In the article, “The Villain in Wuthering Heights”, by James Hafley, his argument begins with a statement that Ellen (Nelly) Dean is the real villainous character in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. Hafely even goes far enough to say that Nelly is “one of the consummate villains in English literature”. He then begins his case against Nelly Dean, by saying that this work of literature has been misunderstood for years because Nelly was sees as an unbiased narrator for the story between Heathcliff and Catherine. I approached this theory with skepticism but chose it because it seemed like a unique perspective on this work of literature that I had not thought about prior. After reading the article in its entirety and thoroughly understanding Hafley’s argument that Nelly is the “real villain” within the book, I decided that I somewhat agreed with his points and analysis. Throughout this article, Hafley argues that Nelly’s greed, manipulation and the innocence of Lockwood all contributes to creating Nelly as the real villainous character within Wuthering Heights.
Hafley begins his argument about Nelly by claiming that many readers of the novel view Nelly as “detached and normal”, whereas he cites Nelly’s treatment of a young Heathcliff as an indicator of her true self. Even though all the children (Catherine, Hindley and Nelly) treated Heathcliff badly upon his arrival, Nelly was punished for it by Mr. Earnshaw and thus she had a sort of motivation for possibly slandering Heathcliff as she told the story to Lockwood. Nelly “put [Heathcliff] on the landing of the stairs, hoping it might be gone on the morrow.” This behavior lead Mr. Earnshaw to banish Nelly from the house. This instance alone supports Hafley’s argument of Nelly’s villainy because this could be seen as motivation for Nelly’s future actions. Hafley mentions that Nelly equates herself as the same social status as the Earnshaws which reinforces the angry she would feel when Heathcliff treated well by Mr. Earnshaw while she was banished.
Points within Hafley’s article that made me agree with his argument that Nelly was the villain in the novel, continued with Nelly’s descriptions of Heathcliff and Catherine. She spoke more about their bad qualities to Lockwood, such as the fact that Catherine was arrogant and both were quick to anger, and the audience does not really know if this is entirely accurate. It becomes apparent that Nelly only tells the whole truth to Lockwood when he will be sympathetic towards her, so ultimate goal could maybe have been to demonize Catherine and Heathcliff while making herself look innocent. What makes me agree even more with Hafley’s statement about Nelly is the fact that she was seemingly wanting Lockwood to marry Cathy after the sickly Linton’s death. If Lockwood had married Cathy, then he would be a more gentle master. This shows Nelly’s cunning and manipulation, as she is just thinking about her own future, rather than Cathy, who she practically raised. Nelly’s decision to tell Lockwood this story seems to be influenced by her own greed and getting what she wants. She painted Heathcliff as a revenge driven man but she seems to be the one who is greedy and uses her subtle manipulation to lift herself up socially as a result of one fateful interaction as a child. While Hafley’s article on Nelly as a villain could be sees as circumstantial, I have been persuaded by this article to see Nelly Dean as a manipulative villain.
