Summary of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
“The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” is a 19th-century novel, set in 1820s England. It tells the story of a young woman, Helen Graham, who lives with her son Arthur as a tenant at Wildfell Hall, the mansion where she was born. She tries to earn a living as a painter to support herself independently of her alcoholic and abusive husband. However, her attempt to pursue a professional career and achieve financial independence, and the absence of her husband, are frowned upon by the villagers, and soon malicious rumours begin to spread.
Reasons to read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
“The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” was written by Anne Brontë, the youngest of the Brontë sisters, and published in 1848 under the pseudonym ‘Acton Bell’. Written as a series of letters, it is regarded as one of the first feminist novels, addressing a woman’s efforts to reform her abusive husband’s behaviour, and, when this proves impossible, to escape him and live independently. Anne also published the novel “Agnes Grey” and poetry. Tragically, she died at the age of 29, less than a year after the publication of “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall”. The novel was an immediate success – and a scandal – but fell out of print when her sister Charlotte (author of “Jane Eyre“) prevented its republication after Anne’s death. For many years overshadowed by the books of her sisters, today Anne Brontë’s novels are recognised as classics of English literature.
Setting: Yorkshire (England, UK)
The novel is set in the fictional village of Linden-car, but Wildfell Hall is thought to have been inspired by Ponden Hall, near Stanbury in West Yorkshire, England.
Original title: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Year of publication: 1848
Nr of pages: 497
