Anne Bronte "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall"

 

Anne Bronte

At the time of this story, people did not travel in cars or trains. They rode on horses or walked. If they had to make a long journey, people travelled in carriages or coaches which were pulled by horses. It was important for a woman to marry a man who had money and property. Many young women went to London in the spring.In London, they hoped to find rich husbands. A young woman’s parents decided who she married. They gave their permission for the marriage to take place. Some young men from rich families did not have good characters. They spent all their time with their friends. They went hunting with guns and dogs. Very many men drank too much alcohol. And they also gambled - they played games for money.
Many women who read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall agreed with the things that Anne Bronte wrote about. At this time, women could not make decisions about their own lives. A wife’s money and property belonged to her husband. He made all the decisions. Helen Graham is a good Christian woman who tries to get away from her unhappy marriage. Married women in the 1820s recognized that their lives were like Helen Graham’s life. Wives were not allowed any freedom and their husbands drank too much. If husbands had affairs, their wives could not complain. When she was a governess, Anne Bronte had met people like Helen Graham and Arthur Huntingdon. And she knew what happened when alcohol destroyed a person’s life.

 

 

  

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