The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Published in June 1848, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was the second and final novel written by Anne Brontë under the pseudonym of Acton Bell. The plot revolves around the secrets and fortunes of Helen Lawrence Huntingdon, the eponymous tenant and also the object of rumour and intrigue amongst the locals fuelled by epistolary revelations. In terms of structure and method, the novel is hardly ground-breaking, but it received plaudits and also harsh criticism for its depiction of the woman’s plight in nineteenth century social values and more so for the decisions and actions of the principal protagonist who, in one scene, slams the bedroom door in the face of her malicious husband.