Coercive Control in Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
I am hosting the December book club at The Wild Hunt and this post originally appeared there. If you’d like to join in for the discussion, view the original post.
We’ve left Gilbert Markham behind to tend to his gentleman farming and meddling, and now we are in Helen Graham’s diary. Finally, Markham will find out why this mysterious widow is so private and isolated at Wildfell Hall (however, it could be argued that she isn’t so private with everyone butting into her daily life).
There are a few main themes in Volume Two that are large red flags that Anne Brontë set out for the reader: coercive control, marital infidelity, morality vs debauchery.
HELEN & HER ART
The diary begins with the introduction of Helen in her young adulthood. She is around family and friends, and a dashing Arthur Huntingdon who seems ready to woo her. The same trend that we read about in Volume One is preceded here in Volume Two. Before she arrives at Wildfell Hall, her earlier life is peppered with people (mostly men) unable to get the hint that she would like to make her art without intrusions. Huntingdon continues to pester her, viewing her unfinished art and even poaching it: ‘Mr. Huntingdon,” cried I, “I insist upon having that back! It is mine, and you have no right to take it. Give it me directly—I’ll never forgive you if you don’t!’
AN UNHAPPY MARRIAGE
Early in Volume Two, Helen and Huntingdon are wed. From the beginning, he is unattentive. On their honeymoon trip to the continent, he is uncaring for her desire to see the spots. Helen excuses this for the fact that he has travelled to Europe many times so he is used to this but she is aware that he should be sympathetic that this is new to her. She is forgiving at first to Huntingdon’s behaviour but she sees the cracks. He often travels to London without her even when she proposes she should accompany him. Her fledgling marriage is lacking love when it is implied that Huntingdon takes up with other women* and is a boozehound when he is away from home. He even enjoys taunting Helen with stories of ‘victims of his former love’.
Like discussed last week when I wanted to shake Markham, this week, I wanted to shake Helen, but for entirely different reasons. I wanted to pick her up and throw her over my shoulder and get her away from this madman. When describing Helen’s marriage, Anne Brontë does well to pepper in perfect examples of coercive control. Readers who have suffered this type of abuse must find themselves feeling for Helen (and those who have listened to many true crime podcasts and think themselves armchair psychologists are ready to diagnosis Helen).
*As Volume Two progresses his behaviour becomes even more appalling with the affair he carries on right in front of Helen’s face in her own home. What a cad!
LET’S TALK ABOUT HUNTINGDON
Even before Helen marries him, dear reader, we all knew he was up to no good. He is ruthless and when she ran from him, she should have stayed hidden. When he stole her art and refused to give it back, ding ding, she should have thrown him out.
Helen reveals in her diary that her money is used to pay off his debts. Soon into their marriage, they have a child together. And match this all together with the restrictive time period and you have yourself coercive control. Women’s Aid defines this as: This controlling behaviour is designed to make a person dependent by isolating them from support, exploiting them, depriving them of independence and regulating their everyday behaviour. It’s this ‘invisible chain’ that tightens with every passing year. Something that I also noticed about the Grove, where Helen lives, is that it is somewhat similar to the village in Volume One. The people around her are not very pleasant and they are busybodies. No wonder she wants a bit of privacy.
SO, DEAR READERS, WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS?
What are your thoughts on Anne Brontë continuation to delve into this idea of a woman’s privacy and time to herself for creativity?
Even though Helen knows of her husband’s sins, what possibility could it be that will drive her from his home?
Read more about how Charlotte Brontë suppressed the publication of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.