Throughout the centuries, in fiction and in reality, women have been attracted to the figure of the "bad boy". The novel, Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Bronte, brought out the fictional “bad boy” archetype from her imagination (Ceron 1). He lived during the Victorian era of realism and the changing fine arts in isolation on the Yorkshire moors (Evans 1). It was there that he imagined another world, wrote secret bedtime stories and acted in plays with toy soldiers who came to life with their own identities. As Bronte matured, his work evolved from his early childhood games to his more complex novels, including Wuthering Heights (Cody 1). Heathcliff, the protagonist of Wuthering Heights, is a refined character with dark and dangerous traits that make him desirable to Catherine. The reader is drawn to this exemplary hero of Wuthering Heights because women throughout history have been attracted to such men. The theory of the Byronic romantic hero, an archetype of what modern writers now call the “bad boy,” came well after the novel (Cuddy-Keane 1). If the hero of Byronic romance resembles Heathcliff, and women desire men similar to Heathcliff, then women ultimately pine for the hero of Byronic romance. As told in Wuthering Heights, when Mr. Earnshaw decides to take in a young orphan named Heathcliff, he quickly grows to love him more than his own son, Hindley. Heathcliff and Hindley constantly argue due to his jealousy of his father's relationship with Heathcliff. Hindley is sent to college to ease the conflict. When Mr. Earnshaw dies, Hindley returns home as master of Wuthering Heights. Catherine, Mr Earnshaw's daughter, and Heathcliff return to Thrushcross Grange from a funeral when she is bitten by a snake. Ed...... middle of paper......Victorian Web. September 2001. Web. 22 November 2013. Coleman, Toni. "Women and 'Bad Boys': What's the Attraction?" Ezine articles. Np, 5 June 2011. Web. 10 November 2013. Cuddy-Keane, Melba. "The Byronic Hero." The University of Toronto at Scarborough. Np, Spring 2012. Web. November 24, 2013. Evans, Richard. "The Victorians: Art and Culture". Gresham College. Museum of London, 4 October 2010. Web. 24 November 2013. Mehta, Vinita. "Why do women fall in love with bad boys?" Psychology today. Np, October 21, 2013. Web. November 10, 2013. Nicholson, Jeremy. “Why good boys and girls finish last in love.” Psychology today. Psychology Today, November 1, 2012. Web. November 13, 2013. Oates, Joyce C. “The Magnanimity of Wuthering Heights.” University of San Francisco. Np, Winter 1983. Web. November 21, 2013Wexler, Harry K. "Should Women Love Bad Boys?" Psychology today. Psychology Today, 7 January 2010. Web. 10 November. 2013.