization.

Emily Brontë keeps Heathcliff's identity ambiguous, as seen when Mr. Linton describes him as "a little Lascar, or an American or Spanish castaway." Lascars were sailors recruited from the Indian subcontinent or Southeast Asia, to serve on colonial European ships from the 16th century until the mid-20th century. Brontë throws another wrench into his racial identity by having Lockwood describe Heathcliff as a "gipsy," which suggests a more Romanic origin. Both of these help build an aura of mystery and outcast status for the character, which adds to his antihero persona. Additionally, these "dark" phenotypical features add to his status as a household gothic character in the English canon.

These dark features are what makes Victorian society marginalize Heathcliff. They force him to assume his own form of masculinity—one that is steeped in exuding fear, exercising physical dominance, and manipulation—once he comes to some social status and wealth. His masculinity is inseparable from the fact that he is foreign and thus racially marked in his society. This is the very essence of Heathcliff's character, whether or not it were Brontë's intentions. This masculinity is the driving force of this novel. The arbiter behind his strong, vengeful spirit. Casting a white man in this role compromises this defining trait.

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Socially Heathcliff starts the novel from destitute, forced to work as a common laborer once his adoptive father Mr. Earnshaw dies. This marginalization fuels his rage, eventually culminating into the final vengeful form of the character. He develops his own sense of masculinity, one that is violent and disruptive. Heathcliff disrupts traditional patriarchal structures when he seizes Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Social exclusion creates this destructive form of manhood. Heathcliff's masculinity is not natural; it is a social construction, one shaped by marginalization. 

There is no doubt that director Emerald Fennell and her team will figure out how to work around these lapses, and ultimately make their casting decision work. Perhaps this version of Heathcliff will face a different kind of othering by society, one that will morph him into the version of the character we know from the novel in a different, yet relevant way. However, the problem is that Heathcliff's masculinity will have a less diverse expression, and forcibly be boxed into a more traditional universalized white masculinity. Which is in line with more conventional gothic romance narratives of the 18th century, defeating the purpose of adapting Brontë's Wuthering Heights.

There also lies the meta problem of Jacob Elordi's star power. As a traditionally attractive male, and as someone who has starred in glamorous and hyper sensationalized productions such as Euphoria and Priscilla, the actor comes with his own aura. Audiences will more than likely find it difficult to separate his status as a privileged, attractive Hollywood leading man from Heathcliff's vengeful, gothic persona. This will inadvertently change the motif of Heathcliff's marginalization leading to his own sense of masculinity, and shift to one that revolves around his desirablitity–which is suggestive of the promotional material thus far.

Which may just be the intention of this adaptation, as it is tracking well with young users on social media such as TikTok. This will certainly not be a detriment to the film in the box office, as its primary goal is to make profit. What will suffer is the artistic integrity of the source material, and the souring of general audiences and critics on this adaptation. This reception of the movie will send the wrong signal to studios: "audiences do not like Wuthering Heights." So the endgame will be that we will not get another adaptation of this novel for at least another decade. Meanwhile Mary Shelley's Frankenstein continues to fare well in Hollywood, getting two adaptations this very year, one where Elrodi himself is also starring.

This is not a new phenomenon. Hollywood has whitewashed Heathcliff before, notably with 1939's adaptation starring Laurence Olivier, and more recently with Ralph Fiennes in 1992. Casting two attractive actors in both Robbie and Elordi is not grounds to dismiss this adaptation completely. The movie may turn out to be a decent retelling of the original story, finding creative and unique ways to work around Heathcliff's ethnicity. But transforming Heathcliff from a marginalized gothic outsider into a marketable Byronic heartthrob will likely set a precedent for future media in the Hollywood landscape. One whose repercussions will begin to show after this adaptation of Wuthering Heights has come and went.

Sajal Hossain Dhaly is a contributor at Star Books and Literature. He is a final year undergrad student who loves fantasy literature, gym culture, and playing the guitar to his cat. Send him your epic fantasy hot takes @[email protected]