The Tenant of Wildfell Hall/Anne Bronte
“I beg your pardon, Mrs. Graham… I have not yet said that a boy should be taught to rush into the snares of life…I only say that it is better to arm and strengthen your hero, than to disarm and enfeeble the foe; and if you were to rear an oak sapling in a hothouse… you could not expect it to become a hardy tree, like that which has grown up on the mountainside…”
“Granted; but would you use the same argument with regard to a girl?”
“Certainly not.”
“No; you would have her to be tenderly and delicately nurtured like a hothouse plant; taught to cling to others for direction and support, and guarded as much as possible, from the very knowledge of evil. But will you be so good as to inform me why you make this distinction? Is it that you think she has no virtue?”
“Assuredly not.”
“Well, but you affirm that virtue is only elicited by temptation; and you think that a woman cannot be too little exposed to temptation…. it must be, either that you think she is essentially so vicious, or so feeble-minded that she cannot withstand temptation…. whereas, in the nobler sex, there is a natural tendency to goodness, guarded by a superior fortitude…”
“Heaven forbid that I should think so!” I interrupted her at last.
“Well then, it must be that you think that they are both weak and prone to err, and the slightest error, the mere shadow of pollution, will ruin the one, while character of the other will be strengthened…. You would have us encourage our sons to prove all things by their own experience, while our daughters must not even profit by the experience of others. Now I would have both so to benefit by the experience of others… that they should know beforehand to refuse the evil and choose the good… I would not send a poor girl into the world unarmed against her foes…nor would I watch and guard her till, deprived of self-respect and self-reliance, she lost the power or the will to watch and guard herself… “
Some excerpts from one of the early chapters in Anne Bronte’s ‘The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’, where two characters argue on the right way to bring up children. I was much struck by the way Mrs. Graham points out the inconsistency in the way girls and boys were (are?) brought up as well as the double standards applied to them. Astonishing for a novel written in the first half of the nineteenth century, isn’t it?
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is not what I’d call a complete delight to a feminist; yet, it brings in a very, very strong female character, Mrs. Graham (the tenant, of the title), with very definite views on many things and confidence in her ability to make her own way in the world. The novel deals with some of the very real concerns that women of that time would have had - in an age when women from the upper classes couldn’t really work, and all property was usually controlled by men, marriage was the ‘proper’ goal for women. Yet, it is evident that many of these marriages may have been unhappy or incompatible, and in cases where they became abusive, there would have been little recourse for women, either financially or socially.
The Tenant deals with one such marriage, and though it falls short of approving of divorce (and in fact, Mrs. Graham’s sense of duty, driven by piety is sickening to a modern reader), it does show her as willing to take some strong actions to safeguard her child, defying the husband and risking social disapproval and even ostracism. There is also a tremendous sense of women’s ability to go out into the world and deal as an equal. Considering the times it was written in, it must have been a bold statement to make, and I believe, did draw condemnation from a whole lot of people. I haven’t read Anne Bronte before and I was delighted to find The Tenant a work of such strong opinions.
“………taught to cling to others for direction and support, and guarded as much as possible, from the very knowledge of evil. But will you be so good as to inform me why you make this distinction”
Seems like a scene in India. Very much like an argument I had with my daughter sometime back. I did tend to be more protective about my girls not so much on account of my lack of trust in them but more because I was afraid that the world we live in may never ever mature into a place where women can move freely without attracting attention. I have told her that she’d have the same anxiety as me when some 10 yrs. from now her daughter would start rebelling for a certain degree of freedom and she would have to decide on the permissable limit.
Again as the lady says “You would have us encourage our sons to prove all things by their own experience, while our daughters must not even profit by the experience of others. ”
Which mother in her senses would want her daughter to risk her safety?
I for one would not want to protect our girls from the knowledge of evil but would not advise them to tread into danger zones unless absolutely essential.
Must read the book.
Padma, you say, “Which mother in her senses would want her daughter to risk her safety?”
And are mothers much less concerned about sons’ safety?
Apu: I agree the book was bold, but I confess I still found it rather boring!
Padma-ji, I do understand that parents will have dilemmas about safety, and no mother will want her child to be get into dangerous situations; But, I think this dialogue was more about protecting girls excessively, and surely, one has to draw line between protecting children from danger and shutting them out from all knowledge of the real world. Also, I think many people imagine (wrongly) that boys are under no danger.
Unmana - At places, I found the dialogue a bit long-winded, but on the whole, I quite enjoyed it. I found it very “real” for the time it was written in, there is no air-brushing of issues. I did find the ‘good’ characters’ piety suffocating, but I suppose that was both a function of Anne Bronte’s own religious inclinations and the times in which she lived.
Apu, that was a good post. Have not read this one. I guess the Bronte sisters must have been of a different breed altogether to have come out with the kind of books that they wrote in their times. Have read the Wuthering Heights of Emily Bronte, though, I cant point out any feminist points of view from that book though!
But the above observation is indeed bold for the times that they wrote it!
And congrats on making it to the Guardian
Unmana, Apu I stand corrected. I should have said ‘Which mother in her senses would want her children to risk their safety’ ?As a mother of a son I do understand that boys need to be protected more than girls such is the exposure they are subjected to. But boys are judged less harshly by society. As a mother I can criticize my children as much as I want but the moment someone else does it I become defensive. I agree that protecting does not mean keeping them out from knowledge of good and bad.
BD, yes, it’s worth a read. I find the Bronte sisters very interesting, because there stories are so intense, yet rooted in reality. While Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights have more ‘dashing’ characters, Anne Bronte’s writing is remarkable for the way she takes ordinary people and looks into the cupboards, so to say
Padma-ji, I guess it is hard no, deciding where to draw the line? Plus of course, it is natural that parents want their children to be well-received in society…