Reviewed by Ambrea
The
Tenant of Wildfell Hall
recounts the story of Helem Graham, a widowed young artist who has arrived at
Wildfell Hall with her young son in tow.
Unknown to the nearby village, she’s reclusive and mysterious and
scandalously aloof and, soon, everyone—including Gilbert Markham, a local
farmer who finds himself entranced by the lovely newcomer—clamors to know who
she is, where she comes from, and why she ever decided to choose Wildfell
Hall. Narrated by both Gilbert and
Helen, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
uncovers the extent to which violence, abuse, excess, and tyranny were
tolerated within marriage and polite society—and the extreme measures which one
woman will take in protecting her child and declaring her own independence.
Anne Brontë created a
true classic in The Tenant of Wildfell
Hall. Besides investigating a topic
rarely discussed in polite Victorian society—and causing quite a stir in the
process—Brontë crafts an amazing and compelling narrative that captured my
attention immediately. Between the
intimate glimpses into Helen’s diary, as she recounts her most shocking and
tragic experiences, and Gilbert’s candid confessions, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall presents a brutally honest picture of
life within a loveless marriage and one woman’s shocking bid for independence.
Originally published
under the pseudonym of Acton Bell, The
Tenant of Wildfell Hall was a sensational success for Anne Brontë and,
unsurprisingly, it also became a literary scandal. Even Charlotte, who penned Jane Eyre, believed it was too shocking
for publication and, after Anne’s death in 1849, prevented its republication. As Charlotte wrote in the preface to the 1850
edition of Wuthering Heights, she
believed Anne made a poor decision in choosing the subject of her novels,
having a “naturally sensitive, reserved and dejected nature; what she saw sank
very deeply into her mind: it did her
harm. She brooded over it till she
believed it to be a duty to reproduce every detail…as a warning to others.”
Although Anne was
greatly criticized for her novel, I believe The
Tenant of Wildfell Hall is one of my favorite Brontë novels (with Jane Eyre being the other). I absolutely love the characters: their emotions are raw, their thoughts are
intimately depicted to their reader, their actions are occasionally impulsive
(they’re human, they make mistakes), and their reasoning is sometimes flawed,
but I think I enjoyed their stories for much that reason. Both Gilbert and Helen exist as imperfect
individuals, which makes them human and all the more precious for it.
But, if I’m being
honest, I loved Helen best. Gilbert
plays a crucial role in the novel and he has merits of his own as a kind,
honorable gentleman, especially when compared to some of the other, less savory
individuals depicted; however, he generally pales in comparison to the honesty
and emotional fortitude of Helen.
Although he claims full and unfaltering loyalty to Helen, Gilbert
frequently succumbs to the pressures of society. He’s very much shaped by gossip and social
expectations—and, yes, his mother—and, as such, he often seems to fall into the
disappointing habit of embracing gender stereotypes and double standards.
Helen, on the other
hand, recognizes her faults and she’s honest about them. Moreover, she doesn’t shy away from even the
most disturbing and unsavory events within her life. Emotional abuse, alcoholism, illicit sexual
affairs, cruelty and violence, and much more appear within the pages of Helen’s
diary, as she reveals her history to Gilbert, but she tells him every last
secret, every last heart-wrenching detail—and I find that makes her one of the
most appealing and, perhaps, the bravest character I’ve ever encountered.
For more information
about the criticism and critics of Wildfell
Hall, check out: http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/abronte/downey2.html#radical
No comments:
Post a Comment