The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall (DVD)

The lesser-known Bronte sparkles

Advantages: Simply yet powerfully written; social commentary of the 1840s; affecting romance.
Disadvantages: Could be accused of pulling some punches but still radical for its time.

When I first decided to read 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall', I wasn't expecting much. I had already read Anne's first novel, 'Agnes Grey' and quite frankly hadn't been impressed, especially when compared to the intellectual might of her sister Charlotte (Jane Eyre, Villette, Shirley, The Professor) or the passion of Emily (Wuthering Heights, more poetry than you could shake a stick at). I had decided internally that Anne must be the inferior writer of the family and only really published so she could keep up the family hobby, so to speak. Which just goes to show how wrong I can be. The novel is written in the form of letters and diary entries. It begins with Gilbert Markham writing to the husband of his sister offering to recount the events of twenty years ago, when the mysterious widow Helen Graham arrived to live in the hall ...

Robs86 01.06.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte

Radical writing

Advantages: interesting plot
Disadvantages: weak structure

Before I plunge you into any details about "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' I must write a bit about the context, so that my claims for this book's radical nature will make some sense. The novel was written in the 1840s. At this time, a married womanw as generally considered to be the property of her husband, with her wealth belonging to the man she married. A man could not be accused of raping his wife because by marrying him, she had consented to any sexual activities he cared to undertake. Any children in a marriage legally belonged to the husband, the law would not allow women to take their children. Marriages did break up, but to be seperated was a significant cause for scandal. A woman who left her husband could expect to be denied all contact with ehr children. Wome were expected to be chaste, and a woman thought of carrying ...

Bryn_Pearson 30.07.2002 · Read full review
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Review of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte

The artist and the drunkard

Advantages: Evocative, sometimes harrowing story
Disadvantages: An acquired taste, stylewise

This novel was first published in 1848. Narrated for the most part by farmer Gilbert Markham, it tells the story of Helen Huntingdon, a young widow who arrives with her small son to live at Wildfell Hall under the name Mrs Graham, trying to make a living for herself as an artist. Soon she becomes romantically involved with Markham. Their relationship is made difficult by the censorious attitude of his family and the local community, and particularly by Frederick Lawrence, who evidently has more than a passing interest in her himself. After both men come to blows, she hands Gilbert a diary telling the story of her disastrous marriage. This diary occupies just over half the book. In it she tells of having fallen for the ostensibly dashing rogue Arthur Huntingdon and, convinced her love will cure him of his philandering and excessive ...

JOHNV 17.07.2001 · Read full review
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Review of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte