Teresa
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte a classic story of a woman who has left her husband to protect her child and herself. This story touches on many themes: sexism, double standards, faith and morality, love and marriage, as well as work vs. idleness. All these themes come into play as the main character Helen Huntingdon (Graham) comes to the realization that she has married an alcoholic man who enjoys nothing more than a good party and is anything but moral.
Helen’s backstory unfolds in her diary. It tells the story of a moral, faith filled woman who is in love with a man she thinks she can “fix” after marriage. She learns that one can only be “fixed” if they wish to be held accountable and improve their lives. Her husband enjoys the vices of the society of the 1800s and wishes to pass them onto their young son. Helen does not approve and comes up with a plan to leave in order to protect her son from becoming like her husband.
This book is good for discussing how people approach the different standards that many people have and the society that encourages those standards. Faith, marriage, love, morality and even double standards do not happen in a vacuum. The people around us encourage us to go in one way or another. What does it take and how much strength does it take to go against a community or society that encourages one set of standards that you do not agree with or even believe harms the ones you care about? How would you react?
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte a classic story of a woman who has left her husband to protect her child and herself. This story touches on many themes: sexism, double standards, faith and morality, love and marriage, as well as work vs. idleness. All these themes come into play as the main character Helen Huntingdon (Graham) comes to the realization that she has married an alcoholic man who enjoys nothing more than a good party and is anything but moral.
Helen’s backstory unfolds in her diary. It tells the story of a moral, faith filled woman who is in love with a man she thinks she can “fix” after marriage. She learns that one can only be “fixed” if they wish to be held accountable and improve their lives. Her husband enjoys the vices of the society of the 1800s and wishes to pass them onto their young son. Helen does not approve and comes up with a plan to leave in order to protect her son from becoming like her husband.
This book is good for discussing how people approach the different standards that many people have and the society that encourages those standards. Faith, marriage, love, morality and even double standards do not happen in a vacuum. The people around us encourage us to go in one way or another. What does it take and how much strength does it take to go against a community or society that encourages one set of standards that you do not agree with or even believe harms the ones you care about? How would you react?