The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Anne Bronte

2022 abe. · Amaryllis - an imprint of Manjul Publishing House

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When attractive young Helen Graham moves into Wildfell Hall with her son and no husband in tow to work as an artist, she becomes a source of curiosity for the local village. Her reclusive nature soon leads to unfavorable rumors centered around her, but a local farmer, Gilbert Markham, does not believe the gossip and attempts to befriend her. They become close, and Helen eventually shares the details of her unhappy past – of her struggles with an alcoholic and inept husband, and how she escaped him for the sake of her child.

Widely considered to be one of the first feminist novels, this novel was controversial for its depiction of an independent woman who left her husband, which defied societal standards and was illegal at the time.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is Anne Brontë’s most enduring work to date, dealing with themes of gender, love and morality. While her works did not garner as much success as those of her sisters, Emily and Charlotte Brontë, they are nevertheless considered classics of English literature and are still studied today.

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Anne Brontë was born at Thornton in Yorkshire on 17 January 1820, the youngest of six children. That April, the Brontës moved to Haworth, a village on the edge of the moors, where Anne’s father had become the curate. Anne’s mother died soon afterwards. She was four when her older sisters were sent to the Clergy Daughters’ School at Cowan Bridge, where Maria and Elizabeth both caught tuberculosis and died. After that, Anne, Charlotte, Emily and Branwell were taught at home for a few years, and together, they created vivid fantasy worlds which they explored in their writing. Anne went to Roe Head School 1835–7. She worked as a governess with the Ingham family (1839–40) and with the Robinson family (1840–45). In 1846, along with Charlotte and Emily, she published Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. She published Agnes Grey in 1847 and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall in 1848. That year, both Anne’s brother Branwell and her sister Emily died of tuberculosis. A fortnight later, Anne was diagnosed with the same disease. She died in Scarborough on 28 May 1849.