During November the Classic Club asks:
“Which argument made by an author do you most support or agree with (or disagree with).”
With her 1848 novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Bronte was clearly saying that women so long having had their lives, happiness and very safety placed into the hands of the men in their lives, should; like her heroine Helen Graham, where possible, take that responsibility upon themselves. Her feminist stance is certainly something I agree with, and has made Helen Graham, one of my favourite heroines in classic English literature.
“When I tell you not to marry without love, I do not advise you to marry for love alone: there are many, many other things to be considered. Keep both heart and hand in your own possession, till you see good reason to part with them; and if such an occasion should never present itself, comfort your mind with this reflection, that though in single life your joys may not be very many, your sorrows, at least, will not be more than you can bear. Marriage may change your circumstances for the better, but, in my private opinion, it is far more likely to produce a contrary result.”
Anne Bronte allowed the character of Helen to be outspoken, independent and strong, and as such it was claimed by critics of the day that she was unfeminine. What Helen did, was to take charge of her own life, and in doing so find a way to be happy, and safe. She removed her son from his father, and for some time lived independently of her husband.
“You may think it all very fine, Mr. Huntingdon, to amuse yourself with rousing my jealousy; but take care you don’t rouse my hate instead. And when you have once extinguished my love, you will find it no easy matter to kindle it again.”
That a woman should take charge of her own life, walk away from an abusive partner, remove her son from the malign influence of a violent and drunken father, is perhaps a less shocking idea to us today, than it was in 1848. At the time of its publication, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was met by a wave of controversy, although it was at the same time an enormous success. Critics called it “coarse” and thought the subject matter unsuitable for women to read. In one particularly famous scene Helen slams her bedroom door against her husband, following his continued abuse of her, this, going against the sexual politics of the times. Helen’s escape of her husband, supporting herself under an assumed name was also contravening English law. A married woman at this time had no independent legal rights, she was unable to sue for divorce, own her own property or have sole custody of her children. In 1913 the writer May Sinclair said:
“the slamming of Helen Huntingdon’s bedroom door against her husband reverberated throughout Victorian England.”
There are many people who claim the Tenant of Wildfell Hall to be one of the first truly feminist novels. It is also incidentally, an absolutely brilliant one, every bit as powerful and compelling as those Victorian readers found it to be.
Great review of one of my favourite novels. Anne Bronte is so often overlooked, but The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is an extraordinary novel.
It is yes:)
Adding this novel to my tbr list. I’m currently reading “The secret diaries of Charlotte Bronte” by James Syrie, and realized nobody talks much of Anne Bronte writing much…
She isn’t really is she, which is a shame.
Excellent piece Ali and wonderful choice of quotes – Bronte was definitely ahead of her time!
Thank you. I think she was ahead of her time. I am rather fascinated by her.
Have not read this for many years ! You are a great advocate for the book Ali !
Thank you. I do love it.
I’ll look out for this – I don’t read many classics these days, but this one seems important.
I think it is it’s also a cracking read in my opinion.
that’s always good too 🙂 That’s how I felt about Wuthering Heights when I discovered it all those years ago.
Great post, Ali. I love Wuthering Heights but The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is the best of the Brontë novels, in my opinion. I read it at exactly the right time too – at uni, young enough for it to have a huge impact on me and for me to agree with Anne Brontë on women’s rights/desires/needs. It’s a superb book.
Brilliant. Sometimes it seems it is a little overlooked in favour of Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and even Villette. Good to see so much love around for it still.
Well said! I love this book and I’m planning a re-read very soon.
Oh good, a fantastic re-read.
I read this book several years ago and I think I should re-read it very soon. I love the Bronte sisters and the way that they write about women in Victorian England; I don’t remember much of this particular novel, but your summary of Bronte’s argument here makes me think it’s a book that I would very much agree with too. 🙂
It’s definitely a good one to re-read I love the Brontes too.
I agree with all the comments. I recall being so surprised at the very contemporary feel. For me the best Bronte novel with Jane Eyre a close second.
Yes. I have always had a very soft spot for Jane Eyre too.
I completely agree with you, that we can hold Helen’s character in such high regard now just highlights how forward thinking she must have been for the time.
Yes she was. Quite a remarkably drawn character.
Don’t know why I’ve never read this – an omission you’ve persuaded me to rectify. Great post – thanks!
Excellent. Hope you enjoy it whenever you get round to reading it.
Great review! I recently reread Agnes Grey, and though Anne is not my favorite Bronte, I plan to get out my copy of The Tenant soon.
Great! I’m planning to re-read Agnes Grey one of these days, although I can’t actually remember much about it.
When i first read this it was an eye-opener. Emily and Charlotte are the famous ones, the ones praised for their innovative style, breaking barriers, etc. But none of them seemed to risk as much as Anne. Still think she was much braver than her sisters. After reading Agnes Grey Anne really became my favorite Bronte.
I’m intending to re-read Agnes Grey soon.
You’ve just made me even more determined to read this classic sooner rather than later!
It sounds exactly like my cup of tea.
Thanks for highlighting such an compelling aspect of this novel.
Hope you enjoy it too.
[…] Hope, ‘Slamming the bedroom door‘ on The Tenant of Wildfell Hall on her […]
Wonderful quotes and an excellent summation Ali, I wasn’t aware of it, I wish this had been on the bookshelf when I was starting to read my mothers books, Wuthering Heights was there and Jane Eyre, but not this one. Perhaps I shall add it to my shelf instead.
Well naturally I think you should 🙂
Completely agree with you, you’ve excellently summised exactly how I feel about The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
I read this recently and it blew me away. I’d always lived with the assumption that Anne just wasn’t as good a writer as her sisters, but I realised how wrong I was. Charlotte and Emily write about a fantasy version of love, where Anne writes about reality.
Yes she was a brilliant writer too.
[…] A novel I had read twice already when my book group chose it. I didn’t read it completely for a third time – but I did re-read a few bits to refresh my memory. It is a book I love – a feminist classic – it sent shock waves through the establishment when it was first published in 1848. This is certainly a novel of its time, in the 1840’s when Anne Bronte was writing; a married woman and her child belonged absolutely to her husband. A few years ago, I wrote a post about this novel called Slamming the bedroom door. […]