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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Historically significant as well as a good read!, September 11, 2009
This review is from: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)
Although Anne Bronte seems to be the least-known of the Bronte trio and only published two novels, this book has a more fascinating history to me than its more famous 'cousins', Wuthering Heights (Emily) and Jane Eyre (Charlotte). Not only was Wildfell the one to blow the lid on the male "Bell" pseudonyms the sisters had been writing under, but it's considered to be one of the world's first feminist novels, before that term existed. It was so controversial at the time of publication it was banned in many areas of Europe. Written as one long letter - and a diary within a letter, like Kostova's The Historian - from protagonist Gilbert Markham to his brother-in-law on how he met his wife, Helen, most of the actual story is presented in diary form by Helen herself. Initially presented to the reader as a mysterious widow who arrives in a small English village (where she first meets Gilbert), she becomes, very much against her will, a source first of endless curiosity, and then a target of malicious gossip. It then lays bare all of the shameful undercurrents of marriage in the Victorian age, particularly for a woman who was unwise or just unlucky enough to seriously misjudge the man she married. If you think it's a tough mistake to make now, only imagine its consequences in an age where divorce was rarely an option and you were almost always stuck with what you got, no matter how repugnant, immoral or tyrannical. Everything is here: adultery, alcoholism, abuse, alienation and humiliation. At the time, Bronte was apparently skewered by hypocritical moralistic critics who felt she shouldn't have exposed this underbelly of Victorian society's mores - or more precisely, its lack of compassion or even recognition of what women were expected to endure. Helen's character, a religiously devout woman but also a fighter who refused to accept the worst of the abuses or allow her son to be corrupted, was lambasted as an evil influence on women and girls. It's gratifying to know that as history's hindsight and passage tells us now, this novel ended up going a long way towards shaking up 19th century morals and and bringing about the first stirrings of women's rights. Like most Victorian novels it runs long and the modern reader might feel that it drags when compared to the quicker pacing of contemporary fiction, but I really enjoyed it and felt transported to another time.
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Oh Helen, if I had listened to you, it never would have come to this!", December 4, 2009
This review is from: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)
**** slight spoilers. nothing drastic ******* This story is about a young lady of a good family in England 1827. Her name is Helen and her buyer's remorse after marrying for love. She ends up marrying a swine in Arthur Huntington. You can see Arthur H's in any bar or pub. The scenes of his abuse are well done. There are times when his wife, the main protagonist, is being abused by one of his friends and he sits back in drunken reverie, laughing foolishly. The novel itself is told in the epistolatory style, meaning it is told in a series of letters. The effect comes off well and it comes off as if you're reading the private lives of someone, getting their most intimate thoughts. If you like that style, I recommend the very different but very well done dangerous liasons. In the story, Helen's suffering is well portrayed. The reader gets a good sense of how and why she does what she does. Time and time again, I'm amazed at how resourceful and knowing she is for a woman of her age (early 20's I believe). But as she said to her illicit would be lover later on, young in years but old in tears. I can feel the cruelty of the world around her. It is as if everyone is perfectly conscious of her sufferings but no one dare acts (although this changes later, as you'll find out). The other protagonist, Gilbert Markham, is sort of a pompous fool. At one point he nearly kills Helen's brother. He's spellbound by love, yes, but I got the feeling that he just wasn't the kind and gentle type that you want Helen to end up marrying. Luckily most of the book revolves around Helen who is far more interesting because of how she handles her problems and her sheer resourcefulness. The reason why I closed the book and felt that I profited from it is because the imagery of the scenery and Helen's steadfastness in the face of such hardship impressed me. There's a point in the book where her hopes are literally shattered and burned up and yet she still carries on. An ordinary woman, with few friends and little to look forward to carrying on with life despite such serious setbacks. Now that to me is heroism. I'll take that over Batman or any other comic book hero any day.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Scandal of Wildfell Hall, July 22, 2010
This review is from: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)
Anne Bronte is often the forgotten sister among the Brontes. But she may be the most courageous in her writing. She weaves a tale of a woman who leaves her abusive husband, taking her child, and traveling to an unknown location to make her living by painting. This is unheard of in 19th century England. The wife, her children, and all her material goods belong to the husband who can do with them as he wishes. Anne Bronte is ahead of her time in saying that this is wrong and makes her heroine both courageous and compassionate. It is my favorite of the Bronte sisters' stories. If you haven't read it, I recommend it highly.
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