When The Tenant of
Wildfell Hall popped up as one of the next five in my 1,001 Book Challenge,
I have to confess that I was definitely underwhelmed by the thought of it. This may have been exacerbated by the fact
that the Random Number Generator had only just thrown up Claudine’s House by Colette, a memoir by one of my least favourite
authors ever. So, having failed to get
past page ten of that one, I would have put a big chunk of money (or at least a
fiver) on me failing to get much further into The Tenant of Wildfell Hall……….
……….which sum of cash I would have proceeded to lose. No, I’m not going to proclaim that I’ve seen
the light when it comes to the likes of the Brontë’s or Austen or that
I’ve joined the serried ranks of their fans in blogland but, having lost my
Victorian female author virginity (figuratively only, I should point out), I’m
prepared to concede that it wasn’t too much of a hardship to finish it and,
moreover, I won’t be dreading the next one to come up in the reading plan.
For those of you out there who are unfamiliar with it, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a
melodramatic tale of spousal abuse, frustrated love and the abominable marital
mores of early 19th Century England.
It is documentary in form, in part epistolary and in part diary.
As told by its main narrator, Gilbert Markham, it concerns
a mysterious widow, Helen Graham, who, unannounced, comes to live with her
child in part of the run-down Wildfell Hall, a property owned by Frederick
Lawrence, a local squire. This being the
countryside, her solitary life soon gives rise to all sorts of malicious
rumours which Gilbert, having fallen in love with the said Mrs Graham, refuses
to believe. Continuing to press his
suit, he is rejected and, having accused her of loving Lawrence, is given Helen’s
diaries which explain not only the nature of her relationship with Lawrence but
also how she has come to be at Wildfell and why she cannot marry Markham.
Without wanting to spoil the story for any of you who have
not read it and may wish to do so, it turns out that Helen, whose real name is
Helen Huntingdon, is the victim of vicious abuse and betrayal by her husband
from whom she has run away to save both herself and her son from his
calumnies. Now, what with this being the
19th Century and all, this would have been scandalous in the extreme
as children were considered to be the property of the father and, what’s more,
married women were not legally allowed to own property in their own name or to
petition for divorce. And, had the
knowledge of Helen’s absconding become public knowledge, Mr Huntingdon would
have been socially embarrassed, not so much because of his behaviour but more because
he would have been seen as having been disobeyed by his wife and as having
required her to earn her own living.
Eventually, of course, all ends well for Gilbert and Helen
as Mr Huntingdon dies and a chance meeting ends in them professing their love
for each other and, ultimately, getting married and living happily ever after,
as they say.
On its publication, The
Tenant of Wildfell Hall was an instant bestseller, successfully shocking
polite society and it was so controversial that, after the first edition sold
out, Anne’s sister, Charlotte, had the reprint suppressed. The book is seen as one of the first feminist novels and,
given the way it treats Helen as a character and the way it deals with the
legal consequences of marriage at that time certainly supports that view. Indeed, almost all the male characters are
either wicked, weak or carry some other character flaw. Even Gilbert, the male hero, is a tad
self-obsessed and a bit of a prig.
Even so, the reality is that, other than Helen (who is
almost a caricature of a “perfect” woman), the vast majority of the female
characters are also a pretty hopeless bunch.
Helen’s aunt is continually trying to push her younger female relatives
into bad marriages, Eliza (the former object of Gilbert’s affections) is a
spiteful little cow, most of Gilbert’s female acquaintances and family are
gossips and that’s even before we get into Lady Lowborough, Mr Huntingdon’s
lover and a thoroughly unpleasant specimen.
Personally, I believe The
Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a forthright attack on the egregious marital
politics of the time and also an overtly Christian tract, with the excessive
piety of Helen being ultimately richly rewarded with a happy marriage, great
wealth and the preservation of her son’s good character. By comparison, those who have displayed un-Christian
values and behaviour (gluttony, debauchery, slander, vanity, adultery etc.) all
seem to get their come-uppances.
It was an interesting light on the prevailing codes of behaviour
of the time, both in terms of the explicit sexism of most of the male
characters and the complex demands of social intercourse and, I will confess, I
was made to keep turning the page to find out what happened next. But, as a novel, it really wasn’t to my
taste. As well as the
overly-melodramatic tone of the writing and plotting and the too neat and tidy
ending, I found the whole premise frustrating and most of the characters
cartoonish and one-dimensional.
I suspect I am just too set in my beliefs and too much a product
of my own time but I found the behaviour of both Helen and Gilbert to be both
unbelievable and incredibly annoying. I struggled with the idea of a woman not
being able to move out, initiate a divorce and obtain financial relief. I struggled even more with the part where Mr
Huntingdon becomes ill and she goes back to him to nurse him. Really?
Even allowing for the period in which the story is set, would anyone
really act like that?
Although I can see why it’s a great book to study as there
are many themes and issues that can be extracted from it, and although I can appreciate
why it is loved by many, it didn’t really do it for me. I’m glad I’ve read it and it has taught me
that the Brontë’s are not as unenjoyable as I had feared but I doubt I
will ever pick it up again - unless mini-Falaise has to read it at school!
4 comments:
I'm not a huge fan of the Brontes (Austen is another story), but I've been meaning to read this one for years, and I bought a copy last year but didn't get around to reading it. Your review makes me think I should move it up the pile.
I don't think the Brontes or Austen for that matter are ever really going to float my boat but I was surprised that I didn't dislike it more! Hope you enjoy it.
Enjoyed your post. I've always been fond of this lesser-known Bronte work - its been many years since I've read it but now I want to revisit it. Thanks!
Quantum Binary Signals
Professional trading signals sent to your mobile phone daily.
Follow our signals NOW and gain up to 270% per day.
Post a Comment