The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte - Essay Example

The structure of the novel is a story within a story. The writer introduces a diary entry in the middle of the novel to tell the story of how Helen married and ran away from her former husband. The diary, told from Helen’s point of view, forms the bulk of the novel and most of the themes are to be found in this part of the book. Through her diary entries, Helen lets the reader know exactly what she went through in her marriage and what pushed her to want to leave her husband. It is through the diary narrative that the reader gets to know more about what society expected of women and the role of men during the Victorian era.

The complex structure of the novel depicts the complex social situation of the woman during the Victorian era. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall talks about the issues of marriage, divorce and remarriage during the Victorian era. The main focus is on the place of the woman in a patriarchal society which considers a woman to have no rights whatsoever once she is married. In this society, the woman is supposed to be the angel in the house, the good person who is there to serve her husband and take care of her children.

The heroine in the story is Helen, a woman who gets married to Arthur Huntington, a character presented as lacking in basic morals and sense of responsibility. Huntington represents the male figures during the Victorian era who drink themselves to stupors, gamble and party without having any regard for the consequences of their actions (106). On the other hand, their faithful spouses are required to put up with their roguish behaviors and ask no questions at all. Helen’s outspoken nature often puts her in conflict with those around her since it is expected that she should not question what her husband does.

At the beginning of the narration, Helen meets and falls in love with Huntington who is handsome and has a charming personality which Helen falls