Discussion Questions
Chapters 16-221. In Chapter 16, Helen's aunt uses the language and imagery of military engagement to describe courtship. How consistent is Bronte with the use of this metaphor, and why do you think she uses it?
2. Helen says that she is an excellent physiognomist: someone who can determine a person's character by their looks. Do you think Bronte supports the science of physiognomy, or is she critiquing it in her novel?
3. What do we make of Helen's thought processes in the long opening paragraph that begins Chapter 18?
4. In Chapter 18, what is the significance of the fact that Helen is unable to adequately draw Huntingdon's portrait?
5. What is the significance of hunting in this part of the novel?
6. In Chapter 20, what is the significance of the part played by Helen's uncle?
7. The early stages of Chapter 22 find Huntingdon revealing that Lowborough is a recovering gambling addict. What is the significance of his description of the evening when Lowborough finally gives up gambling?
Chapters 23-43
1. What is the significance of Helen's father being an alcoholic?
2. Why is Helen deceived by the profligate Huntingdon, and yet always seems to be on her guard against the far less offensive Hargrave?
3. What analogy can be made between Helen's difficulties in checking Hargrave's advances in the chess game and her inability to draw Huntingdon's portrait (and thereby, "contain" him)?
4. The language of chess can make for all manner of innuendo and double meaning. Support this idea with reference to the chess game between Helen and Walter.
5. What are the similarities and differences between the "Two Evenings" in Chapter 33?
6. In Chapter 37, Helen is attempting to do her best to avoid Walter Hargrave's attentions. What are some of the differences between Hargrave's pursuit of Helen, and Gilbert's pursuit of her earlier in the novel?
7. Do you ever have the sense that Helen's characterization as a moral woman goes overboard--if so, is this a weakness in Bronte's writing or is there something else at work here?
8. Why does Bronte allow Hattersley to be reformed and yet makes Huntingdon pay for his profligacy with his life?
1. What is the significance of Helen's father being an alcoholic?
2. Why is Helen deceived by the profligate Huntingdon, and yet always seems to be on her guard against the far less offensive Hargrave?
3. What analogy can be made between Helen's difficulties in checking Hargrave's advances in the chess game and her inability to draw Huntingdon's portrait (and thereby, "contain" him)?
4. The language of chess can make for all manner of innuendo and double meaning. Support this idea with reference to the chess game between Helen and Walter.
5. What are the similarities and differences between the "Two Evenings" in Chapter 33?
6. In Chapter 37, Helen is attempting to do her best to avoid Walter Hargrave's attentions. What are some of the differences between Hargrave's pursuit of Helen, and Gilbert's pursuit of her earlier in the novel?
7. Do you ever have the sense that Helen's characterization as a moral woman goes overboard--if so, is this a weakness in Bronte's writing or is there something else at work here?
8. Why does Bronte allow Hattersley to be reformed and yet makes Huntingdon pay for his profligacy with his life?
Chapters 44-53
1. Chapter 45, in which Gilbert is reconciled both to Helen and her brother, reminds us that there are a great number of parallel episodes in the novel. What are the effects of some of these parallel scenes?
2. In Chapter 46, Gilbert takes a great deal of delight in nursing Mr. Lawrence back to health. What are the reasons he gives and what is to be made of the language with which he describes this experience?
3. In Chapter 50, Gilbert tells Halford--and therefore, us--what has happened to some of the other characters in the story. What is Bronte's point in having Gilbert do this?
4. What is to be made of the fact that the novel ends with Gilbert's voice and not Helen's? Is this merely what needs to happen from a purely structural point of view, or is there something more disturbing at work?
5. The field of literary onomastics examines the significance of names and naming in literature. What is the significance of Bronte's use of names in the novel?
1. Chapter 45, in which Gilbert is reconciled both to Helen and her brother, reminds us that there are a great number of parallel episodes in the novel. What are the effects of some of these parallel scenes?
2. In Chapter 46, Gilbert takes a great deal of delight in nursing Mr. Lawrence back to health. What are the reasons he gives and what is to be made of the language with which he describes this experience?
3. In Chapter 50, Gilbert tells Halford--and therefore, us--what has happened to some of the other characters in the story. What is Bronte's point in having Gilbert do this?
4. What is to be made of the fact that the novel ends with Gilbert's voice and not Helen's? Is this merely what needs to happen from a purely structural point of view, or is there something more disturbing at work?
5. The field of literary onomastics examines the significance of names and naming in literature. What is the significance of Bronte's use of names in the novel?
Our thoughts of Mr. Huntingdon change dramatically through the rest of the novel, as well as Ms. Huntingdon’s behavior. Helen struggles to trust men because they haven’t been trustworthy, they’ve treated her wrong. She was in an unhealthy relationship with Huntingdon and was manipulated. Helen has a negative relationship with alcohol because of what it did to her father. And Arthur likes to drink and eat a lot. It bothers her that he doesn’t really seem to care or listen when she tells him to drink less.
ReplyDeleteI think Helen lives as a moral woman because she's clinging on to something to believe in and trust in. she can’t confide in any of her ‘friends’, and she doesn’t have a trustworthy spouse. So she looks to find guidance in the lord and in morals. Emily Bronte is writing from the perspective of I think many women for their time period. Being in an unhappy marriage and having no one to confide in. I think because Bronte is trying to frame Huntingdon’s character around her brother, who was an addict (alcoholic) and never changed his ways. Bronte is writing about experiences in her life and what she knows that’s why her stories are so authentic. I think she wanted to show that characters like Hattersley can change. But that for the most part it’s unlikely that people change.
I’m not sure if Gilbert ended the story narrating because he had been narrating the story all along or I fear he could have warped the story maybe forced her to marry even though she didn’t want to. Because he narrated the story all along we’ll never know if any of the things said were true. They could be purely made up from the main character's point of view. I wasn’t sure what literary onomastics was, so I looked it up. But one website described the name of the novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall; to have double meanings. Wild, could be describing the country (where the characters in the novel lived). Fell, could be described as a high plateau, (which was the shape of the land). But Wildfell could be describing violence between family and friends. Wild could refer to violence, and fell could be another word for fierce.
Sorry this was turned in so late. I hope things are going well!
Delete“I not only should think it wrong to marry a man that was deficient in sense or in principle, but I should never be tempted to do it; for I could not like him, if he were ever so handsome, and ever so charming, in other respects; I should hate him—despise him—pity him—anything but love him. I really like this quote because it reminds me of Jane Austen and Charlotte Lucas. It reminds me of Lucas because when she marries Mr. Collins, she never loved him and she tried to avoid him whenever she could. Ms. Graham reminds me of Lucas because she has seems to act the same way in the sense that she seems to be all business but when it comes to marriage they are very different. Lucas is all business and she will marry whoever she has to to get herself settled. Graham, on the other hand, is saying no I will not marry him if he has no principle and I will work with my paintings. Mr. Boarham reminds me of Mr. Collins. His absolute sureness that she will say yes is just like Mr. Collins when he proposes to Lizzy. Also, I think she uses the military metaphor because I think that was her opinion on marriage if you didn’t love the person you were marrying. I don't think Bronte supports physiognomy but I don't think she openly criticizes it either. I also don’t think Helen is a good example of one,or at least in this part of the novel. I think in the present day she gets better at doing it but at this point, when she is eighteen, I don’t think she is. But how can she? It doesn’t seem like she has lived long enough to be great at it. She did well enough with Mr. Boarham but beside that I don’t know anyone else. She’s completely different then who she is now. “There is essential goodness in him;—and what delight to unfold it! If he has wandered, what bliss to recall him! If he is now exposed to the baneful influence of corrupting and wicked companions, what glory to deliver him from them!” It sounds like she wants to save Mr. Huntingdon and wants to bring out the goodness in this man. I think that this is the man who she marries but also escapes from. I think this goes back to her saying that she is an excellent physiognomist. I think that she can’t figure him out so she can’t draw him adequately.
ReplyDelete“Soon after breakfast all the gentlemen save one, with boyish eagerness, set out on their expedition against the hapless partridges” I think that Mr. Huntingdon in a way is hunting Ms. Graham. So she would be the “hapless patridges”. I think that Mr. Huntingdon will turn into an abusive husband so he is preying on Ms. Graham. Her uncle wants her to marry a good man. It looks like his wants for Helen are whatever Helen wants for herself. He says to her ‘Now, Nell,’ said he, ‘this young Huntingdon has been asking for you: what must I say about it? Your aunt would answer “no”—but what say you?’ So obviously he cares a lot for her and just wants her to be happy. Arthur takes pleasure in watching his friends lose their money. He is entertained by other people’s suffering. And his attempts to make Lowborough feel better are just as revealing. He gets him drunk and consoles him with talk of a woman marrying him only for his title. It looks like Helen is not a great physiognomist like she said she was. I think the significance of Helen’s father being an alcoholic is that this is the character that was based off of Branwell. While this is different because it’s Helen’s father not her brother, it sounds like Bronte is projecting her feelings onto Helen’s character. I think she has begun to trust her instincts when it comes to men so she’s not quite ready to trust men yet. Quite the opposite of what she was like when she met Mr. Huntingdon. With Huntingdon, he said a few words to her and she was head over heels for him. I think she can’t draw him or contain him because she doesn’t know him or understand him like she thinks she does. She says, “I must confess, in my secret heart, that Arthur is not what I thought him at first”. For someone who said they were a good physiognomist, I think it’s difficult for her not to know him like she thought she did. I think the point of that is to help answer the questions of what happened to the other characters and not just leave us hanging. I remember when we were reading Pride and Prejudice, Austen never really told us what happened to Lydia’s marriage so when we finished the novel we were still wondering about that. While this took me a longer time to read, I really enjoyed the book. I loved (and hated) the characters and thought the plot was very compelling. Also, while this has no connection to the questions at all, I loved that quote from Esther when she says, “‘Give it her yourself, you blockhead!’ cried she, recoiling with a spring from between us.” I just think it’s funny.
DeleteIt's in two because I had too many characters.
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