Who is Hindley in Wuthering Heights and why wasn’t he in Emerald Fennell’s film?

Since the release of Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights film, it’s been under a lot of heat for how different it is to the original book. While I personally enjoyed Emerald’s original take on the classic novel, one thing I certainly did wonder while watching was “Where on earth is Hindley?”

For those of you who haven’t read Emily Brontë’s book, Hindley is Cathy’s brother and the son of Mr. Earnshaw. He plays a pivotal role in Heathcliff’s villain origin story, so it seems a very bold choice to cut him out of the movie. But as you would expect, Emerald Fennell had her own reasons for the decision.

Who is Hindley in Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights?

via Warner Brothers

Hindley is the brother of Catherine Earnshaw. When Heathcliff is first brought into their household, both siblings despise him. However, when Cathy begins to fall in love with him, Hindley’s anger grows even stronger. 

Hindley behaves in violent ways towards Heathcliff, foreshadowing Heathcliff’s abuse of Isabella later on in the novel.

As the book progresses, Hindley’s own power-hungry nature causes him to spiral into alcoholism and a gambling addiction. Ultimately, his power over Heathcliff cannot protect him from tragedy. So when his wife dies in childbirth, he is ruined.

Hindley’s poor financial situation means he is forced to hand over Wuthering Heights to Heathcliffe, representing the shift in the power dynamic between the two men. Hindley’s son Hareton is left with no inheritance.

Why wasn’t Hindley in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights 2026 movie?

via Warner Brothers

Most Read

You can now watch Jeffrey Epstein’s disturbing private videos on ‘JeffTube’ – here’s how

Zoë Kravitz responds to those Jeffrey Epstein and Blink Twice comparisons as old emails resurface

‘They went all night’: All the most x-rated scenes that had to be cut from Love Island

In Emerald Fennell’s version of Wuthering Heights, we still see Heathcliff taking back power from an abuser in the second half of the film. However, instead of Hindley being the one to torment Heathcliff, it is Mr. Earnshaw himself. 

Therefore, Emerald Fennell still maintains the symbolic function of Hindley in Wuthering Heights, but she does this by condensing his character into Earnshaw’s.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Emerald explained her reasons for creating a simplified version of Wuthering Heights.

Speaking on all the intricacies of the novel’s plot, she said: “I think, really, I would do a mini series and encompass the whole thing over 10 hours, and it would be beautiful. But if you’re making a movie, and you’ve got to be fairly tight, you’ve got to make those kinds of hard decisions.

“It’s such a complicated structure, the novel, that really it would have been very, very difficult to turn that into a coherent movie because it would just be much more time”.

In light of this explanation, it makes sense why Emerald Fennell decided to cut Hindley from Wuthering Heights. Since he mainly features in Heathcliff’s back story, adding his character in would require making the film a lot longer than is practically possible.

Instead of staying true to every aspect of the novel’s plot, Emerald Fennell decided to focus solely on Cathy and Heathcliff’s passionately twisted relationship. And honestly, if it means Jacob Elordi gets more screen time, I have no complaints.

For more like this, like The Tab on Facebook.

Featured image via Warner Brothers