Director explains what happens to Heathcliff after Wuthering Heights leaves his ending unfinished

Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights changes a lot from the original novel, and it leaves out what happens to Heathcliff after the ending.

In the film, almost half of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is missing. The story ends with Catherine dying and Heathcliff completely heartbroken. But it doesn’t show what happens to him afterwards, so we’re left wondering what he actually does next.

Emerald Fennell has defended that decision, saying you can’t fully adapt a novel into one film. Still, it means Heathcliff’s fate feels unfinished on screen.

So, what actually happens to Heathcliff in the book?

Credit: Warner Bros

In the novel, Heathcliff lives on for years, and he becomes even darker and more obsessive. He spends the rest of his life driven by grief and revenge.

Heathcliff manipulates the younger generation, forces unhappy marriages, and secures control of both houses. He is angry, bitter, and completely fixated on Catherine.

Towards the end of the novel, he starts behaving strangely. He barely eats or sleeps. He wanders the moors and speaks as if Catherine is still there. Nelly notices he looks almost ghost-like. Then one morning, he is found dead in his room with the window open. It is strongly implied that he has been longing to reunite with Catherine, even in death.

So in the book, Heathcliff does have a clear ending. The film changes that. Instead of showing his decline and death, the film leaves him emotionally wrecked and then stops. We see what happens to Catherine, but not to him.

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So what happens to Heathcliff after the film ends?

@cinemablend

🚨SPOILERS🚨 Emerald Fennell explains what’s next for her Heathcliff after that heartbreaking “Wuthering Heights” ending 💔 #wutheringheights #emeraldfennell #heathcliff #movies #celebrityinterview

♬ original sound – cinemablend

Speaking to Cinemablend, Emerald Fennell explained what she believes happens next. She said the Heathcliff in the film and the Heathcliff in the book are “maybe the same,” adding, “they’re just emotionally destroyed.”

“And that emotional destruction bleeds out into other people’s lives,” she said.

She also made it clear that, for her version, there is no real future for him. “You know, that’s the thing, is that there is no life after Cathy. And that’s what he says in the book, and that’s the case here.”

Even though the film does not show his physical death, the emotional outcome is similar. “Whatever it is, it will be a kind of half-life, I think,” she said.

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