Emerald Fennell has officially announced casting for her adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, earning mixed reactions from fans. The two main characters of the beloved classic, Heathcliff and Catherine, have been given to Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, who both previously collaborated with Fennel for the 2023 film Saltburn.
Fans have highly criticized this casting decision, questioning what direction Fennell plans to take with this film in the wake of this decision. Both Robbie and Elordi aren’t traditionally fit for either of these roles, as Catherine is depicted as 18 (Robbie is 34) at the start of the novel, and Heathcliff is relatively racially ambiguous. Casting Heathcliff as a white person — which has been done before, like when he was portrayed by Tom Hardy in 2009 — almost subverts the entire point of the novel. Fennel isn’t the first person to miss the mark on Heathcliff’s character, but with social media backlash, she might be the first to be able to make a correction pre-production.
Racially ambiguous characters were relatively popular in novels of this period, a notable example being Bertha of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. These types of characters are alluded to having characteristics that appear non-white, but are never actually identified as being non-white. Both Brontës utilized racially ambiguous characters in their respective novels to explore themes of status, race, and to critique the values of Victorian society.
Within the novel, Heathcliff is described as a “dark-skinned gypsy,” and a “little lascar,” equating him to a sailor from Southeast Asia. Several times throughout the novel, other characters discuss the perplexing origin of Heathcliff, but are never able to actually identify his race or ethnicity, making him canonically non-white.
Making Heathcliff an objectively attractive white man within the context of this novel does a disservice to the complex ways that his appearance, both his physical appearance and racial identity, affect Heathcliff as an individual. Heathcliff’s racially ambiguous identity is incredibly important to understanding him as a character; it is a cause for Heathcliff’s alienation from society, his longing for acceptance, and ultimately for his desire to seek vengeance on those who made him an outcast.
Not only does Elordi’s casting as a white person not make sense, but casting who many believe to be one of the most attractive people in Hollywood, Jacob Elordi, doesn’t make sense either.
The film is also considered a gothic novel, characterized by wild passions, supernatural encounters, and haunted characters and settings. Fans have questioned whether Robbie or Elordi have the necessary qualities to be able to properly portray these characters, especially Heathcliff — a quintessential gothic protagonist. TikTok has described this quality as “iPhone face,” a term that refers to actors that are too glamorous and sharp to be believable in a period drama.
It is true that Fennel was inspired by gothic novels to make Saltburn, so it’s possible that Fennell plans to give Wuthering Heights an exciting twist in her new adaptation. However, whether fans of one of the most well-loved pieces of literature will accept this after this casting announcement remains to be seen.
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