While I agree that The Tenant of Wildfell Hall raises very important questions about alcoholism, domestic abuse, and female education, I read the novel from a different perspective altogether. I see Anne Brontë’s literary work as grounded in her Christian faith.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a testament to God’s unfailing gift of redemption. Anne’s own brother, Branwell Brontë, was an alcoholic, and likely the inspiration for Huntingdon. Just as Helen continues to pray for her estranged husband’s soul to the point of his death, so Anne never lost hope that her brother could be redeemed. After the publication of her novel, she corresponded with the Reverend David Thom, who, like her, came to believe in the controversial doctrine of universal salvation, describing it to him as a “consoling creed.”
One doesn’t have to share Brontë’s belief in universalism to agree that hope for salvation, down to the very last moments of a person’s life, is key to the Christian faith. In fact, Helen’s decision to return to nurse her abusive husband only makes sense in the light of Anne Brontë’s rich exploration of salvation, as well as of the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. (Beatrice Scudeler)
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