The Mystery of the Mysterious Mystery Man. (Ben, please don't make fun of me)

So I went to a tour of Brooklyn Tech the other day. I arrived a bit late, and the first thing that I noticed upon entering the auditorium was not the 3000 seats, nor the 100-foot stage...no, the first thing I noticed was a gorgeous, tall boy standing at the front of the immense room. His dark, unruly hair and mysterious features made me think one thing - this is Heathcliff. Heathcliff, my one and only literary love, has been reincarnated and sent back to me in the form of a cute adolescent boy! *cue cliched teenage squeals* EEEEE!!!!

But this story isn't exactly the point of this post. After I left the building and went to Junior's to eat some cheesecake, I was filled with this strange sense of slight melancholy, but mostly confusion. Mulling over a cup of coffee and vanilla cheesecake, I asked myself the same questions again and again - why was I attracted to that boy? Why are we, as women, captivated by the dark and mysterious male figure? Why are we repelled by the slightly feminine, wimpy, blond men, like Edgar Linton? Why am I so in love with Heathcliff, a cruel and hard character?

For me (I'm not sure about anyone else), it's exciting to take risks with the people you love. To delve into the enigma of the mystery man is to venture into a dark cave, hoping to find something valuable. Isabella was drawn to Heathcliff because of his frighteningly good looks. What she found when she married him was a cold and slightly selfish man who did not know how to be affectionate towards someone he really disliked. I believe that he married Isabella not only on impulse, but to test her mental strength and see if she could really handle his equivocal disposition. Isabella didn't know what she was getting into. She was fascinated by Heathcliff and wanted to experience the dangers of his love. She, being so young and foolish, didn't know what love was. Well, she learned the hard way. Hah. That's what you get, wimp.

Cathy is in love with Heathcliff, obviously, because she knows him. Heathcliff has been frowned upon his entire young life, and viewed as a "ragamuffin" and a "gypsy". Only Catherine, who has been exposed to his personality and character for much of her life, has a deep sympathy and understanding towards him, although she may smother it in the company of more prestigious figures, such as the Lintons. But she finally, much too late in the book, discovers that she and Heathcliff share an amazing bond that will never break. They have faced the same hardships, laughed at and taunted the same people, and know each other's secrets. Cathy has realized that she, too, possesses a dark side like Heathcliff's. She disguises it for the most part, but it will never go away. This is how she realizes she loves Heathcliff. Isabella does not possess a dark side because she doesn't have a particularly dark past. Heathcliff and Catherine share the same past, which means they possess similar shades of black in their internal color spectrum.

I believe that women are attracted to mysterious men because their presence reminds women that they themselves do indeed have a dark side. This realization is liberating because we as females usually like to hide this more dismal side, as Cathy does, in order to come off as charming and cheerful towards the people we are attracted to. The Mysterious Mystery Man gives us no feelings to hide. We don't need to disguise our sadness or anger or vengefulness in front of them because they understand that. People like Edgar Linton seem just too innocent. We don't want to wear masks in front of the people we love.

By the way, it turns out that the cute Heathcliff-esque kid at Brooklyn Tech was in NO WAY mysterious or Heathcliffy, besides in his looks. He was President of the student body or something, and a total dork. *sigh*. So much for a reincarnation of my book crush.