#my uncle is pretty damn rich and has no spouse or children so he loves to spoil his niees and nephews

[roaringroa]

only 2 more days of this and then i can chill and spend a few days thinking strictly about yuri manga and hay day all day long like god intended

[kvotheunkvothe]

What the Fuck Am I Reading: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

So this is the first and only book I’ve read by Anne Brontë. I’ve read Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre and had heard Anne’s books aren’t very good. Well, I’m happy to report that whoever told me that is a goddamn liar. I’d rank this at least on the same tier as Jane Eyre (my previous Brontë favorite), if not higher. Not only is it well-written, but hot damn is it raw. The basic premise is about a lady with a young son who previously had an absolutely terrible marriage learning to love and trust again. And Anne does not shy away from describing just how shitty her husband was. In some ways I think I’m glad I came across this book somewhat later, so I have more life experience just to appreciate this book. But on the other hand, I can’t believe I slept on it for so long. I have a lot to say about this, so buckle up.

Let’s start with Gilbert Markham, the new love interest whose POV bookends the narrative. He’s the one who introduces the reader to the titular tenant, the widow Mrs. Helen Graham. Gilbert is a bit excitable, but he has a good heart. He’s hardworking and honest and he refuses to listen to idle rumors. He starts off a little offput about the new tenant of Wildfell Hall because she’s pretty forthright and standoffish, but eventually he’s head over heels for her. And it’s pretty adorable how he tries so desperately to get to know her. He’s sweet with her kid, he’s interested in her paintings, and he’s basically always trying to find ways to spend time with her. As I said, however, he’s a bit excitable: after shooting down all kinds of people idle gossiping that it’s suspicious that the widow’s young son looks a bit like her landlord (Lawrence), he also kind of knocks Lawrence off of his horse. Finally, Mrs. Graham tells him she just can’t be with him, and she gives him her diary to explain why.

And oh boy does it explain things. So her prior husband was just... the biggest shit. He was a heel. A cad. An absolute self-centered fuckboy. She had known he didn’t run with a good crowd before marriage, but she was hopeful she could be a good influence. But this asshole and his shitty friends just appear to delight in vice. He goes off for months at a time--which eventually becomes something of a mercy--just living it up with his bachelor friends, and then he finally comes home sick as a dog for her to nurse back to health. He’s not really physically abusive: he beats his dogs and once threw a book at the dog that also hit Helen (which pleased him), but mostly it’s emotional, verbal, and economic abuse. He actually calls her a slut at one point. I couldn’t fucking believe my eyes--this book was written in the mid-1800s, and this is a good Christian woman being called a slut by her own husband, in her own home, because he didn’t like being told to stop drinking like a fish. Like, I don’t doubt people were just as shitty back then, but I’ve never read a book from the time that is so explicit about it. He ends up having an affair, and when she literally catches him in the act (IN THEIR OWN HOME), he just acts petulant and just whines that she wants to separate (he refuses, and is pissy she’s like “well, we’re going to live as strangers in this house, then”). The husband’s little side-piece emotionally blackmails her into not telling the other wronged spouse (who is a good dude), because the truth would devastate him. The husband’s “friends” are also all pieces of shit. They all get together, pour liquor down the young son’s throat, and teach him to disrespect his mother. Another of her husband’s “friends” keeps trying to get under her skirts, no matter how many times she rebuffs him, reasoning that he can “save” her from her marriage and that since her husband’s cheating on her, she might as well. One time he physically won’t let her go, and when all the other men convene on the scene, her husband starts calling her vile names and insinuating that she’s the adulterer in their relationship. She has to rely on the shitty “friend” to admit she’s never given in to his advances. At a certain point, Helen feels like she’s just fucking had enough, and she starts painting like crazy to sell off enough that she can make an escape with her boy. Of course her husband finds out, steals all her money, and basically laughs at her. God he made my blood boil. I wish every fucker who claims to want to go back to the “good old days” when women were financially dependent on their husbands, didn’t divorce, and lived “good Christian lives” could read this book and see just how fucking few resources women used to have when they were trapped with monsters.

Spoilers for the rest of the book because I want to talk in some detail: So, essentially, the husband wasn’t actually dead this whole time. Surprise, surprise. The breaking point came when the shitlord hired a “governess” to look after the kid, over Helen’s objections. When she finally had proof she was there to be the husband’s mistress, Helen has just had it. She escapes with her little boy and takes refuge with her brother, Lawrence (which is why her little boy looks a little like him and why they had such a close relationship that created all that gossip). Shortly after Helen gives Gilbert her diary, she makes him promise not to see her again so as not to tempt her to break her vows. However, he is allowed to write to her in another 6 months. He’s devastated, but agrees. Then she leaves suddenly because her shitty husband has taken extremely ill. Gilbert reads about her nursing the shithead husband through letters she sends to Lawrence. Eventually, luckily, he does actually die. Gilbert’s in something of a bind, though: he doesn’t want to write to her immediately, both because the six months aren’t quite up and because he doesn’t want to be a vulture. But then she goes back to live with her aunt, and he doesn’t have the address and is too nervous to ask her brother for it (recall he kind of knocked Lawrence off his horse, and he gets the impression Lawrence wouldn’t really favor the match--also, okay,this is hilarious: at one point when he’s at Lawrence’s sickbed pining after Helen he’s like, “Lawrence’s slender white fingers are so much like hers!”--like, omg, Gilbert, no, it’s no wonder Lawrence isn’t your biggest fan). Because Helen doesn’t write to him, he kind of assumes she’s uninterested. But when he hears gossip she might be getting married to the shitty “friend” who kept harassing her when she was married, he pretty much drops everything to rush over and basically do a church-house confession of love. Luckily, it wasn’t actually her getting married. But he’s kind of like, “well, hell, I might as well track her down, then.” So after checking at her late husband’s house--learning both her aunt’s address and that she inherited her husband’s whole estate--he sets off to find her. When he’s nearly to his destination, the other passengers tell him, “oh, by the way, all these lands we’re passing through belong to some widow lady, whose uncle also died.” By the time he gets to her aunt’s house--now technically Helen’s house by her uncle’s will--he’s like “oh no wonder she didn’t write, she is SO out of my league and rich, now, I’d just be a bother” and he almost turns right back around, except he’s spotted and invited in. Their reunion is kind of adorable. Like, she ends up plucking this winter rose and saying, “it’s a little battered by the elements, but you can have it,” and he’s kind of hesitating when trying to think of the best thing to say. So she throws it out the window, like “okay, fine, but just so you know, that was kind of a metaphor for my life,” and he’s like, “NO, I UNDERSTOOD THAT, WAIT” and literally jumps out the window after it. So they work things out, and set a date, and Gilbert of course loves her little boy like he was his own, and I guess they live happily ever after. Spoilers end.

So, why was this such a good book? Well, of course it was well-written, but I think also it’s mostly because it was so unflinching. It was an emotional journey, reading about Helen’s life ambitions being slowly ground down, only to find some hope afterwards. It’s a bit preachy at times, since Helen basically only had her religion to sustain her over a number of traumatic years. But it’s also got some fairly progressive ideas about gender equality and the dangers of letting men have so much control over their wives and children. Gilbert’s chapters provided some much-needed levity to a fairly serious topic. Helen’s quite level-headed, so it was amusing as hell when you get to Gilbert and he’s throwing himself over hedges and bounding over hills and taking off on wild carriage rides. He also tells people off when they’re just being gossips and busybodies. His first impression of Helen is that he thinks she thinks he’s like an impudent puppy--and like, is she wrong?

Ultimately, I loved this book. If you have the time, I highly recommend it.