The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Reviews

“Alex Jennings, who reads Markham’s letters, gives us a strong sense of the youth’s energy and frustration, while Jenny Agutter, who reads Helen’s journal, never loses sight of the powerful heroine’s threatened dignity and immense personal control. Both of these accomplished actors combine to create a moving and eloquent narration.”

“The novel is vast but primarily tells the story of Helen, whose husband is abusive and dissipated…The book’s most shocking moments are the ones which depict Arthur’s abusive attempts to get the young child drunk, seemingly to spite and hurt his wife, and it’s clear from the narrative that Brontë had a lot of first-hand experience in dealing with and subduing drunk men…The book was neglected for a really long time. Today it is widely considered to be a landmark in early feminist literature, but its frank depictions of addiction within marriage are just as deserving of acclaim.”

“Of the three Brontë sisters, Emily and Charlotte are better known, yet it is Anne’s work which carries some of the strongest…themes…While the plot continues and mysteries are unraveled, what Helen and Gilber say…reinforces Anne Brontë’s indictment of the sexual double standards of nineteenth-century Britain.”

“The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was conceived in the same atmosphere as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Wildfell Hall has power and imagination, and is so close to one of the tragedies in the sisters’ own lives, that no perceptive reader can be indifferent to it.”