The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë 9781475250046 Books
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The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is the second and final novel by English author Anne Brontë, published in 1848 under the pseudonym Acton Bell. Probably the most shocking of the Brontës' novels, this novel had an instant phenomenal success but after Anne's death her sister Charlotte prevented its re-publication. The novel is framed as a letter from Gilbert Markham to his friend and brother-in-law about the events leading to his meeting his wife. A mysterious young widow arrives at Wildfell Hall, an Elizabethan mansion which has been empty for many years, with her young son. She lives there under an assumed name, Helen Graham, and very soon finds herself the victim of local slander. Refusing to believe anything scandalous about her, Gilbert Markham discovers her dark secrets. In her diary Helen writes about her husband's physical and moral decline through alcohol and the world of debauchery and cruelty from which she has fled. This passionate novel of betrayal is set within a moral framework tempered by Anne's optimistic belief in universal salvation. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is mainly considered to be one of the first sustained feminist novels. May Sinclair, in 1913, said that the slamming of Helen's bedroom door against her husband reverberated throughout Victorian England. In escaping from her husband, she violates not only social conventions, but also English law.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë 9781475250046 Books
First of all, I'm a big fan of 19th century Victorian British literature. I love Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell, and so on. Unfortunately, this novel by Anne Bronte has not been given its due. It has definitely taken a back seat to her sisters more famous novels, the eldest Bronte, Charlotte's "Jane Eyre," and the middle sisters, Emily's "Wuthering Heights." Anne died very young of illness in her early 20s, and Emily died too, around the same time. Apparently her surviving older sister, Charlotte had the idea that Anne had written an offensive, inappropriate, and possibly embarrassing book, so she suppressed it.Charlotte seems to have believed that Anne had no authority to write on the subject matter, which delves into some dark places, including just about every kind of human abuse - spousal, emotional, physical, child, drug, alcohol, financial, and even animal cruelty. Apparently for these reasons, Charlotte blocked further publications of Anne's major novel, posthumously, for some time. Also, once it finally resurfaced, sadly, apparently it was largely rewritten by male writers, unauthorized, and what we have today is probably not exactly as Anne Bronte intended, but we can only hope that enough of her story and her personal touch remains.
A woman leaving an abusive husband is not so shocking or unusual in terms of today's standards, but in Victorian times, it was not just frowned on and shocking, it was illegal for a woman to leave her husband for ANY reason, or to live off her own income or labor. At that time, unfortunately for all women, the law in Britain still followed the Napoleonic Code, which said that women were basically sub-human, in the same category as children, and mental incompetents. Women had no legal rights to speak of, but that soon began to change for the better, as laws reformed. Nevertheless, our heroine reaches her limits, and at last rebels against her cruel, belittling, abusive husband, for the sake of her child, and they flee.
There is a lot of excitement in the story, and twists in the plot. It seems to me, true to life, as far as spousal abuse, and other dysfunctional forms of human relationships. Apparently Anne may have gotten some of her ideas of dysfunctional relationships from observing her brother, who seemed to have substance abuse problems, and her experiences observing the lives of the very wealthy through her time working in aristocratic homes, as a governess. These experiences probably informed her creation of our aristocratic, proud, uncompromising, talented, highly intelligent, but rebellious heroine. However, Anne's personal experiences alone could not have produced this surprising, dark, and unusual story, which in many ways is ahead of its time. Apparently Anne had skill in story telling, and great imagination. This novel has tons of romance and love, darkness and intrigue, and surprising twists and turns.
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Tags : The Tenant of Wildfell Hall [Anne Brontë] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is the second and final novel by English author Anne Brontë, published in 1848 under the pseudonym Acton Bell. Probably the most shocking of the Brontës' novels,Anne Brontë,The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1475250045,FICTION Contemporary Women
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The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë 9781475250046 Books Reviews
I appreciate the novelty this book must have been well more than a century ago when it was first published. To submit to the public that marriage can be a prison for some, and that divorce is a merciful option in such cases was probably shocking yet eye opening to many Victorian readers. So historically speaking, I found this an interesting and compassionate novel.
However, there are two narrators of the book- a young farmer Gilbert and the artist Helen who is wife to a sociopath- and I didn't like either. I found Gilbert vapid, his sense of entitlement annoying, and his inability to cope with emotions immature. Helen was righteous to a fault, though her rebellion and anti-conformist attitude is pretty impressive considering her social class and contemporary mores. So their romance annoyed me because I couldn't understand why they liked each other so much, and it didn't keep me hanging on the edge of my seat. Perhaps Bronte was ahead of her time in writing an unreliable narrator in Gilbert. Maybe Helen is overly righteous and perfect by design, so that judges Victorian readers could feel empathy for her and this buy the author's thesis that their society should rethink their laws around marriage. I don't have to like the main characters to like a book, but I disliked them so much that it left a sour taste in my mouth.
I guess I would recommend this to a friend as a feminist piece of history, but not as a fun read.
I love victorian fiction, but for some reason I had always looked over Tenant. I'm so glad I finally read it! It's quite a sophisticated novel, not just in story telling with it's different points of narration both from a man's view and a woman's, but also in it's sophisticated moral and social commentary.
The story involves a stranger coming to live in Wildfell Hall. The story builds as the community begins to gossip and malign the woman without knowing anything about her, and our narrator defending and befriending her while, of course, falling in love with her. He becomes victim of suspicion as well prompting her to unfold her story. At this point the narration unfolds from Helen's view point as she recounts the her life up to this point and how she came to become the tenant of Wildfell Hall. It's a story of the stupidity of youth (you should always listen to your mama!), abuse (mostly mental and psychological), devotion to duty and to family, and ultimately redemption. Quite a story, and very different from Anne's sisters offerings, and in some ways even more satisfying. You'll be glad you picked it up, and I believe this book deserves a great deal more attention than it has gotten in the shadows of Jane and Emily. It's a shame Anne dies so young and only left us with two novels and a smattering of short stories.
First of all, I'm a big fan of 19th century Victorian British literature. I love Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell, and so on. Unfortunately, this novel by Anne Bronte has not been given its due. It has definitely taken a back seat to her sisters more famous novels, the eldest Bronte, Charlotte's "Jane Eyre," and the middle sisters, Emily's "Wuthering Heights." Anne died very young of illness in her early 20s, and Emily died too, around the same time. Apparently her surviving older sister, Charlotte had the idea that Anne had written an offensive, inappropriate, and possibly embarrassing book, so she suppressed it.
Charlotte seems to have believed that Anne had no authority to write on the subject matter, which delves into some dark places, including just about every kind of human abuse - spousal, emotional, physical, child, drug, alcohol, financial, and even animal cruelty. Apparently for these reasons, Charlotte blocked further publications of Anne's major novel, posthumously, for some time. Also, once it finally resurfaced, sadly, apparently it was largely rewritten by male writers, unauthorized, and what we have today is probably not exactly as Anne Bronte intended, but we can only hope that enough of her story and her personal touch remains.
A woman leaving an abusive husband is not so shocking or unusual in terms of today's standards, but in Victorian times, it was not just frowned on and shocking, it was illegal for a woman to leave her husband for ANY reason, or to live off her own income or labor. At that time, unfortunately for all women, the law in Britain still followed the Napoleonic Code, which said that women were basically sub-human, in the same category as children, and mental incompetents. Women had no legal rights to speak of, but that soon began to change for the better, as laws reformed. Nevertheless, our heroine reaches her limits, and at last rebels against her cruel, belittling, abusive husband, for the sake of her child, and they flee.
There is a lot of excitement in the story, and twists in the plot. It seems to me, true to life, as far as spousal abuse, and other dysfunctional forms of human relationships. Apparently Anne may have gotten some of her ideas of dysfunctional relationships from observing her brother, who seemed to have substance abuse problems, and her experiences observing the lives of the very wealthy through her time working in aristocratic homes, as a governess. These experiences probably informed her creation of our aristocratic, proud, uncompromising, talented, highly intelligent, but rebellious heroine. However, Anne's personal experiences alone could not have produced this surprising, dark, and unusual story, which in many ways is ahead of its time. Apparently Anne had skill in story telling, and great imagination. This novel has tons of romance and love, darkness and intrigue, and surprising twists and turns.
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