Apple of Discord discussion
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
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Three words: Long but Engaging
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Overall, I really enjoyed the book and time the story took place in the early 1800’s and the challenges the characters faced because of those times. For the most part I also enjoyed the idea of the protagonist telling his story through letters to his friend. Although, at times I wondered the reasoning why he would share every little detail including someone else’s diary through letters. I wish the author could have given a better or more creative reason behind it or at least a moral to the story that would benefit the reader. Or maybe I just missed something?
(view spoiler)
Again, I really enjoyed the book, and would recommend it. So good pick Tammy! :)
Jenny, I too felt it strange that Gilbert would share every little detail to his friend Halford and that he must be rather richer than he says (or has a strange budget set-up) to be able to afford to use so much paper writing those long letters. I also sometimes feel like he's writing in his journal part of the time since there is a lack of customary endings letters generally have, which makes it confusing as to when he is writing letters and when he might not be (if they are indeed not long letters).
As for the moral of the story, what I got was: "Follow your morals no matter how hard the circumstances because good things come to those who wait." Interestingly, the novel complicates this by incorporating the difficulties of society and having human emotions. There is really bad stigma for women who do not marry and are viewed as burdens to their families since the parents and brothers must see to their livelihood. It's hard to wait for the right person if the people you depend on don't want you in their house, with the additional struggle of "degrading" yourself as a lady to work if you are left on your own. I'm not sure if this is the same in the Victorian Era, but I think in the Regency Era, once a lady seeks employment, she is automatically lower than most gentlemen (i.e., too low in status to marry any "respectable" gentleman) because she becomes the "working class." In addition to all that, there is also the struggle of liking someone you probably shouldn't like, which you explained nicely, Jenny.
That is an interesting perspective you mentioned. It does seem like Arthur can get people to revolve around him, which I'm sure feeds into his narcissism well. He is very much like Claudius from Shakespeare's Hamlet in which he cannot bring himself to repent regardless of how much his actions plague him in the end.
As for Gilbert, he does have his flaws and automatically thinks negative thoughts, but I think he deserves some credit for trying to supress the negative energy inside him. He is not a bad person, but he is a bit impulsive if he can't control himself. I guess this is Helen's chance to help regulate Gilbert's behavior as she had hoped to do with Arthur.
If I may say, I do think Helen has developed strong defenses as time passed. I think the circumstances of her marriage required her to do so, like having to live with a man she loved and thought loved her but instead bitterly mocks her. She could have easily relented to Gilbert's numerous pleas, especially after he knew her story, but she refuses with great determination. However, like you, I did find it a little strange that she was so restless to see Gilbert act restrained in the end. I think that these little contradictions sort of make these characters more realistic in my eyes. I know I, for one, am full of contradictions in who I am.
Thanks, Jenny; I'm glad I could recommend a good book. Anne Bronte does have another novel titled Agnes Grey, if you are interested. :)
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I have to agree with you both about the oddness of the novel in letters. I appreciate the uniqueness of it and the feel of being close to the character(s). However my concern was, what if we are not getting the full story? First person pov is where we see the thoughts and actions of one person at present. In this case, we are getting a massive amount of information (sometimes spaced with time or happened years ago) so my thoughts turn to, was this how it happened, was it embellished, or was some information omitted or twisted? (Or maybe I'm reading too much into? *shrugs*)
As for Gilbert and Hellen's relationship, there were misunderstandings and saying something without saying anything outright. I didn't know whether to find this romantic or irritating.They had a language of their own and I can agree by that.
Roxanna, I too found it intriguing that people can make comebacks with such ease and outwardly "politeness." I also agree that there is a concern for potentially not getting the full story. One really has to take everything with a grain of salt when reading letters because they could be biased. It is interesting that you mention a certain unreliability of storytelling after everything has happened because there is room for embellishments and rewriting memories (I can't remember the psychological term at the moment). To narrate a story after it has happened allows Gilbert to look at his circumstances in a new light, but he could also run the risk of adding some extra flair to keep his friend Halford (and maybe us as the audience) reading. So, I don't think you are over-analyzing it at all. :)
As for Gilbert and Helen's relationship, I think the situation they were in (when he knew Helen was married to Arthur) was very delicate and social conventions did not allow them to speak freely, especially knowing she is married to someone else. As for when they meet in the end of the novel, it was definitely like you said; they had misunderstandings as to whether each other's feelings reciprocated and whether their relationship would be acceptable by Helen's mother or not.
Please tolerate me as I first comment on this book as a casual reader rather than a hardcore analyst.
-SPOILERS AHEAD-
At first, I thought of how unworthy Gilbert (narrator) was to have Mrs. Huntington (Helen) in the end, but then I thought myself rather hypocritical because I approve of Jane/Rochester duo in Jane Eyre and Jane is similar to Helen in virtue while Mr. Rochester has some (if not more) faults like Gilbert. I essentially thought Helen too good for Gilbert but I suppose he did well in respecting her wishes by not contacting her for at least six months. I also thought the novel ended "too" perfectly, but so did Jane Eyre (at least, that is how some people criticize it), but I'm not sure if that is a fault, just a norm for novels of the time, or I've been trained to be a bit pessimistic about perfect endings. I don't know why I'm having these hypocritical thoughts, but if you have read Jane Eyre and would like to help me out in this dilemma, feel free to comment! Regardless, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was a "Goodreads" (terrible pun intended) that kept me turning the pages with its humor, suspense, and heart-wrenching moments.
(If you haven't noticed already, one of my favorite books is Jane Eyre, so I tend to compare period romance novels to it. I also compare them because I wanted to see how different and/or similar Charlotte's and Anne Bronte's writing styles were, since they are sisters. Just briefly, I noticed that Charlotte's Jane Eyre focuses a lot on self-reflection, very detailed settings, and the constant grappling of emotions within. Although Anne's novel does cover these elements, they are not as in-depth or lengthy as they are in Jane Eyre. That is not to say The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is less-than but that I seem to be showing my personal preferences for the elements thoroughly explored in Jane Eyre. They also differ in their portrayal of religion, which I will touch on later. Thanks for reading this awkwardly placed caption.)
Now that I got that out of my system, let me bring up some (more) literary elements I noticed while reading.
The letter structure as narration was surprising but intriguing. It was interesting that we got to be Gilbert's friend Halford and was given the privilege to see his intimate thoughts. It was a little strange that most of the letters were strictly from Gilbert (although we were given access to Helen's journals and some of her letters), since the epistolaries I've read before (e.g., Jane Austen's Lady Susan) involve letters from numerous people and involve more attention to the opening and closing customs of letters of the time. (I say this rather hesitantly because I know the Bronte sisters were in the Victorian Era while Austen was in the Regency Era but I don't know how letter etiquette in those two eras compared.) In a way, Anne's novel incorporated the essence of first-person prose into an epistolary structure, if the way I worded that made any sense....
Back to the thing about religion I promised to touch on. It seems quite obvious that Christianity is prominent in the novel. It is not preachy like in Louisa Alcott's Little Women, but it is definitely prevalent throughout the narrative, as compared to Jane Eyre's where it is less of a foundation for Jane than Helen, although it is still a part of Jane's foundation--if that too made any sense. Anne's incorporation of religion fulfills the Victorian expectation of embracing a particular sector of Christianity as well as the strict social expectations of the time. I particularly appreciate Anne more directly pointing out and sometimes commenting on such expectations because it allows contemporary readers to easily pick up on what is expected for Victorian gentlemen and ladies (I chose these specific words to indicate the class status generally focused on in this novel).
Whoo, that was my two cents. I touched on several topics, albeit only briefly. I'm excited to hear what everyone else thinks and do feel free to comment on (and perhaps productively criticize) my thoughts and short analyses. :)