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Women's Fiction
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

List Price: $16.95
Your Price: $16.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Must read for any Bronte fan
Review: As some people would say, once you read "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" then you'll definite end up with Anne Bronte "Tenant of Wildfell Hall." The heroine is Helen. She could've turn out to be another Jane Eyre if she didn't have a son or an alcoholic husband. Like Jane, she stands by her moral convictions, and takes drastic action if necessary to achieve or maintain them. All in all, the book is terrific which all the characters got what they just deserve where every books should be.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Must read for any Bronte fan
Review: As some people would say, once you read "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" then you'll definite end up with Anne Bronte "Tenant of Wildfell Hall." The heroine is Helen. She could've turn out to be another Jane Eyre if she didn't have a son or an alcoholic husband. Like Jane, she stands by her moral convictions, and takes drastic action if necessary to achieve or maintain them. All in all, the book is terrific which all the characters got what they just deserve where every books should be.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Powerful And Astonishing Tour-De-Force Masterpiece
Review: At the outset, I feel bound to point out that the Oxford Classics edition of this work is one of the few editions to actually be complete. By complete, I mean it includes the first chapter of Anne's original work (Dear Halford...etc.) and does not instead launch into the meaningless 'You must go back with me... . Readers should take care to buy copies of The Tenant that include the opening chapter as well as Anne's famous preface to the second edition. What I like about the Oxford Classics edition is that it includes both along with some excellent notes about Anne Bronte and the possible source for the characters.

For me, the Tenant is an incredible novel. I have read it six times in the past six years and it still retains its awesome power. One cannot fail to be impressed by its acute and realistic characterization as well as its subtle understanding of the male psyche and the many psychological layers that all her protagonists feel both within themselves and for each other. I once wrote a whole article on Hargrave alone, but all the characters are so well realized that there are hardly any weak ones here. Far from being the prude that she is often characterized as, the heroine, Helen Huntingdon is warm and passionate. The fact she is also a forerunner of Ibsen's Nora in the Doll's House should likewise arouse our interest and sympathy for the character. .Anne is very like Jane Austen in her sensitive and acute characterization.

Anne is too often a forgotten heroine of English literature and as next year (1999) is the 150th anniversary of her death, it is a good time to re-evaluate her position as both the 'Cinderella' of English literature and the forgotten Bronte Sister. Many such re-appraisals have taken place in recent years as critics come to see Anne as more than the pale shadow of her allegedly more talented sisters. In the final analysis, just reading her work rather than learning about it from others will prove the truth of what those who love Anne Bronte and her work will readily bear witness too.

Many of the scenes in The Tenant are astonishingly vivid and realistic in their passion and intensity, and without spoiling the reader's prospective enjoyment, I will cast further comment aside at this point beyond a brief remark that Anne's handling of such aspects do show that she was more than a match for both Emily and Charlotte.

I am sure that most readers will enjoy and want to read this work again and again. I suggest taking reading it by a nice fire on a rainy day but occasionally looking out the window at the brooding, intense, misty and maybe snow-capped mountains (if you are lucky enough to be near any). Notice and think about what you see and as you return to the book, realize that this wonderfully talented Bronte sister has done exactly the same.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A painful subject, beautifully written
Review: Bronte defied all of the accepted norms of her time to write this story. It was unheard of then for a women to leave her husband under any circumstance. This book is powerful, honest, and (unfortunately) timeless. Although, it hurts deeply to read about this topic, Bronte presents the subject delicately. Any woman who is suffering with spousal abuse or an addicted loved one will be in awe of the main character's ability to be strong without betraying her own sense of morality. I particularly enjoyed the fullness of each character presented. The husband was not completely evil; he was weak at times, mean at times, and sometimes pathetic. While reading, there was always hope that he would do something redeaming - his character was complete enough to allow this.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Anne Bronte's feminism manfesto rocks!
Review: Charlotte Bronte was the productive sister. Emily Bronte graced us with one powerful, brillient masterpiece. What about Anne, the forgotton Bronte sister? The Tenant of Wildfell Hall proves Anne Bronte has no trouble matching her sisters in talent. Brilliently executed, this novel engrosses your mind, leaving it immune to distractions.

This novel begins through the eyes of an English countryman, Mr. Markham, and continues switching to the viewpoint of Helen, a mysterious newcomer to Mr. Markham's small gossip-ridden community, and then back to Mr. Markham. The entire book is in first-person narrative- an excellent oppertunity for Bronte to flex her descriptive muscles. I found the characters to be well-developed and symbolic, especially Arthur Huntingdon. At first we are led to despise him, even wish for his death, yet as the story unfolds we pity him, even understand why Helen once loved him.

Bronte's message is clear- society torments women. This book is bold in it's suggestions, considering it was created in 19th century England. I suggest you buy it; it is a book to read more than once

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A study and review of Anne Bronte and her masterpiece.
Review: Exactly 150 years ago to this very day, Anne Bronte died in a small vacation house overlooking the sea at Scarboro.She was 29 years old...Hardly enough time for anyone to accomplish much,but this woman had done unbelievable things with her short life.Anne Bronte had left the world with 2 novels that will forever be engrained into the publics' minds and (more importantly) their deep rooted conscious.It is true to say that Anne has been overlooked as the least signifigant of the Bronte clan,(one critic even went so far as to say that her 2 novels were insignificant.)With a direct quote by the same critic while writing an introduction to Charlotte's Villette,saying. "She was not gifted." This is an astoundingly bad remark to make torwards a writer like Anne,whom defyied all the norms of Victorian writing, much less the writing of women in general. All the Brontes broke this suffocating mold that which they had been placed into,however,in my opinion,Anne did the most relevant and jarringly realistic work of them all.Perhaps Anne's modivation for writing such harsh and realistic work was due to the fact that she had been labeled by her sister Charlotte as "Quiet and Self Denying,with a nun-like veil,covering her countanence." Obviously Charlotte never really understood her sister, Emily I believe,had a greater understanding of Anne as their work parallels in their coarseness and brutal realism.To hold back is to compromise one's true feelings for the sake of others.I think one can say that it is due time that Anne get her day to shine in the literary world. Her novels,first Agnes Grey and then The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,both strong and filled with meaning,have been cast aside for far too long.Anne's talents for written word are extrordinary,considering she had never had much formal teaching,like her older sisters.These luxuries were too difficult for their father too afford, so Anne had to go out into the world and work as a governess.Something she desired to do. To make a name for herself.Thus spending a great deal of her young womanhood teaching rowdy and spoiled children and facing the onslaught of overbearing and cruel parents and various other adults,all who were rich in wealth, but poor in tact and morals.This kind of life Anne endured for a little over 5 years,writing blatently in her Prayer Book,"I am sick of mankind and their disgusting ways." Surely Anne had seen more of the real world outside and for what it was than her sisters had thought or expierenced themselves.Yet one must not look torwards Anne with pity for enduring such a confined and lonely life at that time.For she herself dwelled mainly on the richness that her tiny exsistance brought her.There was always her writing and poetry. Thus brings me to the signifigance of her work.The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is nothing short of brilliance.Although lacking in the wild imagination of her sister Emily or the romantic overtones of Charlotte,Anne's novels are their equal in strength and trueness of being.If not the best character study of them all.Helen Graham, "the Tenant" has just escaped a disasterous marriage to a man whom she describes as a husband that she not only despises,but that she hates.Quite a way with words for a nun I should say!Helen begins a new life,taking up residence in Wildfell Hall,much to the delight of her nosey new neighbors and becomes the talk of the town,thus slowly making way for her many disturbing secrets to come into the light.The details that follow as Helen decides to give her new friend Gilbert Markham,her diary,brings all the hauting past abuse from her marriage to life.The details of domestic abuse are written with such disturbing truth that the reader can only sit back and read in awe over Anne Bronte's acute awareness of the minds of those who have lost their morality.It is an all encompassing story,that keeps you spellbound throughout.The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is never preachy,though it is filled with many Bibical phrases that ring so very true.It's this trueness and directness of character which makes it one of the best(if not the best,)domestic dramas ever written...To think,that Anne Bronte never married and never bore a child and thus wrote this novel only adds to my admiration of this woman,who deserves as much credit as her talented sisters. If not,perhaps abit more.....It may be 150 years ago to this day.. But Anne Bronte's work lives on...Thank You for your eyes... Daniel... P.S. A fantastic film version is available on 20th Century Fox film from 1996 starring Tara Fitzgerald and Rupert Graves.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: My favorite Bronte novel
Review: Helen Graham is no ordinary Bronte heroine. She does not have a pathetic childhood and does not live her life like a victim. Her source of attractiveness lies in her personal beauty, intelligence and moral character, and not in madness, meanness, or carrying the sceptre of victimhood. The charm of the story is in how it unfolds so I will not give anything away. As for why it hasn't been more successful, all I can say is, I do not believe the novel was less popular in its time because of any technical flaw on the part of the writing. More likely, it was because this character would not settle for the acceptable place of a woman in Britain during that time. While reading her story, one cannot help but believe she deserves everything she thinks she does. The circumstances in the novel may have created sympathy for her righteous indignation and kept it from open criticism but the readers at that time might have been uncomfortable with the clear implication that it was time for women to claim their equal rights alongside their husbands -- a point made with palpable spiritual authority.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bronte Class Favorite
Review: I am happy to see so many favorable reviews for the woman I view as the UNSUNG Bronte. This book was the hands down SURPRISE favorite of my Bronte classmates - we also read Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Villette.

"Imagine what Anne would have written if her life had not been taken at such a tender young age..." was the topic of a lengthy discussion when we were done.

DON'T MISS THIS WONDERFUL BOOK!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent!!
Review: I have read this book over and over. It is one of my favorites. An excellent book to curl up with and fall in love with.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Almost perfect
Review: I picked this book up thirteen years ago and finally read it last summer. To think I was depriving myself all that time of such a wonderful read! Helen is one of the best heroines I have ever read. I could not help but be moved by her strength of character and resourcefulness in the face of the growing disaster that became her marriage. I also found the sequence where she planned her "great escape" exciting and suspenseful, even though I knew it would be a success.

It is slightly flawed in that the end ties up a bit too nicely, and the tension between the narrator and Helen withers a bit by the time the book ends. However, the same criticism could probably be made of the other more well-known Bronte books.

Overall, definitely worth reading!


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