In his book of essays on nineteenth-century fiction Is Heathcliff a Murderer?, John Sutherland comments,

When he returns to Wuthering Heights after his mysterious three-year period of exile Heathcliff has become someone very cruel. He left an uncouth but essentially humane stable-lad. He returns a gentleman psychopath. His subsequent brutalities are graphically recorded. They are many and very unpleasant.

Although psychologists now tend to shy away from using the term "psychopath" as a technicality, in common parlance,...

(The entire section contains 269 words.)