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hannah_hjs's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Drug abuse
erica_lynn_huberty's review against another edition
5.0
I've no idea why The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is not in the canon of Victorian literature, comparable to Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre. Anne Bronte's bad luck, I suppose. Nevertheless, it's an absolute must-read, and I'm ashamed I've never read it until now. A total page-turner, and so feminist it's almost flabbergasting.
maireo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kathykekmrs's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed these two novels, and though I had read "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" in a University English class it was great to have the opportunity to read alongside Anne Bronte's other novel "Agnes Grey". It was nice to read books from the nineteenth-century that did not gloss over marital problems. The issues of drunkenness, spousal abuse, and the cheating that goes with this sins against the family were prevalent back then. It was just that no one talked of them, nor wrote of them, except for Anne Bronte. This may be because she was in a unique position. Her brother Branwell was an alcoholic who died at the age of thirty-one due to complications with drinking. Anne took these experiences and wrote two very different novels, both within the genre of romance.
The first novel included is "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall". This novel is told through letters and diary entries. This apparently was a convention of that time, but while in school we were taught that it was one of the first to use these techniques in fiction. The story takes place in Yorkshire where most of the Bronte sister novels are set. The story is actually a long letter to Gilbert Markham's brother-in-law to describe Markham's and his wife's meeting and courtship. There are many rumor's and much gossip surrounding Helen Lawrence Huntingdon Markham, though that is never a name used anywhere in the novel. We are learn her maiden name because Gilbert punches her brother Frederick Lawrence who belongs to the same neighborhood as Markham. Helen came as a presumed widow to escape the abuse of her husband Arthur Huntingdon. Gilbert fell in love with her at that time, but because Helen's ideas toward alcoholic beverages. Yes, Gilbert seems to be looking for money, but upon finally marrying Helen he relinquishes his home to his younger brother. Love meant more to him than did money, though Helen is herself not a pauper.
Anne Bronte writes much about love in her two novels. She seems to be commenting on the practice of young girls being chosen as mates to much older men for money. She does not approve. The happiest relationships appear to be forged by men and women of equal temperament. Yes, there is a small age difference in most couples, but not the twenty years that men require to sow their wild oats. When women marry solely for prestige they are often taken advantage of and treated unfairly. Marriage needs to be entered into with a thought for the future whether here on earth or up above. Anne Bronte writes with my feeling towards the words of God in the Bible. I know she was a clergyman's daughter, but I have never read her sister's works with the same feeling of female piety that Anne expresses in her novels.
Religion is more than a goal for Anne. It is the way in which people conduct themselves. No one should make fun of the cottager in rough clothes or show more reverence for the titled nobility than they do for Heavenly Father. She teaches her charges in the guise of a governess that that is their sacred duty. Her charges do not always listen and hence make bad choices on whom to marry and must find happiness within themselves rather than in the marriage bed. Anne Bronte is one of the few Victorian writers that mention children. Yes, these women do have kids within a year of marriage. The ability to have an heir is paramount on everyone's mind if not explicitly stated.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who greatly enjoys nineteenth century literature and the Victorian family setting. Also to anyone who wants to study the inner workings of family relationships as Anne Bronte honestly is greatly refreshing.
The first novel included is "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall". This novel is told through letters and diary entries. This apparently was a convention of that time, but while in school we were taught that it was one of the first to use these techniques in fiction. The story takes place in Yorkshire where most of the Bronte sister novels are set. The story is actually a long letter to Gilbert Markham's brother-in-law to describe Markham's and his wife's meeting and courtship. There are many rumor's and much gossip surrounding Helen Lawrence Huntingdon Markham, though that is never a name used anywhere in the novel. We are learn her maiden name because Gilbert punches her brother Frederick Lawrence who belongs to the same neighborhood as Markham. Helen came as a presumed widow to escape the abuse of her husband Arthur Huntingdon. Gilbert fell in love with her at that time, but because Helen's ideas toward alcoholic beverages. Yes, Gilbert seems to be looking for money, but upon finally marrying Helen he relinquishes his home to his younger brother. Love meant more to him than did money, though Helen is herself not a pauper.
Anne Bronte writes much about love in her two novels. She seems to be commenting on the practice of young girls being chosen as mates to much older men for money. She does not approve. The happiest relationships appear to be forged by men and women of equal temperament. Yes, there is a small age difference in most couples, but not the twenty years that men require to sow their wild oats. When women marry solely for prestige they are often taken advantage of and treated unfairly. Marriage needs to be entered into with a thought for the future whether here on earth or up above. Anne Bronte writes with my feeling towards the words of God in the Bible. I know she was a clergyman's daughter, but I have never read her sister's works with the same feeling of female piety that Anne expresses in her novels.
Religion is more than a goal for Anne. It is the way in which people conduct themselves. No one should make fun of the cottager in rough clothes or show more reverence for the titled nobility than they do for Heavenly Father. She teaches her charges in the guise of a governess that that is their sacred duty. Her charges do not always listen and hence make bad choices on whom to marry and must find happiness within themselves rather than in the marriage bed. Anne Bronte is one of the few Victorian writers that mention children. Yes, these women do have kids within a year of marriage. The ability to have an heir is paramount on everyone's mind if not explicitly stated.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who greatly enjoys nineteenth century literature and the Victorian family setting. Also to anyone who wants to study the inner workings of family relationships as Anne Bronte honestly is greatly refreshing.
missjenny53's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I really enjoyed this reading. After reading a biography on Anne I felt it was time to read her books. Pleasant endings to both books. She really knew her subject.
sarah1984's review
4.0
Really enjoyed Agnes Grey, the first story in this 2 in 1 book. It was surprisingly funny, especially some of the exchanges between Agnes and Rosalie and Agnes internal thoughts about Rosalie.
I don't understand why Bronte made such a production of hiding the locations in the book. She (or he, at the time) always said it was a work of fiction, why bother to hide the location if nothing in the story is real? For example Bronte writes that her father dies and her mother moves to the seaside town of A_____ to establish a school. Does anyone have a reasonable answer for why she writes it this way?
I'm currently about 3/4 of the way through the second story in the 2 in 1 book The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and the confusion continues in the way that she censors some of the (very slightly) coarse language and not other examples of it. In one instance she would write d__n (for damn) and in another she would write damned. What's the difference, why does one need to be censored and not the other? In fact I was surprised to find the use of the word damn (or any of its variations), censored or not, in the book at all. From previous books I've read set in the era (if not written in the era), I got the impression it would be practically illegal for a woman to use any form of swear word, let alone use it in a published novel.
I was surprised recently, when I learned how harsh Charlotte Bronte's criticism of both The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and her sister in general, was, going so far as to prevent The Tenant of Wildfell Hall from being re-published after her death. Then when she died while on a trip to Scarborough with her sister, Charlotte decided not to have Annes' body taken back to be buried with the rest of the family in Haworth and had a very impersonal inscription written on her tombstone. I get the feeling that they weren't close, which is also surprising as I have read that their main contacts were with their own family, they hardly ever saw anyone outside of the household.
Have now finished The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and was pleasantly to find that I actually enjoyed it. Usually when I start to read a book written in a similar era to this one (late 1700s, 1800s or early 1900s) I go in with the only expectation that I'll find it 'interesting.' I was pleasantly surprised because I found I really enjoyed it. I had no trouble with the language, as I have had with previous books (Jane Eyre when I was younger, Persuasion within the last year et al). As most readers would probably agree, I had a bit of trouble sympathising with Helen regarding her husband, Arthur. Living in the current era I can't imagine putting up with Arthur's behaviour for so long and I certainly can't imagine going back to him while he is dying only to have him continue to verbally abuse me. I would have thrown the cooling washcloth at him and left him to his own devices, but then I'm as far from religiously motivated as you can imagine.
I don't understand why Bronte made such a production of hiding the locations in the book. She (or he, at the time) always said it was a work of fiction, why bother to hide the location if nothing in the story is real? For example Bronte writes that her father dies and her mother moves to the seaside town of A_____ to establish a school. Does anyone have a reasonable answer for why she writes it this way?
I'm currently about 3/4 of the way through the second story in the 2 in 1 book The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and the confusion continues in the way that she censors some of the (very slightly) coarse language and not other examples of it. In one instance she would write d__n (for damn) and in another she would write damned. What's the difference, why does one need to be censored and not the other? In fact I was surprised to find the use of the word damn (or any of its variations), censored or not, in the book at all. From previous books I've read set in the era (if not written in the era), I got the impression it would be practically illegal for a woman to use any form of swear word, let alone use it in a published novel.
I was surprised recently, when I learned how harsh Charlotte Bronte's criticism of both The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and her sister in general, was, going so far as to prevent The Tenant of Wildfell Hall from being re-published after her death. Then when she died while on a trip to Scarborough with her sister, Charlotte decided not to have Annes' body taken back to be buried with the rest of the family in Haworth and had a very impersonal inscription written on her tombstone. I get the feeling that they weren't close, which is also surprising as I have read that their main contacts were with their own family, they hardly ever saw anyone outside of the household.
Have now finished The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and was pleasantly to find that I actually enjoyed it. Usually when I start to read a book written in a similar era to this one (late 1700s, 1800s or early 1900s) I go in with the only expectation that I'll find it 'interesting.' I was pleasantly surprised because I found I really enjoyed it. I had no trouble with the language, as I have had with previous books (Jane Eyre when I was younger, Persuasion within the last year et al). As most readers would probably agree, I had a bit of trouble sympathising with Helen regarding her husband, Arthur. Living in the current era I can't imagine putting up with Arthur's behaviour for so long and I certainly can't imagine going back to him while he is dying only to have him continue to verbally abuse me. I would have thrown the cooling washcloth at him and left him to his own devices, but then I'm as far from religiously motivated as you can imagine.
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