text: A foundling discovered on the streets of Liverpool and raised by the Earnshaw family of Wuthering Heights in Yorkshire, Heathcliff's past and early childhood before his mysterious adoption are only hinted at by Brontë. In keeping with the supernatural themes present in the novel, it is speculated that Heathcliff might be a demon or a hellish soul. His appearance would be faithfully interpreted as resembling a Roma, or Gypsy, as he is described with dark hair, dark eyes, and dark skin. Later in life, he becomes a gentleman "in dress and aspect." Nelly Dean states that he could be an "American castaway." Heathcliff may have been of mixed race because he is described in the original book as a "dark-skinned gipsy" and "a little Lascar" – a 19th-century term for Indian sailors. In Chapter Four, Heathcliff is described by Mr Earnshaw to be "as dark almost as if it came from the devil." In Chapter Seven, Nelly Dean asks of him “Who knows but your father was Emperor of China, and your mother an Indian queen?”
  A silent and at first, a solitary child, Heathcliff is initially resented by both Catherine Earnshaw and her elder brother, Hindley; while Catherine later befriends and loves Heathcliff, Hindley continues to resent him, seeing him as an interloper who has stolen his father's affection. Upon Mr Earnshaw's death and his inheritance of the estate, the spiteful Hindley proceeds to treat Heathcliff as little more than a servant boy and makes him work the fields, which compounds Heathcliff's lifelong anger and resentment. Catherine, however, remains close to her foster brother throughout her early years.