Big Read: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

Diana White leads an informal discussion on Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Writing under the pseudonym Acton Bell, Anne Brontë published her last novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall in 1848. It tells the story of a woman who flees a disastrously abusive marriage and tries to become a working artist during a time when women were expected to accept whatever their husbands did without complaint.

Things to think about while you’re reading:

1. Why do you think Anne Brontë wrote the book using the format of part letters and part diary?
2. Do you consider this book to be an early example of feminism?
3. Helen isn’t a typical heroine for the period; in what ways does this come across in the story?
4. Would you now read Agnes Grey, another revelatory book by Anne Brontë?
5. Did you enjoy the book?

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