Who Is Heathcliff?
Emerald Fennell’s 2026 adaptation of Wuthering Heights is already anticipated to be the next dark romance that will drive the internet wild.
Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Brontë is the classic gothic novel. Often read in high school freshman-year English classes across the United States or as a gateway novel into classic literature, the beloved book has easily stood the test of time. Brontë’s immersive and dark writing absorbs readers into the tangled love story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff.
The first still of the new movie adaptation hit the internet Valentine’s Day 2025 , and the next day, Jacob Elordi debuted his new hairstyle with sideburns and a full beard.The casting of Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and moreso the casting of Elordi as Heathcliff was heavily criticized and media outlets did not shy away from pointing out the flaws. Of the most prominent critics were Vogue and Elle, in which the ambiguity of Heathcliff’s race was questioned next to Elordi’s blunt whiteness. Unsurprisingly, the media soon dropped the questions of race and focused on the first still of the movie which teased Elordi’s fingers in Robbie’s mouth. By February 26, 2025, Vogue skimmed over the importance of Heathcliff’s race by stating that “Jacob Elordi looks every bit of the Yorkshire Moors man.”
There’s no doubt that filmmaker Emerald Fennell has seen box office success with Promising Young Women (2020) and Saltburn (2023), as well as having numerous notable writing features on television shows like Killing Eve (2018-2022). Her ability to craft a story for the screen has never been under threat until the announcement of Heathcliff’s casting. In her 2024 article for The LA Times, Fennell wrote:
“I’ve always been obsessed with the gothic. Whether it was Edward Gorey’s children who are variously choked by peaches, sucked dry by leeches or smothered by rugs; Du Maurier’s imperiled heroines or the disturbing erotic power of Angela Carter’s fairy tales, the gothic world has always had me in its grip.”
In the eight prior screen adaptations of Wuthering Heights, all but the 2011 version star a white man as Heathcliff. Race remains one of the most debated topics today with the recent termination of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion government programs in January 2025 and the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.With the political and social world of today, the entertainment and media consumed become all the more important. By ignoring the deeper themes within the art piece, the audience detaches themselves from the conversation they have been invited to join. Choosing to ignore the story of a man who clearly falls victim to the strict social hierarchy of 19th-century England conveys that a person’s racial or socioeconomic background does not affect the way they are treated in society, which is simply untrue.
Brontë’s vague descriptions of Heathcliff are anything but unintentional. In the first chapter, Heathcliff is said to have been a “dark-skinned gypsy.” In chapter seven, it is mentioned that he spoke “gibberish” upon arrival to Wuthering Heights, and that he is irregular because he is neither white nor Black, as is implied when the character Nellie said “if you were a regular black” regarding Heathcliff. Whether Heathcliff was white or bBlack, casting a white actor completely negates the half of the story in which Heathcliff falls victim to a wealthy, white family that abuses him at every chance.
Elordi can play troubled characters– Nate Jacobs in Euphoria (2019-present) proved that years ago. But is it really Elordi to play a character who’s relationship with race was decidedly undetermined? This question should not disappear even as the public is obsessed with his new attractive style. If Fennell is seeking to create another erotic horror movie, perhaps a more careful assessment of casting should have taken place with a story that seeks to point out the harms of racism and generational trauma in society and between individuals.
Written by Thea Findlay, Photography: Kaleigh Mazy, Social Media: Spurthi Challa, Styling: Deb Zhang