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October 2011 BOTM: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

A monthly discussion on varying themes guided by our members. (Book of the Month discussions through December 2011 can be found in this section too.)
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boswellbaxter
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October 2011 BOTM: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Post by boswellbaxter » Mon October 3rd, 2011, 1:47 pm

Please discuss The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë here.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

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Ludmilla
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Post by Ludmilla » Mon October 3rd, 2011, 4:20 pm

Let me try this again (just lost my post).

I appreciated the themes, but was often irritated with the characters (as maybe I should be).

One of my biggest niggles was with how time is handled over the course of the novel. I'm not a fan of the split narrative between Gilbert's letter and Helen's diary. We don't know until the very end of the book how far back Gilbert is remembering the events. Helen's diary was inconsistent with how some events were related with hindsight while others seemed to be more in the present of what just happened (as we'd expect). Drove me a bit batty. Although I don't mind letters and diary entries being used as a framing device, I think it becomes problematic when characters are recalling huge chunks of dialogue as in this.

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Mon October 3rd, 2011, 4:43 pm

[quote=""Ludmilla""]Let me try this again (just lost my post).

I appreciated the themes, but was often irritated with the characters (as maybe I should be).

One of my biggest niggles was with how time is handled over the course of the novel. I'm not a fan of the split narrative between Gilbert's letter and Helen's diary. We don't know until the very end of the book how far back Gilbert is remembering the events. Helen's diary was inconsistent with how some events were related with hindsight while others seemed to be more in the present of what just happened (as we'd expect). Drove me a bit batty. Although I don't mind letters and diary entries being used as a framing device, I think it becomes problematic when characters are recalling huge chunks of dialogue as in this.[/quote]

It's been about five years, but I'd have to agree with that statement. What really got me was when Gilbert broke down and
. It just seemed so feminine, and probably not the behavior he'd have had if he'd been written by a male author.
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Ludmilla
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Post by Ludmilla » Tue October 4th, 2011, 7:33 pm

Yes, Gilbert was a little too childish (and no doubt as an oldest son had been spoiled), Helen a bit too self-righteous, and Lawrence, too coy for my tastes (though those behaviors fit the expectations of their society rather well).

It would be interesting to know how male readers receive this book. Do they feel men in general get lumped together and an unfair treatment?

Must admit, though I can empathize, I'm a little impatient with women who think they can change a man through the goodness of their love. It rarely turns out well, as the story demonstrates.

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