The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

By Ayushi Sharma

Edited By Nandana

An intense and gripping storyline that, despite being folded into a book, manages to break through and captures the reader's soul and life. That's the definition of a masterpiece novel for me, and this book is synonymous to it. The story follows a gentleman farmer, Gilbert Markham, whose narrative flows into the story through his letters to his friend, Jack Halford. Through the means of these letters, his relationship with mysterious tenant of Wildfell Hall, Helen Graham is told. Helen Graham and her intriguing and melancholic story guides the narrative forward; she has fled away with her son from her brutish and drunkard husband. 

The Brontë sisters were definitely masters of the craft of literature, their novels continue to dominate the literary sphere. Anne, the youngest of Brontë children, through her stark realistic writing style in “ The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall”, threw light upon social and legal structures of that time and position of a woman amidst patriarchal conventions during the Victorian England epoch. It is often considered to be one of the first feminist works which gave voice to the miseries faced by women stuck in a loveless marriage and their inability to do much about it. Whether it’s the unwavering patience in Helen’s disposition, her composed temperament or her unflattering faith and emotional strength, I can’t pinpoint but something about her has created such perpetual imprints on my heart  that will not fade for times to come. I feel astounded by her and understand the enchantment that drew Gilbert towards her. The overall setting and the mood of the story feels dark and gloomy, however it brings forth a sense of mystery invoking fascination.  It would be wrong to say that I grasped the meaning of this novel, as it is the novel that has managed to grasp and keep me tied through its tumultuous and passionate tale. 

All in all, I truly think that this novel should be read by all those who wish to lose themselves in the magic of a story, while subsequently seeing parts of the real lives in it. Reading this piece is once in a lifetime experience for me, and I would love to lose my memory and experience it all again.