Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Teaching English Language and Literature for Secondary Schools

Petra Vycpálková

"Mary Wollenstonecraft's Concept of Marriage and its Reflection in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" Master‟s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Bonita Rhoads, Ph. D.

2012

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Bc. Petra Vycpálková

Acknowledgement I would like to thank my supervisor Bonita Rhoads for kind leadership of my work. I would also like to thank my family and friends for all the support during my studies.

Table of Contents Preface ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 9 1 Background Study .............................................................................................................. 11 1.1 Concepts ........................................................................................................ 11 1.1.1 The Cult of Domesticity ............................................................................ 11 1.1.2 Angel in the House .................................................................................... 12 1.2 Conduct Books and Literature Appropriate for Female Readership .... 14 1.3 Women and Their Writing ............................................................................ 16 2 Mary Wollstonecraft and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman................................. 19 2.1 Biography ....................................................................................................... 19 2.2 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects ................................................................................................................ 21 2.2.1 Main Objectives and Criticism ................................................................. 21 2.2.2 Content and Ideas on the Notion of Marriage Explored ...................... 24 3 Anne Brontë and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ................................................................. 29 3.1 Biography ....................................................................................................... 29 3.2 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall .......................................................................... 30 4 Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 34 4.1 Reasons for Marriage and Courtship ........................................................ 34 4.1.2 Wealth ......................................................................................................... 35 4.1.2 Obedient Wife ............................................................................................ 38 4.1.2 Love and Friendship ................................................................................. 40 4.2 Unhappy Marriage and its Consequences ............................................... 44

4.3 Mothers and Upbringing of Children .......................................................... 50 4.4 Traditional versus Reformist ....................................................................... 54 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 59 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 64 List of Primary Sources ...................................................................................... 64 List of Secondary Sources ................................................................................. 64 List of Internet Sources ...................................................................................... 64 Appendix 1 .............................................................................................................................. 67 Appendix 2 .............................................................................................................................. 69 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 71 Resumé ................................................................................................................................... 72

Preface The aim of my master‟s thesis, entitled "Mary Wollstonecraft's Concept of Marriage and its Reflection in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," is to analyse Mary Wollstonecraft's ideas on the rights of women as she introduces them in her work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects (1792) and their representation in the novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) by Anne Brontë. The thesis consists of five main parts: the Introduction, Background Study, Biographies, Analysis and Conclusion. First, I will provide background information on the key issues which I raise in the course of the thesis. I will also note the importance of the novel and its role for women writers and various concepts concerning women, their role in society and literature, such as the "angel in the house" concept and "the cult of domesticity." In the "Biography" section, I will concentrate on the lives of both writers and their key works. I will provide bibliographical details of Mary Wollstonecraft and Anne Brontë which shaped their work to support my argument. Furthermore, I will provide information about the key works of this thesis: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. In the final section, I will focus on the analysis of Mary Wollstonecraft's ideas and their reflection in Brontë's novel. This section will provide a close analysis of the vindication and the novel. I will analyse by topics examined in the vindication and will consequently provide their examples in the novel. Furthermore, I will provide insight into the tension between traditional views of women and the reformist ideas of "a new woman."

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Introduction Mary Wollstonecraft was a great thinker and propagator of ideas on the equality between men and women. In her famous work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, she introduces her revolutionary ideas. Wollstonecraft fought for women‟s rights already in the 18th century, which was daring indeed at that time because the society was strongly patriarchal. Her book therefore aroused sharp criticism and alarm in general. Until A Vindication of the Rights of Woman appeared, many female writers had secretly raised the matter of their unsatisfactory position; Mary Wollstonecraft was however the first woman to present her distress and dissatisfaction openly. Indeed, a number of novels discussed the position of women in society where the matter was usually set into a strong story of a heroine. The heroine had to face hardship caused not only by the situation she found herself in but mainly by her gender. The novel was a genre not yet enjoying a great reputation and furthermore, when the author was female, it was not even considered serious. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is the first work of the kind in which a woman openly criticizes the traditional role of women in various spheres of their lives, such as marriage, the process of education, or even in religious matters. Moreover, the style is also noticeable as Mary Wollstonecraft writes A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in a purely academic style. She proposes arguments and gives various reasons to support them in order to be seriously considered. She definitely does not intend her work to be a piece for entertainment and she therefore determined her work as serious by choosing an academic instead of novelistic style. Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was an influential

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work in her times. It influenced the societal manner of thinking but moreover, it encouraged female writers to express their ideas more openly in their novels. In my thesis, I would therefore like to prove that Mary Wollstonecraft's ideas on women‟s rights had a great impact, inspired women writers, and were consequently reflected in the work of fiction. Certainly, one of the novels influenced by her great thoughts is The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë. My intention is to analyse Wollstonecraft's ideas and examine them in Anne Brontë's novel, as I find this novel a great example of the heroine‟s struggles between the traditional role of a woman and the desires and needs of a "new" woman. Traditional values, also referred to as the "angel in the house" concept or "the cult of domesticity" and the new, independent woman create great tension.

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1 Background Study The Background Study will provide three main sub-chapters dealing with the position of women within society. Furthermore, it will deal with various forms of writing which women experienced both as readers and writers. The main focus will be conduct books and novels designated for female readership in order to support traditional roles and expectations., as all the traditional expectations originated in concepts which provided an explanation of how women were perceived and the expectations of the society. Thus, one sub-chapter will examine two of the most wellknown concepts, the "cult of domesticity" and the "angel in the house". The last subchapter will concentrate on women who overcame the passive role and overtook the active, as well as women who devoted their lives to writing and thus contributed to the rise of the novel as a genre not only by women and for women but for the broader audience.

1.1 Concepts

1.1.1 The Cult of Domesticity The "cult of domesticity" represents a general concept which prescribes certain roles and characteristics to women. It was favoured not only in Victorian England but also with American Puritans. The characteristics were based on gender, as women were recognized by their "emotional qualities" as opposed to men who were recognised by their "economical and political qualities" which determined their roles within the society. The women's task was to take care of the family and household (Armstrong 15). According to "The Cult of Domesticity and True Womanhood," the concept has four ideals: Piety, Purity, Submissiveness and 11

Domesticity. Firstly, an ideal woman should devote herself to religion to purge the world of its sins through unconditional and pure love. The woman should suffer for her family to secure its peace and welfare. Secondly, the woman should be pure and sexually virtuous. This ideal stresses the importance of virginity as the greatest gift to a woman's husband on the wedding night. The woman must not lose her purity and become a "fallen woman," as this will reprobate her from the society. Therefore, she will not have a chance to marry an appropriate man and thus fulfil her goal as a woman. Thirdly, the woman should be passive and absolutely devoted to her husband (Lavender). According to the Puritan doctrine, men's and women's equality lays in the difference of the sexual roles they fulfilled; however, a wife was definitely subordinate to her husband (Armstrong 18). Lastly, the woman should be domesticated: she should be at home and fulfil her duties as a wife, mother and supervisor of the household. To maintain her family is her greatest duty. Certainly, the "cult of domesticity" portrays the ideal woman put on a pedestal by society. However, the concept is also a means of control and actually prescribes certain qualities and roles for women to follow. The "angel in the house" concept represents the general idea of the "cult of domesticity" in Victorian England. 1.1.2 Angel in the House The concept of the "angel in the house" is the representation of the general concept the "cult of domesticity." Coventry Patmore made the "angel in the house" concept widespread by encapsulating its main ideas in his series of poems The Angel in the House (1854) which celebrate true love realized through marriage. Patmore was inspired by the love of his wife, Emily, in that he perceived her as the perfect

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wife, the Victorian ideal of a woman. (Victorian Web) The Angel in the House depicts the process of how Felix Vaughan, the main male character, courts and marries Honoria. Felix is an active character in the process of courtship while Honoria is passive, always waiting at home for her suitor to come. Since Honoria's virtue is to please her husband, as exhibited in the passage "man must be pleased; but him to please is woman's pleasure," (Patmore 53) the woman actually develops through her husband. Her heart is thrice as rich in bliss, She's three times gentler than before; He gains a right to call her his, Now she through him is so much more (Patmore 74) In addition, Patmore provides more qualities an Angel should possess. Honoria is always cheerful and blissful, "she must be glad as well as good". (59). She is often compared to a flower; this imagery ties to her naturalness and fragility. Moreover, Felix often addresses her as a pet which underlines her subordinate position. She is like a child and devotes herself to ordinary activities usually also connected to nature; therefore she feeds birds, waters flowers or pets a dove. Furthermore, the poem does not only describe the perfect, angelic wife, it also shifts the ideal from heaven into a house and describes it as divine: "Were you for mortal woman meant?" (3) She's not of the earth, although her light, As lantern'd by her body, makes A piece of it past bearing bright (Patmore 69). Since the Middle Ages, the ideal of a woman was based upon the Virgin Mary as a

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symbol of purity which perfectly fit the concept; in Victorian England this notion however shifted to the "angel in the house" transgression from divine into domestic (Gilbert & Gubar 20). The "angel in the house" was the ideal of womanhood not only in real life but also in fiction. Women were described either as angelic or as monstrous with the angelic character always stressed as an example for female readership. Later, Goethe summarized the philosophical background of the "angel in the house" concept in his novel Wilhelm Meister's Travels. His character, Makaria, serves as an example of the angelic figure: She ... leads a life of almost pure contemplation ... in considerable isolation on a country estate ... a life without external events - a life whose story cannot be told as there is no story. Her existence is not useless. On the contrary ... she shines like a beacon in a dark world, like a motionless lighthouse by which others, the travellers whose lives do have a story, can set their course. When those involved in feeling and action turn to her in their need, they are never dismissed without advice and consolation. She is an ideal, a model of selflessness and of purity of heart (Gilbert & Gubar 22). To conclude, the "angel in the house" concept created an aesthetic depiction of a woman not only in reality but also in fiction which literally killed her true identity. To be able to start writing independently and free from all prejudices, women had to kill both this ideal portrayal of a woman, the "angel in the house," and the evil depiction of a woman, "monster in the house" ( Gilbert & Gubar 19).

1.2 Conduct Books and Literature Appropriate for Female Readership Education became a great means of social control over society. Since many

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middle-class people became literate, they started reading in their free time. Consequently, reading became one of the most powerful tools of government control. Indeed, many middle-class women started to read novels (Armstrong 17). During the eighteenth century, novel-reading was equal to sin, but this notion gradually changed towards the end of the century. Certain novels were found as an appropriate occupation for women. These novels of the time strengthened the imagery of an ideal angel-woman and also warned through the portrayal of women-monsters (Armstrong 18). Apart from novels, conduct books and other works of instruction were provided which supported the desirable ideal of domesticity. Conduct books were a favourite during the late 18th century. Conduct books usually provided standards by a patriarchal society which were strongly supported in women. The main "effort was to make a woman desirable to a man of a good social position" as only an appropriate woman will marry a man of her preference. These books of advice instructed women on several matters. The main objectives describe the qualities which a proper future wife should possess in order to wed. She should be educated according to the standards, but should "lack the competitive desires and worldly ambitions" which were the qualities ascribed to males (Armstrong 59). While marriage happened to be the goal of every young lady, it actually became the sense of her life. Conduct books instructed how to get a perfect husband and further taught how to take care of a husband after the wedding. They dealt with household matters such as cooking and the upbringing of children, and also taught economic matters. They prescribed women a certain position which society expected from them and discouraged them from getting involved in politics and the economy, as these occupations would destroy virtues "essential to wife and mother" (Armstrong 60). Similar to conduct books were the novels of manners also referred to as books

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of courtesy for women (Armstrong 61). The novels of manners possessed the same characteristics, as their main goal was to instruct women on the standards of which they were expected. However, apart from mere instructions, they provided a manual of appropriate conduct with examples of undesirable behaviour to stress the importance of the good manners a young lady should possess in order to marry a respectable man. These novels were produced not only by male writers but also by females, who were often accepted and referred to as lady novelists (Armstrong 97), as this kind of book was accepted as a respectable fiction and widely read by female readers. It is noticeable that many books devoted to women and about women were entitled with female names such as Pamela,1 Evelina,2 or Jane Eyre.3 These novels made the novel a respectable genre (Armstrong 21), as they were considered polite and set a good example for young women (Armstrong 97). Certainly, the main purpose of these books was to strengthen and support the ideal women proposed by the "cult of domesticity" concept and the "angel in the house" concept.

1.3 Women and Their Writing Women had not attempted the pen for a long time, since they were under strict control from the patriarchal society. Furthermore, an image of a desirable woman which was based on the "angel in the house" concept was so widespread and promoted that it became the further means of control over their character and

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Pamela: or Virtue Rewarded (1740), a novel of manners, by Samuel Richardson Evelina or the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World (1778), a novel of manners,

by Fanny Burney

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Jane Eyre (1847), a social novel, by Charlotte Brontë

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occupation. It had taken years for women to come to the state of affairs when they dared overstep the boundaries set by society, as writing was not fit for women in a man‟s world. Thus, a pen was "so rigorously kept from them they must escape just those male texts which, defining them as „Cyphers,‟4 deny them the autonomy to formulate alternatives to the authority that has imprisoned them and kept them from attempting the pen" (Gilbert & Gubar 13). However, several women dared to attempt the pen and thus they broke free of the stereotypes and set into writing fiction in order to break the silence of their gender. Certainly, the rise of fiction is greatly connected with women writers and their stories on social matters. By the middle of the eighteenth century the novel was known as a genre written particularly by women (Armstrong 97). In her work Desire and Domestic Fiction (1987), Nancy Armstrong comments on fiction as a genre discussing social disorder (39) which was "supposed to rewrite political history as personal histories that elaborated on the courtship procedures ensuring a happy domestic life." According to Armstrong, novels were especially precise in grasping "the fragments of an agrarian and artisan culture when it recast them as gender differences and contained them within a domestic framework" (38) Certainly, novel was the genre which provided the most information on the situation of women within society (48) and was particularly successful in portraying the social matters of the period. Originally, the writings of the period created and depicted the ideal of womanhood (Armstrong 96) and thus reinforced the ideal of a woman-angel. Therefore, female novelists attempted to redefine and reconstruct this ideal (Gilbert & Gubar 77) by creating heroines who challenged the desired womanhood and 4

a person of no importance (The Free Dictionary Online)

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overstepped their role, status and domesticity. Although, the novelists challenged the traditional stereotypes they still perceived marriage as an important step in a woman's life. Even though they often depicted marriage which changed the social status of the woman and above all often also led to an affliction, particularly of the female character (Armstrong 177) they still perceived marriage as a potential solution. However, the heroines were depicted as strong characters who took on an active role and sought their own personal fulfilment. Sometimes the novelists were so passionately engaged in creating the strong woman character that they made them rather melodramatic or even rebellious, acting out "the subversive impulses every woman feels when she contemplates the ‟deep-rooted‟ evils of patriarchy" (Gilbert & Gubar 76-77). Unexpectedly, women writers were not favoured among men for destroying the angelic image and therewith destroying the working social system which they found satisfactory. For this reason, they adopted the woman-monster alongside the womanangel to discourage women from breaking the ideal. From a male point of view, women who reject the submissive silence of domesticity have been seen as terrible objects - Gorgons, Sirens, Scyllas, serpentLamias, Mothers of Death or Goddesses of Night. But from a female point of view the monster woman is simply a woman who seeks the power of self-articulation. (Gilbert & Gubar 79) Fortunately, by the time of the novel’s rise as a genre, many women found their position within society unsatisfactory and strove to break the silence. One woman articulated her distress towards the end of the eighteenth century and openly spoke for her gender in her manifesto advocating woman's rights; the defender was Mary Wollstonecraft.

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2 Mary Wollstonecraft and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman 2.1 Biography Mary Wollstonecraft was born on 27 April 1759 in Spitalfields, London, as the second of seven children. As the family encountered financial and social problems, none of the children received formal education apart from Mary's brother Edward (Tomaselli). During her childhood, Mary was exposed to the cruel behaviour of her father towards his wife, she adopted a submissive nature to relieve Mr. Wollstonecraft's hot-tempered and despotic outbursts (Godwin 9). However, William Godwin5 describes Mary as "distinguished in early youth" and of "exquisite sensibility, soundness of understanding, and decision of character" (9) which were qualities that improved and developed throughout her life. Indeed, Mary was extraordinary. She taught herself "in the progressive ideology, politics and poetics of sensibility" (Sage 675), and she possessed a good knowledge of various literary works and subjects thanks to influential friendships which brightened her intellect. One of the most significant people was her dearest friend, Fanny Blood (Tomaselli). Mary was impressed by her character to such an extent that she attempted to improve in everything and devoted herself to writing and literature with more effort (Godwin 20). Apart from working as a lady‟s companion and governess she, Fanny and her

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William Godwin became Wollstonecraft's husband, after her death he completed Memoirs of

Mary Wollstonecraft about her life and work. The work is sentimental and demonstrates his affection for her. In other words, his depiction of Mary is affectionate and idealistic, though frank. However, his open portrayal of her unconventional lifestyle posthumously destroys her reputation.

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sisters planned to establish a school as she was advocate for the education of women. Unfortunately, in 1785 Fanny died; her death was one of the unhappy moments of Mary‟s life. Mary later left the project of establishing a school due to financial problems that were partially relieved through the publication of her first book, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters: with Reflections on Female Conduct in the More Important Duties of Life (1787). She published the book with the help of her friend and patron, Joseph Jonson with whom she published more of her works: The Cave of Fancy (1787), Original Stories from Real Life; with Conversations, Calculated to Regulate the Affections (1787), Form the Mind to Truth and Goodness (1788) or her anthology, The Female Reader; Miscellaneous Pieces in Prose and Verse; Selected from the Best Writers and Disposed under Proper Heads; for the Improvement of Young Women (1789), which she published under the male name “Mr. Cresswick, teacher of Elocution” (Tomaselli). Her male pseudonym indicates that female authors were not taken as seriously as works published under a male name. Apart from her own publishing, she reviewed, edited and translated several books. Until the end of 1789, all her writing bore the features of morality and aesthetics. In 1789, she reviewed a work, A Discourse on the Love of our Country, by her old friend, Richard Price, which was attacked by Edmund Burke in his Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event (1790). Therefore, Mary took up the pen and wrote defence of Price's A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790), which marked her as a political writer. She continued her political works and in 1792 published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects. In early 1793, she travelled to pro-revolutionary Paris where she developed a relationship with an American merchant, Gilbert Imlay (Sage 676). Mary gave him a

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daughter, Fanny; however, she and Imlay never married. Actually, Imlay did not love her and the relationship gradually faded away. This led her to two suicide attempts and the cruel realization that "the passions are not so easily brought to heel by reason" (Tomaselli). After the breakup with Imlay, she formed a new relationship with an old friend, political theorist and novelist, William Godwin, whom she married in 1797. Later that year, their daughter, Marry, later known as Mary Shelley and the author of Frankenstein, was born. Mary Wollstonecraft died in 1798 from an infection following her second daughter‟s birth.

2.2 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects

2.2.1 Main Objectives and Criticism Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Right of Woman was published in 1792 in London. The main proposal of supporting the equality of men and women was so provocative that even a second edition appeared in the same year. The editions in Dublin, Paris and America soon followed. Both London editions were published with the help of her friend, Joseph Johnson. A Vindication introduced a completely new "sub-genre of political pamphlet" which "combines aspects of a political pamphlet with aspects of educational treatise" (Hodson 287). Wollstonecraft was very influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution. Her reaction to Burke, A Vindication of the Rights of Man (1790) established her as a political writer. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman came soon thereafter and was compiled within months or rather weeks as a reaction to the ideas of the French Revolution. After following her experiences in Paris, Mary was so "full of sentiment of liberty" and interested in struggle (Godwin 51) that she become enthusiastic for a

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matter and perceived herself as a defender of one half of the human race (Godwin 53). The main argument was inspired by the period when she ran a school. She advocated the education of women as the brightening of their mind would make them better wives, mothers and above all human beings, as up to then they were oppressed and enslaved through ignorance. Wollstonecraft argues that education would make better wives and mothers out of women, and they would become real companions to their husbands and, moreover valuable members of society. However, she does not only attack men, she also tries to persuade women to follow her ideas as they seemed satisfied in their current state. While women are kept away from education and have no rights or powers over their own lives they are simply flattered to feel like goddesses, but have no real powers except the sexual ones defined by their only role to give birth and consequently take care of the whole family. Wollstonecraft therefore still stands for "sexual passivity, indolence, and effortless power" as she does not support the usage of female sexual powers. Consequently, A Vindication creates the notion of an "asexual rational woman" who has "little on the emotional and physical side to do but suckle her baby and make sure she does not overfondle it" (Wollstonecraft, Political Writings xxii-xxiii). Indeed, Wollstonecraft goes far in her argument of creating a rational being out of a woman by calling for suppression of a woman‟s nature. A Vindication was received with great shock as it was controversial, though the first reviews were positive (Janes 293). Although the situation for women at that time was slightly changing and many intellectuals were in favour of education for women, as they agreed it would make them a more valuable part of society, Wollstonecraft's idea on changing the social roles within the family and approaching the rights and

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powers of the other, male, sex was inadmissible (Janes 294). Also, the idea of including women in the public sphere (Ferguson 427) or giving them economic independence was under strong opposition (Ferguson 432). In other words, women were not desired to play an active part either the public sphere or the household (Wollstonecraft, Political Writings xvi). Unfortunately, with the publication of Memoirs, Wollstonecraft's reputation broke down and all her works were degraded. Certainly, Godwin did not mean to destroy his deceased wife's reputation, but his open depiction of her life with all the details of her relationship with Gilbert Imlay, their illegitimate child, two suicide attempts and last but not least her hasty marriage to William Godwin in the high state of pregnancy led to severe criticism (Janes 297-298). All this led to an anti-Jacobin attack against Wollstonecraft, her ideas, work and even against her mental health (Janes 299). For example, Ferdinand Lundberg and Marynia Farnhan sharply criticize her mental health in their article "Mary Wollstonecraft and the Psychopathology of Feminism." They claim her to be "an extreme neurotic of a compulsive type," further stating that from her illness "arose the ideology of feminism" and also that "fateful book," A Vindication (Wollstonecraft, A Vindication 225-226). They argue that the book originated from Wollstonecraft's hatred towards men, as she had witnessed the despotic behaviour of her father towards her mother, who endured it in silence. They further state that Wollstonecraft actually repeated her mother's behaviour through the bad relationship with Imlay whom she greatly wanted to marry. Thus, her hatred towards men strengthened and resulted in A Vindication. Lundberg and Farnham based their harsh criticism on the correspondence between Wollstonecraft and Imlay, which in their opinion, broke her mentally and the suicide attempts just prove their argument correct about her mental disorder (Wollstonecraft,

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A Vindication 225-229). Although responses and reviews of A Vindication varied a great deal, it certainly had an impact on the perception of and towards women, as at least two female writers followed Wollstonecraft in her revolutionary ideas, namely Mary Robinson and Mary Hays. Mary Robinson compiled Letters to the Women of England, in the Injustice of Mental Subordination, with Anecdotes (1799) under a pseudonym "Anne Frances Randall." Mary Hays already began to work on the Appeal to the Men of Great Britain on behalf of the Women. Its publication, however was postponed until 1798 due to the publication of A Vindication in 1792. Thus, Hays's Appeal was published anonymously by John Johnson. In 1803, Hays published an anonymous work defending Wollstonecraft's reputation, A Defence of the Character and Conduct of the Late Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin which, though published anonymously, was ascribed to Hays (Janes 300).

2.2.2 Content and Ideas on the Notion of Marriage Explored Mary Wollstonecraft divides A Vindication of the Rights of Woman into thirteen chapters in which she provides a detailed advocacy over the rights of women. She often repeats her arguments and puts them in new connections. She dedicates A Vindication to whole society as she pleads for her sex and strives for independence and freedom (3), as women are rather slaves than the equal part of social system (5). Her main argument suggests that the advancement of women in terms of education would cause the advancement of whole society (4). In the Introduction she stresses the importance of education, as it is apparent from women conduct and manners that "their minds are not in a healthy state" due to the lack of proper education (7). Although Wollstonecraft admits that women are, and

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always will be, of less physical strength due to their physical construction as this is the law of nature, she states that men tend to sink women even lower (8). Wollstonecraft turns not only to men but also to women as to "rational creatures" because she believes that flattering and keeping them in the state of "perpetual childhood" just softens the "slavish dependence." Therefore, she encourages women to strengthen both, body and mind, as "the soft phrases, susceptibility of heart, delicacy of sentiment, and refinement of taste, are almost synonymous with epithets of weakness" (9). The first chapter "The Rights and Involved Duties of Mankind Considered" argues that reason, virtue and knowledge distinguish an individual and place them over the rank of a brute. Wollstonecraft states that all those qualities create a human being that is able to follow their duties set by a society (12). Moreover, she is convinced that "the more equality there is established among men, the more virtue and happiness will reign in society" because the subordination injures morality (1617). Chapters two and three consult the same topic of "The Prevailing Opinion of a Sexual Character" where Wollstonecraft examines the stereotypes women encounter since their childhood. Women are told from their infancy, and taught by the example of their mothers, that a little knowledge of human weakness, justly termed cunning, softness of temper, outward obedience, and scrupulous attention to a puerile kind of property, will obtain for them the protection of man; and that they should be beautiful, as every thing else is needless, for, at least, twenty years of their lives (19). All these prejudices are strengthen not only by books by accepted authors, such as Rousseau, whom Wollstonecraft criticizes for degradation of women but also by myths on the creation of a woman out of a man's rib which makes her automatically inferior to him.

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She proposes an idea of marriage as a partnership of two rational human beings whereas she suggests that no marriage is better than an unhappy one. In the following chapter on the same subject she examines the nature of children as they all possess the same predispositions to become reasonable. She stresses the importance of strengthening the body which would enable women to become a useful part of society, as up to now their standard occupation comprises of arts which are perceived useless and thus woman is, actually, useless too. The fourth chapter "Observations on the State of Degradation to Which Woman is Reduced by Various Causes" focuses on an unsatisfactory state in which women found themselves. Wollstonecraft is discontent that women are actually satisfied with their lives due to their ignorance. Since she is aware of several women who "from having received a masculine education, have acquired courage and resolution," she alludes the fact that both men and women placed in the same situation would acquire similar character (77). She suggests that women are controlled by flattering and "trivial attentions" (57). She argues that women seek only for "pleasure as the main purpose of their existence" (60) on that account, giving women "the employment of life" and "an understanding to improve" (63) would make them real partners to their husbands. Wollstonecraft perceives esteem and friendship as reasons for marriage instead of love that is only evanescent affection (73). In the following, fifth chapter, "Animadversions on Some of the Writers Who Have Rendered Women Objects Pity, Bordering on Contempt" Wollstonecraft criticizes and opposes opinions stated in several educational books on the state of women within society. In five separate sections she deals mainly with Rousseau's Émile that highlights the idea of women subordination to men, Dr. Fordyce's Sermons to Young Women supporting the "angel in the house" concept (96), Dr. Gregory A

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Father's Legacy to his Daughters and others. The main point of the next chapter "The Effect Which an Early Association of Ideas Has upon the Character" argues that associations should originate from reason and not from a mere affection as affectation vanishes in the course of time, as reason make women free because "the right use of reason alone which make us independent of everything" (121). The Chapter 7, "Modesty. - Comprehensibly Considered, and Not as a Sexual Virtue" examines the nature of modesty. Due to appropriate quality of modesty men might to think of themselves in appropriate terms: they have neither too high nor not too low opinion of themselves. She stresses the importance of understanding and education as means of acquiring modesty. She further alludes the idea that women should not stay together in nurseries or schools as they adopt vicious habits there. Moreover, the mutual stay supports the intimacy among women which then they tend to adopt in marriage but the same affection is not possible as men are not sensational creatures. Chapter 8, "Morality Undermined by Sexual Notions of the Importance of a Good Reputation" argues that the importance of a good reputation is "strenuously inculcated on the female world" (131). Wollstonecraft connects a good reputation with "chastity, modesty and public spirit." All these virtues should be "understood and cultivated by all mankind" because their cultivation leads to "virtue and happiness" in society (140). In chapter 9, "Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinctions Established in Society" Wollstonecraft criticizes the habit of paying respect to wealth and mere charms. She argues that firstly, women should learn how to accomplish duties to themselves, secondly, those of citizens and lastly, those of

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mothers. Wollstonecraft also stresses the fact that women should be made valuable part of society either single or married because they possess capacities of performing more useful occupations such as physicians. Chapter on "Parental Affection" deals with two ways of upbringing children that Wollstonecraft perceives particularly unsuitable: mothers tend either to spoil or neglect their children. She states that the woman's duty is to love her child, not spoil it, but at the same she should time keep the family together for the sake of good of her child. In "Duty to Parents" Wollstonecraft examines the duty of children towards their parents as parents took care of children when they were small and feeble thus children should take care of their parents when they get older. In twelfth chapter "On National Education" Wollstonecraft examines ideas and provides suggestions on the education for children of both sexes. She discusses advantages of both private and national education as appropriate means of acquiring general knowledge to benefit that leads advancement of whole society. The last chapter, "Some Instances of the Folly Which the Ignorance of Women Generates; with Concluding Reflections on the Moral Improvement That a Revolution in Female Manners Might Naturally Be Expected to Produce" is divided into six sections in which Wollstonecraft revises her main points discussed throughout A Vindication. The style and content of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman alludes that Mary Wollstonecraft compiled the work full of emotions and thoughts of the Revolution, as she was full its ideas on freedom. Through the course of the work, she often repeats her ideas and also provides personal comments. Wollstonecraft apparently spoke her mind on a paper but also attempted to provide valid reasoning for her case in order to bring it to recognition of public.

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3 Anne Brontë and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall 3.1 Biography Anne Brontë was born in 1820 in Thornton, Yorkshire as the youngest of six children. Apart from her siblings she did not receive any formal education. She was educated at home by her aunt, Elizabeth Branwell. Mrs. Branwell started living with the family after the death of Mrs. Brontë, Anne's mother and Mrs. Branwell's sister, in 1821. Mrs. Branwell was a Wesleyan and thus brought up Anne into a strongly religious person. Anne was particularly attached to her sister Emily. In 1834 they made up an imaginary kingdom of Gondal and wrote many books about it. In 1839, she got her first job as a governess for the Ingham family at Blake Hall. She worked there for two years and then moved to Thorp Green Hall, York, where she and her brother Branwell worked together for the Robinson family. In 1844, Anne and her sisters attempted to establish own school at the Haworth Parsonage but due to its remoteness they were not able to open it, as no students attended. Thus, she returns to the Robinsons. However Anne and Branwell were dismissed due to Branwell's intimate relationship with their employer's wife. The dismissal subsequently broke Branwell down and he started drinking. These experiences as a governess and Branwell's alcoholism inspired her two novels, Agnes Grey (1846) and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848). Her novels were published under a pseudonym "Acton Bell" to spare them from prejudices of society towards women writers as Anne was convinced that "if a book is a good one, it is so whatever the sex of the author may be" (Brontë 14). After an immediate success of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall she wrote a famous preface to the second edition. She continued

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publishing her poems in several magazines until her death in 1849.

3.2 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was published in June in 1848 under Anne's pen name Acton Bell. It was an immediate success and even the second edition was published two months later. In addition the famous preface by Anne herself was attached to it. The novel has several possible inspirations. Anne was either inspired or responded to novels by her sisters, Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily and Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte. On the other hand, the next possible inspiration might have been the life of Anne's brother Branwell who became an alcoholic (Deiderich 25). Whatever her inspiration was, The Tenant is indeed a revolutionary feminist novel (Davies xi) touching upon various topics in connection to position of women within society (Diederich 25). Brontë discusses mainly topics of marriage, religion, education and culture; she also criticizes aristocracy, gossip and stereotypes concerning division of society according to male-public and female-domestic spheres. According to Carol A. Senf, The Tenant is a portrayal of the Victorian society rather than a portrayal of an individual (450). Certainly, Brontë subjects many aspects of women lives to criticism. She concentrates on the position of a woman within marriage from various perspectives. Brontë examines not only domesticity, occupations of a wife or her affections, she also examines the legal side of matrimony. Since Helen, the main female character, flees from her husband, Arthur Huntington, taking their child with her, she breaks not only marriage vows and her duties as a wife but also a law. According to the law, women had no right to their children or possessions because all were subjected to

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their husbands. Brontë's novel, however, does not attempt to criticize Helen's escape but events that brought her to find the escape as a solution to her bad marriage. Since Helen she was a subject to a domestic violence and psychological terror, Brontë's objective was to "unmask ... the myth of a married life" (Ward 158). The Tenant highlights the fact that laws, which place a wife under infinite powers of her husband, enable such abuse. Thus, Brontë alludes that all the misery Helen experiences happens with the consent of inhumane laws and therefore with the consent of society. Brontë further touches upon "espousal of Christian values" (Gilbert & Gubar 80) by portraying Helen as a strongly religious person. Even though she is aware of Arthur's imperfections in spirit, she marries him. She sees him as a "fallen angel" (Gilbert & Gubar 81) whom she decides to reform by her love and example. Plainly speaking, she wants to "redeem the sinner" (Ward 155). Thus she self-sacrifices for him supporting the traditional view on a feminine nature (Carnell 17). Helen's innumerable efforts to reform her husband actually prove that a woman does not possess any effective powers within marriage. Helen's attempts to reform Arthur prove that she does not possess any powers to change him. Indeed, Brontë provides "images of masculine 'corruption' and of Helen's tenuous control over it" (Pool 860). Among other criticism, Brontë points out a critique of an educational system as unjust, favouring men over women. She reproaches aristocrats with their "aimless, idle lives that stoke vanity and repulse thought." She also warns against gossip and idle chat as these are degrading. Brontë's criticism of double standards in education and contempt of gossip and idle talk coincide with thoughts of Mary Wollstonecraft and her Vindication, as Wollstonecraft was a great critic of gossip and small talk to no purpose, too, as degrading feminine occupations (Priti 908).

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Brontë gives a reader the female character of Helen who is extraordinarily strong and "independent in spirit" (Ward 155). Helen's extraordinariness facilitates Brontë's criticism. Helen's bad experience in the matrimony hardens her spirit and she gradually comes to hatred towards men. However, her bad experience makes her "superior in every respect" (Senf 454). Brontë makes her "rational, confident and self-sufficient" which "would be deemed as masculine" (Carnell 10). Thus, Helen speaks freely and rationally about education, marriage, arts, etc. Brontë perceives an opportunity to education as unjust, as she expresses her discontent over double perception of women as "essentially so vicious, or so feeble that she cannot withstand temptation" whereas in men "there is a natural tendency to goodness, guarded by superior fortitude." She, however, suggests that both sexes have the natural ability to weakness and are "prone to err" (Brontë 35). Further, Brontë examines Helen's attitude to art which she first sees as means of expressing her artistic skills, skills which later become her way of making living, as digression from traditional women role (Carnell 23). Helen's occupation as an artist enables her to gain independence from men. Apart from various female character, Brontë provides several male characters divided into two main categories. One type of male characters is abusive and oppresses the women depicted in the novel. These characters represent the traditional system whereas the second type of male characters is protective and thus is meant to represent the new standard in society. Brontë provides these two kinds, evil and good, just like women were commonly portrayed either as angels or monsters in literature (Senf 450-452). Even, "Sharpe's London Magazine was shocked at the portrayal of women as 'superior in every quality, moral and intellectual, to all the men', who 'appear at once coarse, brutal, and contemptibly

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weak, at once disgusting and ridiculous" (Davies xvi). Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall caused a great controversy due to its radicalism and lively portrayal of Arthur's abuse. Brontë's novel has both qualities of an old and new world. She put these two views in close contrast to portray an inadequacies of traditional system. She depicts female desires as "repressed and liberated," as their desires are repressed by tradition and liberated by reformatory notions. Male desires are depicted as "condemned and encouraged," as Brontë advocates good qualities and despise vices of men. Finally, she describes "social practices" as "reformed and reproduced," as Brontë criticizes injustice of social system and proposes solutions while providing more appropriate options (Pool 871).

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4 Analysis The analysis will be devoted mainly to matrimony and its aspects as marriage is an important step in a life of every women. In Anne Brontë's novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall marriage is the main concern. Nearly every character depicted in the novel, both male and female, strives for marriage and looks for a suitable match. This section will, therefore, examine reasons for marriage that various characters have when looking for their potential partners. Apart from common reasons such as money and love, the chapter on courtship will analyse the qualities of an ideal wife according to traditional values strengthened and supported by society. The next chapter on an unhappy marriage will examine the nature of a bad marriage and its impact on the chosen characters regardless their sex. Consequently, the following chapter will analyse motherhood and upbringing of children because this topic connects directly to consequences of an unhappy marriage. Finally, the last chapter will study the shift in both female and male characters towards the "new" ideal. The chapter will, moreover, compare traditional to reformist concepts, with the main concern on male and female roles that often differ from traditional conception. All the aspect will be compared to the innovative ideas of Mary Wollstonecraft, presented in her feminist manifesto A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, as Mary Wollstonecraft also perceives marriage as an important part of the life women and often "the only way women can rise in the world" (Wollstonecraft 10).

4.1 Reasons for Marriage and Courtship The Tenant of Wildfell Hall presents a number of characters in search of a suitable match. Before an actual marriage takes place there is a stage of courtship. A

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woman needs to be introduced into the society in order to meet her potential husband. The Tenant depicts these introductions into the society, too. Young women are usually brought to London during the season to get to be known to men in search of wives. Thus, a man chooses his potential wife and seeks for the suitable match. There are many reasons for marriage. The most common reason is money or improvement in terms of a social rank or obtaining title, than it is beauty, good spirits and obedience of a lady; another reason is love. Although the reasons for marriage may vary as different men and women are involved. Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall depicts all reasons for marriage mentioned above.

4.1.2 Wealth Brontë depicts the search for money or a title as reasons for marriage. She provides several characters who share these reasons, Lord Lowborough, Annabella Wilmont and Jane Wilson. Mrs. Hargrave also perceives wealth as an important reason for marriage even though she is not in search for match herself but she looks for suitable suitors for her daughters, Milicent and Esther. Lord Lowborough's only possession is his title because he has lost everything while having gambling and drinking problems thus, he seeks a woman of fortune who would repay his debts. However, he is also looking for a wife to remain reformed though he does not believe to fall in love again. „“A wife,” he answered; “for I can‟t live alone, because my own mind distracts me, and I can‟t live with you, because you take the devil‟s part against me.” „“Who—I?” „“Yes—all of you do—and you more than any of them, you know. But if I could get a wife, with fortune enough to pay off my debts and set me straight in the world—”

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„“To be sure,” said I. „“And sweetness and goodness enough,” he continued, “to make home tolerable, and to reconcile me to myself, I think I should do yet. I shall never be in love again, that‟s certain; but perhaps that would be no great matter, it would enable me to choose with my eyes open—and I should make a good husband in spite of it; but could any one be in love with me?—that‟s the question. With your good looks and powers of fascination” (he was pleased to say), “I might hope; but as it is, Huntington, do you think anybody would take me—ruined and wretched as I am?” (Brontë 159) Even though Lord Lowborough has reformed, his reputation has suffered and thus no lady is willing to marry him. Yet, his title is an attraction for Annabella Wilmont. Since she possesses a considerable fortune, she longs for increase in the social ladder and thus she marries him for his title. Their marriage might seem as the suitable match as both characters get what they have been looking for, Lord Lowborough gets the wife and money to pay off his debts, Annabella gets the title. Regardless all presumptions, their marriage is unhappy for Annabella does not love nor respect her husband and eventually she has a love affair with Arthur Huntington. The next character striving for money is Jane Wilson who "had, or might have had, many suitors in her own rank of life, but scornfully repulsed or rejected them all; for none but a gentleman could please her refined taste, and none but a rich one could satisfy her soaring ambition" (Brontë 24). Therefore, she tries to charm Frederick Lawrence due to his fortune and agreeable position in the society. However, her desire for money is too obvious and thus Gilbert Markham reveals her character to Frederick as "selfish, cold-hearted, ambitious, artful, shallow-minded" (Brontë 322) and he even alludes that if Frederick married her his "home would be

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rayless and comfortless" and the unfortunate connection would break his heart (Brontë 323). Even though Frederick is shocked at first, he ceases to visit Jane. Jane eventually does not marry at all for she could not find an eligible match. Mrs. Hargrave, the mother of Milicent, Esther and Walter, also belongs to the category of characters who perceive money as a legitimate reason for marriage. She wants her daughters to marry advantageously because the Hargraves are not very rich and that is why she wants to see her daughters properly established. Our dear mamma is very anxious to see us all well married, that is, united to rich partners. [...] She says when I am safe off her hands it will be such a relief to her mind; and she assures me it will be a good thing for the family as well as for me. (Brontë 179-180) Since Mrs. Hargrave does not care about the personal like or dislikes, she manipulates Milicent into an unhappy marriage. Similarly she attempts to set the advantageous match for her younger daughter, Esther, but Esther is in opposition because she is of a stronger personality than Milicent. On that account, Esther's mother and brother severely criticize her for being "disobedient and ungrateful;" and tell her that she is a burden to the family (Brontë 287). [...] she will not put herself to the expense of taking me up to London again, unless I surrender: she cannot afford to take me to town for pleasure and nonsense, she says, and it is not every rich gentleman that will consent to take me without a fortune, whatever exalted ideas I may have of my own attractions. (Brontë 288) Brontë probably found inspiration in Wollstonecraft's ideas when creating the character of Mrs. Hargrave. Wollstonecraft's idea compares advantageous marriage for money in spite of personal preferences to prostitution. To rise in the world, and have the liberty of running from pleasure to pleasure, they 37

must marry advantageously, and to this object their time is sacrificed, and their persons often legally prostituted. (Wollstonecraft 60) To conclude, wealth and advantageous social position were key factors during courtship but Brontë insinuates that these motives do not lead to happy marriage because Lord Lowborough gets divorced, Jane Wilson does not marry at all and Milicent suffers in her marriage first.

4.1.2 Obedient Wife Most men find beauty and obedience of a lady as a valid reason for marriage. A man is usually looking for a beautiful maiden of sufficient wealth. She should be also obedient, able to fulfil husband's needs, love him, appreciate him and serve him. The Tenant presents Mr. Arthur Huntington and Mr. Ralph Hattersley as examples of such a man. They represent the view on wives from the traditional perspective. According to the tradition, women are taught from early infancy how to behave as obedient wives. The criticism of such a traditional is to be found in both Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication and Anne Brontë's The Tenant. Mary Wollstonecraft criticizes the traditional requirements on women education which should be always relative to the men. To please, to be useful to us, to make us love and esteem them, to educate us when young, and take care of us when grown up, to advise, to console us, to render our lives easy and agreeable: these are the duties of women at all times, and what they should be taught in their infancy. (Wollstonecraft 79) Wollstonecraft, therefore, explains at length that the insufficient education of women makes mere toys of them and thus degrades them. She instructs that education on

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household matters and instructions on pleasing a husband makes women of weak mind. Wollstonecraft goes even further with this idea and compares a wife to a "convenient slave" (Wollstonecraft 5). She is completely dissatisfied with the subjection to men and traditional qualities that woman are taught from infancy. In her opinion, the dull obedience and sweet temper enable potential abuse because a woman was . . . formed to obey a being so imperfect as a man, often full of vices, and always full of faults, she ought to learn betimes even to suffer injustice, and to bear the insults of a husband without complaint; it is not for his sake, but her own, that she should be of a mild disposition. (Wollstonecraft 83) Brontë presents two male characters, Arthur Huntington and Ralph Hattersley, who search for obedient wives and eventually abuse them. Both characters know precisely what a perfect wife should be like to fulfil their needs and desires. Arthur Huntington has a clear idea of a perfect wife. His idea of a wife is a thing to love one devotedly and to stay at home - to wait upon her husband, and amuse him and minister to his comfort in every possible way, while he chooses to stay with her; and, when he is absent, to attend to his interests, domestic or otherwise, and patiently wait his return; no matter how he may be occupied in the meantime. (Brontë 192) He perceives woman as a pet (Brontë 164) and often refers to her as to a creature. "It is a woman's nature to be constant - to love one and one only, blindly, tenderly, and for ever - bless them, dear creatures!" (Brontë 189) Even though, Arthur is particularly selfish, these expectations on the wife's behaviour were not rare; and the novel offers a man of similar views, Mr. Ralph Hattersley. Mr. Hattersley is another male character who shares the same idea of a wife

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and goes in search of an obedient wife who would not stand in his way. I must have somebody that will let me have my own way in everything. [...] I must have some good, quiet soul that will let me just do what I like and go where I like, keep at home or stay away, without a word of reproach or complaint; for I can't do with being bothered. (Brontë 178) He is consequently introduced to Milicent Hargrave, a quiet person brought up in a traditional way and thus supporting the "angel in the house" imagery. Milicent is certainly a perfect match for Hattersley. Even though she is neither in love with him nor feels much of an affection, her mother forces her into marriage because of Hattersley's wealth. Due to Milicent's traditional education, she does her best to please her Ralph who constantly abuses her and she does not defy. Certainly, both writers share the idea that beauty and good spirits do not ensure happy life to a possessor. Moreover, they argue that these qualities enable a woman to endure abuse and manage it because her character is not strong enough to resist it.

4.1.2 Love and Friendship Love and mutual understanding are the last reasons for marriage to be explored. Wollstonecraft's A Vindication proposes the idea of marriage as a partnership of two rational human beings. She suggests that for accomplishment of this proposal, women should be educated and learn to think rationally and not just on the basis of pleasures and emotions. Secondly, she is convinced that marriage should be based on mutual understanding and love. However, love is not to be confused with an artificial affection but is to be apprehended rather as a friendship. Since marriage is not well-grounded on friendship but on artificial affection, it soon

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disappears. A wife is, consequently, confused because she cannot understand why her husband ceased to love her after he treated her like a goddess, flattered her and ensured her of his infinite love. She is therefore perplexed and only dreams of a perfect and loving husband. Love, considered as an animal appetite, cannot long feed on itself without expiring. And this extinction, in its own flame, may be termed the violent death of love. But the wife who has thus been rendered licentious, will probably endeavour to fill the void left by the loss of her husband's attentions; for she cannot contentedly become merely an upper servant after having been treated like a goddess. She is still handsome, and, instead of transferring her fondness to her children, she only dreams of enjoying the sunshine of life. (Vindication 73) (Thus they) waste their lives in imagining how happy they should have been with a husband who could love them with a fervid increasing affection every day, and all day. But they might as well pine married as single—and would not be a jot more unhappy with a bad husband than longing for a good one. (Wollstonecraft 33) Although Helen perceives love as the most legitimate motive for marriage, her notion of it is rather idealistic. She wants to find a husband whom she might love, respect and honour. 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. My affections not only ought to be founded on approbation, but they will and must be so: for, without approving, I cannot love. It is needless to say, I ought to be able to respect and honour the man I marry, as well as love him, for I cannot love him without. (Brontë 111)

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Since Helen has no experience, she is easily deceived by artful play of Arthur Huntington and falls in love with him. Thus, Brontë provides an example of a wife's perplexity over the loss of love. While Arthur courts Helen he is charming, treats her with respect and endows her with deep admiration. He often calls her "his angel" and expresses how good she makes him and will make him in future if they stay together. . . . until my acquaintance with you, dear Helen, taught me other views and nobler aims. And the very idea of having you to care for under my roof would force me to moderate my expenses and live like a Christian—not to speak of all the prudence and virtue you would instil into my mind by your wise counsels and sweet, attractive goodness. (Brontë 142) In other words, he attributes her as his goddess capable of changing his vices into moderation and nobility. Helen's aunt warned her on the subject saying that "beauty is that quality which, next to money, is generally the most attractive to the worst kinds of men; and, therefore, it is likely to entail a great deal of trouble on the possessor" (Brontë 110). She instructed her that she should not consider "external attractions", "fascinations of flattery and light discourse" as an appropriate ground for her affection, as love and affection should be based on esteem and that she should study first, then approve and then love (Brontë 111). Regardless all the warnings from the aunt and Helen's ideal of a husband, she fells in love with Arthur and consequently marries him. Her choice might be influenced by the character of Mr. Boarham who makes a proposal to Helen but she refuses because she finds him boring and despises him. Helen's false reasoning make her choice of marrying Arthur fatal because only eight weeks after their wedding Helen finds out that her powers over Arthur's character will not be so influential. She even regrets that she has ever fallen in love with him and then married him. The rest of their marriage she wishes that he

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has changed and reformed but gradually she reconciles that he will not ever reform. Milicent's marriage is not found on any attraction or affection because she is manipulated into marriage with Mr. Hattersley. She is unhappy for her husband does not love her and moreover he engages in drinking. So she spends her days dreaming how perfect her marriage could be if Ralph reformed, loved her and respected her. Certainly, marriage based on artificial love is not determined to end up as a happy one. For that reason Wollstonecraft and Brontë advocate that friendship, rather than love, is more suitable foundation for marriage. Friendship is a serious affection; the most sublime of all affections, because it is founded on principle, and cemented by time. The very reverse may be said of love. In a great degree, love and friendship cannot subsist in the same bosom; even when inspired by different objects they weaken or destroy each other, and for the same object can only be felt in succession. The vain fears and fond jealousies, the winds which fan the flame of love, when judiciously or artfully tempered, are both incompatible with the tender confidence and sincere respect of friendship. (Wollstonecraft 73) Brontë coincides with Wollstonecraft's idea that friendship is a suitable foundation for marriage and thus she bases the relationship between Helen and Gilbert Markham on friendship. Gilbert's ideas on marriage differ from the traditional notions and he finds friendship as an important factor in the relationship of two people. Let me first establish my position as a friend,‟ thought I—„the patron and playfellow of her son, the sober, solid, plain-dealing friend of herself, and then, when I have made myself fairly necessary to her comfort and enjoyment in life (as I believe I can), we‟ll see what next may be effected. (Brontë 64) Anne Brontë's depiction of Arthur's courtship certainly coincides with the 43

thoughts of Mary Wollstonecraft in her Vindication. According to Mary Wollstonecraft, while courting a man treats a maiden like a goddess: is attentive, kind and loving (Wollstonecraft 73) but he actually deceives her. Helen's aunt expresses the same contempt of flattering while advising Helen not to marry accordingly the superficial fondness. Moreover, Brontë and Wollstonecraft share the idea that affection should be based on knowledge and esteem for the future partner as "fondness is a poor substitute for friendship!" (Wollstonecraft 29). They both agree that friendship and mutual understanding is the best reason for marriage. Therefore they prove that this motive has the best consequences for both partners and thus makes marriage successful. When the motive for marriage is not valid then the marriage emerges as an unhappy one with harsh consequences.

4.2 Unhappy Marriage and its Consequences The Tenant of Wildfell Hall presents three characters who undergo the hardship in an unhappy marriage: Helen Huntington, Milicent Hargrave-Hattersley and Lord Lowborough. All three characters are distressed and deal with their situation differently accordingly to their dispositions and also gender. Lord Lowborough has the most possibilities how to solve his situation as for him, as a man, obtaining a divorce is not difficult. On the other hand, both female characters have less possibilities because, according to the law, they are not permitted to get divorced so easily. Even though their situation is the same, they decide on different solutions and also their marriages end up differently. Helen decides to escape from her husband and hide at a distant and secret place as a refugee. On the contrary, Milicent decides to be the obedient wife and endure all the suffering. Luckily her husband reforms towards the end of the novel and consequently their marriage

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becomes a happy one. Certainly, fact that Helen influences both other relationships, of Lord Lowborough and Annabella and of Milicent and Ralph Hattersley is the most striking. Lord Lowborough has been striving for a wife for a long time. As he states, he needs her to stay reformed and also for money. He succumbs to the charms of Annabella Wilmont who plays an active role during their courting. In a sense, Annabella might serve as a male character for she is strong in terms of her will. While courting, she actually deceives Lord Lowborough when telling him that she has no interest in his title and assures him of her love. In their marriage she does not fulfil traditional duties of a wife. Annabella does not honour him or respect her husband but the contrary. She acts rather contemptuously and humiliates him on several occasions in front of the whole company. Lord Lowborough lapses into depressions and when discovering Annabella's affair with Arthur he is broken and does not know what to do. He talks to Helen on the subject. Their dialogue portrays a change of Helen's character due to her unhappy marriage and also sadness over the traditional role of wives in society and their subjection, for Lord Lowborough has more rights as a man. 'Two years ago; and two years hence you will be as calm as I am now, - and far, far happier, I trust, for you are a man, and free to act as you please.' Something like a smile, but a very bitter one, crossed his face for a moment. 'You have not been happy lately?' he said, with a kind of effort to regain composure, and a determination to waive the further discussion of his own calamity. 'Happy!' I repeated, almost provoked at such a question - 'Could I be so, with such a husband?'

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'I have noticed a change in your appearance since the first years of your marriage,' pursued he: 'I observed it to - to that infernal demon,' he muttered between his teeth - 'and he said it was your own sour temper that was eating away your bloom: it was making you old and ugly before your time, and had already made his fireside as comfortless as a convent cell - You smile Mrs. Huntington - nothing moves you. I wish my nature were as calm as yours!' 'My nature was not originally calm,' said I: 'I have learned to appear so by dint of hard lessons, and many repeated efforts.' (Brontë 265) Helen plays the active role here when reminding Lord Lowborough on his possibilities and powers within society. In the end, Lord Lowborough divorces Annabella and later he marries again. Certainly Lord Lowborough has the most possibilities how to solve his unhappy marriage as opposed to Milicent and Helen. Milicent marries Ralph Hattersley due to her mother's wish and even though she is not fond of him, she attempts to be a good wife to him. Her obedience results from her naturally weak character and strict upbringing. She does not complain about anything even when her husband abuses her. She, however, expresses her discontent in several letters to Helen in which she tries hard to make an amount of excuses for her husband's terrible behaviour. The point is that their marriage does not arise from any esteem or mutual understanding. Even though Ralph got an obedient wife as he wanted and Milicent obeys him, he is not satisfied. Since Ralph can do whatever he pleases to Milicent, abuse her, be engaged in heavy drinking, swear, nothing seems to arouse any effect on her. Her seeming indifference makes him angry. How can I help playing the deuce when I see it‟s all one to her whether I behave like a Christian or like a scoundrel, such as nature made me? and how can I help

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teasing her when she‟s so invitingly meek and mim, when she lies down like a spaniel at my feet and never so much as squeaks to tell me that‟s enough?‟ [...] „I sometimes think she has no feeling at all; and then I go on till she cries, and that satisfies me.‟ (Brontë 224) Eventually he acknowledges that even though he married the obedient wife he is not satisfied and states that men "shouldn‟t always have what we want: it spoils the best of us, doesn‟t it?" (Brontë 224) He perceives her obedient silence as a dishonest behaviour. He suggests that the traditional education of women which makes them dull and finally none of the partners is contended, "she should tell me so: I don‟t like that way of moping and fretting in silence, and saying nothing: it‟s not honest. How can she expect me to mend my ways at that rate?" (Brontë 225) Thus, he rejects the traditional way of women education with this remark. The problem also is that Ralph does not know his wife properly and is not able to recognize her true feelings for their relationship is not built on friendship. Similarly to Lord Lowborough's case, Helen plays an active role also in the story of the Hattersleys. She attempts to enlighten Ralph and thus to help Milicent. She helps him understand his wife's true feelings when disclosing Milicent's letters to him and thus proving her emotive nature and romantic feelings for Ralph. Consequently Helen makes the second attempt which finally reforms Ralph and since then their marriage becomes a happy one. Even though Helen actively helped the both characters, Lord Lowborough and Milicent, it seems that in terms of her own marriage she stays passive and willing to endure Arthur's abusive behaviour for years. However apart from Milicent, Helen becomes active and decides to leave Arthur but not for the sake of herself but because of her son. Brontë depicts the marriage of the Huntingtons in a naturalistic way. She does

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not omit the scenes of abuse and portrays them in detail. Helen passively endures Arthur's abuse and terrible behaviour but when she discovers his affair with Annabella she decides to come to an agreement with Arthur. She wants to take their son and leave him. The scene examines the power of a husband in a marriage as his wife is fully subordinate to him. Arthur strictly prohibits her to leave as he will not be laughed at. When he later discovers her plans of escape, he exercises his powers within the matrimony again and confiscates all her property of any value to prevent her from escape. He even destroys her painting equipment, as she plans to make some money on it. However Helen is determined to escape not for her own sake, but for the sake of her son, Arthur. She is worried about an influence of his father because he acts contrary to her bringing up and deliberately spoils the child's character. Thus, Helen asks her brother to help her. This scene of asking Frederick for help depicts the subordinate position of women to men. Since Arthur took all her valuables and painting equipment, she is not able to escape without help; and her brother has financial resources and a place to hide her in. Both Brontë and Wollstonecraft criticize the subordinate position of women not only to husbands but to all men that occur in women's lives meaning also their fathers and brothers. They state that when a woman finds herself without means of supporting herself on her own, she needs to turn to a man for help; just like Helen turns to her brother. Brontë develops her revolt against men assistance in support and depicts Helen as a breadwinner for she insists on supporting herself and her child by her hands. Thus, she becomes a professional painter to gain financial independence from both Arthur and Frederick. Indeed, the unhappy marriage changed Helen a lot. She used to be a happy, charming and high-spirited maiden and the hardship in her marriage forces her to

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hide behind the mask of indifference and sadness. The change of her nature is apparent from the conversation with Lord Lowborough, as Helen does not only become unhappy but she begins to hate Arthur and nearly all men. I must have a bad disposition, for my misfortunes have soured and embittered me exceedingly: I was beginning insensibly to cherish very unamiable feelings against my fellow-mortals, the male part of them especially; but it is a comfort to see there is at least one among them worthy to be trusted and esteemed; and doubtless there are more, though I have never known them, unless I except poor Lord Lowborough, and he was bad enough in his day. (Brontë 286) The stories of unhappy marriages reveal Milicent and Helen as traditionally brought up women who do their best to fulfil their duties as a wife to please their husbands. They are passive, hiding their true feelings and hoping that their marriages will get better. On the other hand, they are well aware of their unhappy situation and wish that no other woman repeats their mistakes by choosing an inadequate husband. Therefore they make an effort that Esther, Milicent's younger sister, does not make the same mistake. They give her advice on marriage and beg her not to submit to wishes of her mother if she does not agree with her mother's choice of a suitor. Milicent insists that Esther "never, on any account, or for anybody's persuasion, (to) marry for the sake of money, or rank, or establishment, or any earthly thing but true affection and well-grounded esteem" (Brontë 219). Similarly Helen warns her against the traps of courtship and bad choice that will make her unhappy for the rest of her life. Keep both heart and hand in your own possession, till you see good reason to part with them; and if such an occasion should never present itself, comfort your mind with this reflection, that though in single life your joys may not be very many, your

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sorrows, at least, will not be more than you can bear. Marriage may change your circumstances for the better, but, in my private opinion, it is far more likely to produce a contrary result. (Brontë 288) To summarize, both Helen and Milicent stay passive in terms of their own marital situations but they play active roles while giving advice to Esther. Certainly, Brontë wants to warn against marriage which might end up unhappily and therefore she portrays the consequences of a bad choice. Brontë's The Tenant explores the nature of an unhappy marriage and depicts several situations which end up differently to examine the problem of unhappy marriage thoroughly. She also examines the influence of abuse on women and thus secretly criticizes society enabling it. For that reason, she describes situations of abuse in much detail and adds inner thoughts of the victim who successively starts hating men. Even though Helen breaks both her duty as a wife by her escapes and the law when taking her son, Brontë advocates Helen's behaviour as the only possibility. However Brontë suggests that marriage may still become a happy one when both partners make an effort by describing the happy ending of the Hattersleys.

4.3 Mothers and Upbringing of Children Wollstonecraft makes a shocking, though true point, when stating that a bad marriage makes better mothers of unhappy wives, as exhibited in the passage "an unhappy marriage is often very advantageous to a family, and that the neglected wife is, in general, the best mother" (Wollstonecraft 31). Certainly, both Helen and Milicent are excellent mothers. Moreover Helen's mother love causes the turning point of the novel. She is convinced that parents have the key influence on the nature of their child. On that account, she does her best to prevent little Arthur from vices of his

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father and finally, she places the innocence of the little Arthur before her duty as a wife and escapes with him. In Helen's opinion parents have the key influence on their children; they may spoil them or educate them properly. She often makes excuses of Arthur and subscribes his bad qualities to an inappropriate upbringing by his parents. I lay them both to the charge of his harsh yet careless father, and his madly indulgent mother (Brontë 182). [He] had a bad, selfish, miserly father, who, to gratify his own sordid passions, restricted him in the most innocent enjoyments of childhood and youth, and so disgusted him with every kind of restraint;—and a foolish mother who indulged him to the top of his bent, deceiving her husband for him, and doing her utmost to encourage those germs of folly and vice it was her duty to suppress,—and then, such a set of companions as you represent his friends to be—‟(Brontë 144) Also Arthur himself takes advantage of the vices of his parents as an excuse for his bad conduct, "My father, you know, was something of a miser, and in his latter days especially saw no pleasure in life but to amass riches; and so it is no wonder that his son should make it his chief delight to spend them" (Brontë 142). Helen thinks that bringing up, educating her children and forming their character properly is woman's duty. She perceives not spoiling her child but doing her best to protect him against the vices of the world are her sacred duties as a mother, "If ever I am a mother I will zealously strive against this crime of over-indulgence. I can hardly give it a milder name when I think of the evils it brings" (Brontë 183). Similarly, Wollstonecraft shares the idea of proper upbringing. Wollstonecraft warns at length that women should be careful not to spoil their children's temper. She proposes that women should bring up children reasonably,

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rather than over-sensitively in order to prevent them from spoiling. Mankind seem to agree that children should be left under the management of women during their childhood. Now, from all the observation that I have been able to make, women of sensibility are the most unfit for this task, because they will infallibly, carried away by their feelings, spoil a child's temper. The management of the temper, the first, and most important branch of education, requires the sober steady eye of reason; a plan of conduct equally distant from tyranny and indulgence: yet these are the extremes that people of sensibility alternately fall into. (Wollstonecraft 68) Helen complies Wollstonecraft's views on qualities of a mother because even though Helen loves her son a lot, she is guided by her reason while upbringing him. She is worried about the character of her son Arthur because he is under a damaging influence of her husband who does not possess any qualities she longs her child should have. For that reason, she is strict with her son and exercises his good tastes and senses. Since she is worried that little Arthur might become an alcoholic just like his father, she makes him despise spirits. Helen is consistent in giving her son a detestation for "intoxicating liquors" (Brontë 284) to prevent him from becoming an alcoholic an future. On the contrary, her husband encourages little Arthur to drink, as drinking will make a man. Thus, little Arthur "learned to tipple wine like papa, to swear like Mr. Hattersley, and to have his own way like a man, and sent mamma to the devil when she tried to prevent him" (Brontë 269). Brontë reveals that alcohol drinking is common for small children and rationalized as making men of them, "The poor child will be the veriest milksop that ever was sopped! Only think what a man you will make of him" (Brontë 32). Since occasional drinking is supposed to strengthen child's mind and teaches it to resist

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temptation, prohibition to resist it spoils child's character. However Helen would rather have her son dead than possess the same vicious qualities like his father. Brontë depicts in what extent upbringing of Arthur and Helen differs and explores its effects on the child. Arthur encourages the vicious behaviour he once despised in his own father. Furthermore spoiling his son's temper becomes an entertainment and means of torturing Helen, because he is well aware of the distress he causes her. Thus, Brontë actually diverges from Wollstonecraft's idea that unhappy wives are better mothers because when Helen is unhappy she feels not being a suitable companion for her son. But in the morning, when I woke without that cheering hope that had been my secret comfort and support so long, and all this day, when I have wandered about restless and objectless, shunning my husband, shrinking even from my child, knowing that I am unfit to be his teacher or companion, hoping nothing for his future life, and fervently wishing he had never been born,—I felt the full extent of my calamity, and I feel it now. I know that day after day such feelings will return upon me. I am a slave—a prisoner—but that is nothing; if it were myself alone I would not complain, but I am forbidden to rescue my son from ruin, and what was once my only consolation is become the crowning source of my despair. (Brontë 283) Apart from Wollstonecraft's suggestion that unhappy wives make better mothers, she also states that when marriage is based on friendship a mother will bring up her child better, as "the mother will not neglect her children to practise the arts of coquetry, when sense and modesty secure her the friendship of her husband". (Wollstonecraft 6) On that account, Brontë portrays damaging effect of an unhappy marriage not only for wife but also for children in terms of pervasive tension between parents and their

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disunited way of upbringing.

4.4 Traditional versus Reformist Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall criticizes a traditional conception of women and their position in relation to men. The position which enables their degradation and unjust treatment within marriage. The Tenant examines the tension between traditional and reformist views in connection to female characters: their duties in marriage, the expectations of a husband, etc. Apart from a portrayal of female characters, the novel also provides two types of male characters, the traditional and reformist. The characters belonging to the traditional type category perceive women in purely subordinate role and express their expectations on behaviour and occupation of women, Arthur Huntington and Ralph Hattersley are examples. Brontë and Wollstonecraft criticize this is type of men in their works as degrading women and suppressing their qualities. On the other hand, Brontë also presents characters who support women, protect them and perceive them as equal human beings, for examples Gilbert Markham and Frederick Lawrence. The portrayal of this type of characters coincides with Wollstonecraft's thoughts on marriage as a partnership of two rational beings who share mutual respect and honour each other. Frederick is an example of a protective man. He enables his sister's escape when he lets her stay in Wildfell Hall. Even though he tries to persuade her to solve the unbearable situation differently, he agrees to help in the end because he wants neither his sister nor his nephew to suffer. Gilbert Markham is the next character belonging to the reformist category is. Gilbert has a reformist vision of marriage quite a contrary to wishes of Ralph

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and Arthur. He wants to make his wife happy, not to be only pleased by her but also return his affection, "when I marry, I shall expect to find more pleasure in making my wife happy and comfortable, than in being made so by her: I would rather give than receive" (Brontë 53). Gilbert perceives the importance of friendship and suggests that friendship might secure him Helen's affection, as he wants to become her friend first to reinforce his position and then he would attempt to gain her love. When Helen falls in love with Gilbert Markham Brontë explores Helen's perplexity between traditional and reformist duty as a wife. Certainly, Helen's new love for Gilbert and the obligation towards her legitimate husband creates the tension between the traditional and the reformist view on marriage and women as such. According to the traditional view on marriage, women should be obedient. Since Wollstonecraft argues that the women subjection is partly the woman‟s fault, as exhibited in the passage "the perverseness and illnature of the women only serve to aggravate their own misfortunes, and the misconduct of their husbands; they might plainly perceive that such are not the arms by which they gain the superiority" (Wollstonecraft 83), she calls for a change in the behaviour of the women "who (should) strengthen her body and exercise her mind will, by managing her family and practicing various virtues, become the friend, and not the humble dependent of her husband" (Wollstonecraft 29). She proposes a move from passivity to activity just like in the case of Helen who stops being passive and changes her life actively. Unfortunately, Helen oversteps the traditional boundaries just partly. She escapes from Arthur but returns when he is ill, as her obligation towards him is strong. When Arthur dies, Helen stays in their household until Gilbert comes to propose but when he finds about Helen's wealth he feels unfit to marry her. For that reason, Helen makes a proposal herself. In this scene, Brontë

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reverses the traditional roles of men and women. She introduces various situations where Helen possesses the qualities often attributed to men or plays an active role instead of men thus influencing them. Brontë's The Tenant reverses the traditional characteristics often rigidly ascribed to men and women. She depicts Arthur having qualities which Wollstonecraft severely criticized in women; and Helen with qualities often ascribed to men. In A Vindication Wollstonecraft criticizes that women are kept in the state of childhood in order to secure their good conduct (Vindication 20). She is distressed that women find their tastes in seeking artificial pleasures and are narrow-minded. She, however, compares men and women and states that "husbands, as well as their helpmates, are often only overgrown children" (Vindication 22). Certainly, this description resembles Arthur faithfully. Brontë portrays him as a husband in the traditional marriage where everything is subordinated to him but at the same time, she attributes him the qualities of a childish woman. He is very selfish and requests that his wife amuses and pleases him; and in return, he teases her with childlike amusements while describing her his former love affairs. Helen's outburst of hurt feelings flatters him instead of causing shame. He deliberately ruins himself by heavy drinking and when partially recovering from an illness, he restores his drinking habits. Helen warns him that the illness might return but he does not care. This scene shows his childish and weak character while Helen is the reasonable person here. If I had reasoned with him like a rational creature, he says, it never would have happened; but to be treated like a baby or a fool was enough to put any man past his patience, and drive him to assert his independence even at the sacrifice of his own interest. He forgets how often I had reasoned him „past his patience‟ before.

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He appears to be sensible of his danger; but nothing can induce him to behold it in the proper light. (Brontë 341) Thus, Brontë puts Arthur in contrast with Helen, as she reverses their roles in their relationship in terms of rationality and sense. Moreover Brontë portrays Helen overstepping passivity by active control over her own fate and influence of conduct of others. From the traditional point of view, Gilbert, as a man, should be the vehicle of action but it is Helen who plays an active role in the key moments of their relationship. She hands him her diary explaining her behaviour and finally she makes a proposal to him. Since Gilbert decides to terminate their friendship because he thinks Helen has an affair with Frederick, Helen's diary is the key document which enlightens Gilbert on Helen's past. At that moment Helen does not stay passive but comes and hands him his diary explaining her reserved conduct and extreme opinions on matters they have discussed. Later, when Gilbert comes to regain Helen's affection he loses his courage due to her wealth and thus Helen makes a proposal to him herself. This rose is not so fragrant as a summer flower, but it has stood through hardships none of them could bear: the cold rain of winter has sufficed to nourish it, and its faint sun to warm it; the bleak winds have not blanched it, or broken its stem, and the keen frost has not blighted it. Look, Gilbert, it is still fresh and blooming as a flower can be, with the cold snow even now on its petals.—Will you have it? (Brontë 373) She compares herself to a rose which has endured much hardship but still is strong enough to move on and beautiful enough to be given. Offering the rose means offering herself to Gilbert. Helen explains him that she does not care about different

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social rank but wants her husband to be her friend. Certainly, Helen plays the active role here when proposing to Gilbert and thus reversing their traditional roles. Apart from becoming active and breaking traditional roles, Helen is also influential with other characters. Brontë introduces several male characters undergoing a change in their conduct towards women due to Helen's interference. Gilbert Markham matures under the influence of more experienced Helen and changes from a naive and selfish youth into an attentive partner who values and respect the opinions of his lover. Mr. Hattersley becomes aware of the needs of Milicent when realizing damaging effects of his behaviour. The last but not least, Lord Lowborough recognizes his value and becomes more sensible, as his second marriage provides him happiness. The second time, Lord Lowborough is wiser and does only not look for a lady with a beautiful face and a good family background. His second choice carries the marks of the equal marriage proposed by Mary Wollstonecraft. To conclude, though Helen sometimes acts passively, she helps and enlightens men and women surrounding her. Her interferences often improve the quality of marriage and the position of women in general.

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Conclusion The ideas on marriage in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë often coincide with innovative thoughts proposed by Mary Wollstonecraft in her political manifesto A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Brontë's novel deals with the problem of an unhappy marriage and its damaging effects on women and children. Even though the heroine undergoes the unhappy marriage and escapes, Brontë does not want to portray marriage as worthless. Since Brontë still perceives marriage as an important step in the lives of women, her novel serves as a warning and depicts the consequences of a bad choice of a husband. Similarly, Wollstonecraft does not want to abandon matrimony, as she respects "marriage, as the foundation of almost every social virtue" (Vindication 71). However, both writers want to change the traditional conception of marriage in which a wife is absolutely subordinate to her husband. Brontë and Wollstonecraft subject the traditional marriage to severe criticism. Wollstonecraft is discontented with the subordination of women without any reasonable foundation but being created by the standards of society. On that account, Brontë examines the nature of marriage and the subordination of a wife. A husband may act as he pleases, has powers to forbid anything, and all his wife's possessions belong to him. She depicts these powers in the scene when Arthur confiscates Helen's valuables. He even destroys her painting equipment she wanted to use as means of living, thereby preventing her from leaving. Arthur exercises his powers to abuse Helen and she has no means of stopping him. When she escapes, taking her son with her, she breaks her husband's right because she must not take the child without her husband's consent. Brontë's novel criticizes a woman's

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subordination and also the laws supporting their degradation as illegitimate, though this subordination is often justified by their delicate bodily construction. Wollstonecraft argues that a delicate bodily construction does not signify a weakness of mind, as in her opinion, the weakness of mind is rather caused by insufficient education. Wollstonecraft compares education to the ability of reasoning. For that reason, Brontë and Wollstonecraft explore the causes of improper reasoning as a lack of education and its consequences. The most improper are reasons for marriage. They underrate traditional motives such as money, beauty, obedience and artificial affection as insufficient, and Brontë's novel proves them to cause unhappy marriage. Both authors, however, agree that marriage based on friendship and mutual understanding is the most successful. Brontë examines the way Helen falls in love with Arthur and consequently with Gilbert. The relationship with Arthur is based on false reasoning, as she thinks she would be able to make him a better man, and strengthened by Arthur's skillful manipulation. On the other hand, Gilbert and Helen become friends first; they share tastes and opinions and therefore their relationship is determined to be successful in the end. Even though Helen underwent the unhappy marriage and abuse, she becomes a strong character and gains experience. Under severe circumstances, Helen grows wiser and her views of the marriage mature. She is no longer naive nor seeks a man who would just charm and deceive her by either false kindness or false affection. She values understanding, friendship and deeper knowledge of Gilbert. They are equal partners. Helen is not a pet, a decoration, or a slave any more. She reaches a crucial change by the turn from the passive silence to the active and a control over her own fate. Mary Wollstonecraft and Anne Brontë propose a change in the thinking of women and encourage them to control their lives actively. Brontë's The Tenant of

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Wildfell Hall proves that passivity makes women unhappy. She introduces Milicent and Helen to depict the difference between passive and active control over their lives. At the beginning, Helen seems to be an active female character freely choosing her future husband and basing her choice on love because she refuses her first suitor, Mr. Boarham, whom she does not love. She has idealistic thoughts about the character of her potential husband. However, Arthur's skillful play and flattering manipulates her into marriage rather than her active approach and sensible notions of Arthur's qualities. On the contrary, Milicent is educated according to traditional values and is therefore passive, representing the qualities of the "angel in the house," indeed. For her passive approach, she is manipulated into marriage by her greedy mother. The marriages of both characters are unhappy; they endure their abusive husbands and hope that they will reform. Even though both women end up happy, Brontë depicts two different ways leading to their happy endings. Milicent's marriage improves thanks to Helen's intrusions. She enlightens Mr. Hattersley on the subject and he thus realizes his mistakes and also his true feelings for Milicent; that is why he reforms. Milicent herself still stays passive and not having had Helen's help, would suffer until her husband reformed himself, which would probably take a long time or would not happen at all. On the contrary, Helen actively takes control over her fate and thus breaks the traditional characteristic of an ideal woman-angel. The unhappy marriage changes Helen's character a lot. She has to hide her true feelings from Arthur because he takes advantage of them. He often makes fun of her and the outbursts of her injured feeling flatter him. Helen therefore strengthens her character, suppresses her feelings, and thus becomes purely reasonable. Brontë uses her voice to express opinions on delicate problems in society comparable to Wollstonecraft's ideas. Thus, Helen comments on education, supporting the idea of

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Wollstonecraft that both sexes should be educated because they have the same capacities for becoming reasonable human beings. Helen criticizes traditional character conceptions, the subordination of women to men, and thus also a society which supports such an injustice. She suggests that men have more rights and powers than women, as they can divorce easily or leave their partners whenever they want, but women are expected to stay at home and obey their husbands‟ wishes. Women have no legal rights to their property or children. Since Helen's main concern is the welfare of her son, she also comments on the upbringing of children and on the need to support their good qualities, as she is convinced that parental influence is key for children‟s education. On that account, she severely criticizes alcoholism and other vices of mankind in spite of their sex, because she claims that both sexes have the capacity of being good and evil. This capacity is not subjected to sex but to personal preferences because Arthur himself chooses his occupations. Even though her opinions cause astonishment and are subject to the criticism of her character, Helen's voice is always reasonable and she is able to support her arguments. Indeed, Helen is an extraordinary female character. She improves not only her own position but also the position of other characters in the novel by changing their views on marriage and partnership. She helps Lord Lowborough to realize his possibilities in society. She enlightens Mr. Hattersley on the character of his wife, and thus she assists them in improving their marriage. Furthermore, she prevents Esther from giving in to her mother's pressure and marrying an unsuitable suitor for mistaken motives. She, however, influences Gilbert Markham the most. Under Helen's influence, Gilbert ceases looking for artificial pleasures and starts appreciating the virtues in women. He represents the man who perceives marriage as a partnership of two equal and respectable human beings. His new notion of marriage as a

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partnership coincides with the idea of Mary Wollstonecraft. Brontë and Wollstonecraft share many ideas on marriage and other topics, however Brontë often proves to be more radical in her ideas than Wollstonecraft. Brontë reverses the traditional qualities of her characters in order to demonstrate that both sexes are equal. For that reason, she gives Arthur qualities which are commonly subscribed to women: he is childish, selfish and weak in mind. He deliberately destroys his own health due to drinking. On the contrary, Helen plays a sensible member in their partnership. Helen is also the key character in terms of the relationship with Gilbert when adopting an active role and proposing to him. Brontë's reversal of traditional roles stresses the importance of an active approach of women leading to the new and reformed ideal proposed by Mary Wollstonecraft. Anne Brontë's ideas in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall are certainly comparable to the ideas of Mary Wollstonecraft as she proposes them in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

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Bibliography List of Primary Sources Brontë, Anne. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Harmonsworth: Penguin Books, 1994. Print. Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. New York: W.W. Norton & Comp., 1975. Print.

List of Secondary Sources Armstrong, Nancy. Desire and Domestic Fiction: A Political History of the Novel. New York: Oxford UP, 1987. Print. Gilbert, Sandra M; Gubar, Susan. The Madwoman in the Attic: the Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-century Literary Imagination. New Haven: Yale UP, 1984. Print. Godwin, William. Memoirs of Mary Wollstonecraft. London: Constable, 1928. Print. Patmore, Coventry. The Angel in the House. London: George Bell and son, 1887. Print. Sage, Lorna. The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999. Print. Wollstonecraft, Mary. Political Writings. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1994. Print.

List of Internet Sources Armitage, Michael. "A Chronology of Anne Brontë". Anne Brontë - The Scarborough Connection. Web. 3 March 2012. .

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Carnell, Rachel K. "Feminism and the Public Sphere in Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall." Nineteenth-Century Literature 53.1 (1998): 1-24. JSTOR. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Davies, Stevie. Penguin Classics Introduction to The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë. London: Penguin, 1996. Literature Online. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. . Diederich, Nicole A. "The Art of Comparison: Remarriage in Anne Brontë's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall"" Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature 57.2 (2003): 25-41. JSTOR. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Ferguson, Susan. "The Radical Ideas of Mary Wollstonecraft." Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue Canadienne De Science Politique 32.3 (1999): 42750. JSTOR. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Hodson, J. "Women Write the Rights of Woman: The Sexual Politics of the Personal Pronoun in the 1790s." Language and Literature 16 (2007): 81-304. Sage Journals Online. Sage Publications. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Janes, R. M. "On the Reception of Mary Wollstonecraft's: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman." Journal of the History of Ideas 39.2 (1978): 293-302. JSTOR. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Lavender, Catherine. "The Cult of Domesticity and True Womanhood". Women in New York City, 1890-1940. Web. 15 March. 2012. . Poole, Russell. "Cultural Reformation and Cultural Reproduction in Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 33.4 (1993): 859-73. JSTOR. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Priti, Joshi. "Masculinity and Gossip in Anne Brontë's Tenant." SEL Studies in English

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Literature, 1500-1900 (2009): 907-24. Literature Online. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. . Senf, Carol A. "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall: Narrative Silences and Questions of Gender." College English 52.4 (1990): 446-56. JSTOR. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Tomaselli, Sylvana. "Mary Wollstonecraft", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2012 Edition). Web. 20 March 2012. . The Free Dictionary Online. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. The Victorian Web. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. Ward, Ian. "The Case of Helen Huntingdon." Criticism: A Quarterly for Literature and the Arts (2007): 151-82. Literature Online. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. .

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Appendix 1 Mary Wollstonecraft - Chronology6 Apr 27, 1759

Mary Wollstonecraft Born

1774

Moves to Hoxton, befriends Mr. and Mrs. Clare who encourage her education

1775

Befriends Fanny Blood

1776

Moves to Wales

1777

Back to London

1778

First Job as a Lady's Companion, Bath

1781

Moves Back to London Takes Care of Her Ill Mother

Apr 19, 1782

Mother Dies

1783

Moves in With Sister

1784

Establishes School in Newington Green

Nov 29, 1785

Fanny Blood Dies

Nov 1785

Closes School Down

1786

Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, on Women's Education Work as a Governess for the Kingsborough

1788

Mary, A Fiction, a Novel Original Stories from Real Life, a Children's Book

1789

French Revolution, Wollstonecraft's Inspiration The Female Reader, under a Pseudonym "Mr. Cresswick"

Dec 18, 1790

A Vindication of the Rights of Man

6 addopted from Sylvana Tomaselli

67

1791

Meets William Godwin

1792

A Vindication of the Rights of Women

Nov 1792

Moves to Paris

Mar 1793

Forms Relationship with Gilbert Imlay

Apr 1794

Fanny Imlay Born An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution, a Political Tract

Apr 1795

First Suicide Attempt

Sep 1795

Second Suicide Attempt

Feb 1796

Breakup with Imlay Letters, inspired by travels in Scandinavia the previous year

Mar 1796

Relationship with Godwin

Mar 29, 1797

Marries Godwin

Aug 30, 1797

Mary Shelley Born

Sep 10, 1797

Mary Wollstonecraft Dies

1798

Memoir of Mary Wollstonecraft, a Biography by William Godwin Godwin Publishes Several Posthumous Works of Mary Wollstonecraft

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Appendix 2 Anne Brontë - Chronology7 Jan 17, 1820

Anne Born

1821

Elizabeth Branwell Moves to Haworth, Nurses Her Dying Sister

Sept 15,1821

Anne's Mother Dies

1825

Anne's Eldest Sister, Maria (11), Dies Anne's Sister, Elizabeth (10), Dies

1831

Anne and Emily Create Gondal

July 29, 1835

Charlotte Teacher at Roe Head School, Anne Accompanies her as a pupil

1836

'Verses By Lady Geralda', A 'Gondal' poem

Apr 1839

Governess for the Ingham family

Dec 1839

Leaves Inghams

May 8, 1840

Governess to the Robinsons

Oct 29, 1842

Aunt Branwell Dies (66)

Jan 1843

Branwell Gets Job for the Robinsons

Aug 2, 1844

'Fluctuations', A Poem

1844

Own School at the Haworth Parsonage, Does not open

1845

Branwell Dismissed from the Robinsons

1846

Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell Published Agnes Grey

1848

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Jul 1848

Preface to the Second Edition

7 adopted from Michael Armitage

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Sept 24, 1848

Branwell Dies (31)

Dec 19, 1848

Emily Dies (30)

1848

Poems 'The Narrow Way' and 'The Three Guides' Published in the Leeds Intelligencer and Fraser's Magazine

May 28, 1849

Anne Dies of Consumption (29)

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Summary The thesis entitled "Mary Wollstonecraft's Concept of Marriage and its Reflection in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" analyses Mary Wollstonecraft's ideas on the topic of marriage as she expresses them in her revolutionary feminist manifesto A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Consequently, the thesis compares Wollstonecraft's ideas to Anne Brontë's novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which examines the nature of marriage and its impact on people within the marriage. The aim of the thesis is to prove that Anne Brontë was influenced by Mary Wollstonecraft. The thesis is divided into three main parts. The first part provides background information about the situation of women within Victorian society. It studies the concepts of the "cult of domesticity" and the "angel in the house" as the portrayal of an ideal woman. Furthermore, it examines conduct books and the novels of manners as the literature produced for women, as the support of the notion of the ideal woman was the main role of such literature. However, many female writers started writing novels and thus attempted to reconstruct the ideal. The second part provides the bibliographies of Mary Wollstonecraft and Anne Brontë. It also examines various interpretations and reactions to their works, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. The final part analyses Brontë's novel The Tenant and its ideas on marriage, consequently comparing them to the ideas of Wollstonecraft. The thesis proves that Anne Brontë was influenced by the ideas of Mary Wollstonecraft and her A Vindication of the Rights of Woman because the analysis verifies that most of their thoughts on marriage coincide. However, Anne Brontë is more radical in her ideas on an unhappy marriage.

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Resumé Práce s názvem "Koncept manželství Mary Wollstonecraftové a jeho odraz v díle Dvojí život Heleny Grahamové8" analyzuje koncept manželství prezentovaného ve feministickém manifestu Obhajoba ženských práv9 (A Vindication of the Rights of Woman) od Mary Wollstonecraftové. Následně práce srovnává názory Wollstonecraftové na manželství s postoji Anny Brontëové v jejím románu Dvojí život Heleny Grahamové (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall). Brontëové román zkoumá jak podstatu manželství, tak také dopad na jedince žijící v tomto svazku. Cílem mé práce je nejenom čtenáře seznámit s podobou konceptu, ale zaroveň komparací s myšlenkami manifestu Obhajoba ženských práv z pera Mary Wollstonecraftové, že mezi oběma autorkami je prokazatalná myšenková spojitost. V úvodní teoretická část je věnována pozornost postavení žen ve viktoriánském období. Vysvětluje pojetí dvou nejdůležitějších konceptů, které zobrazovaly ideál ženy a manželky, a to "kult rodinného života10" a koncept "anděl v domě11". Stranou mého zájmu nezůstávají ani výchovné knihy a romány mravů, neboť právě tato literatura, primárně určena ženám, upevňovala ženský ideál ve společnosti. Mnoho ženských spisovatelek se tudíž zaměřilo na psaní románů, v nichž záměrně tento ideál přetvářely. Následující kapitoly své práce věnuji nejenom životu obou autorek, ale také vykreslením reakcí tehdejší společnosti na jejich díla, tedy Obhajoba ženských práv a Dvojí život Heleny Grahamové. Analýza románu Anny Brontëové, již provádím v závěrečné kapitole své práce, společně s vykreslením autorčiných postojů k manželství a jejich následnou 8 9 10 11

český název převzatý od Aleny Maxové z roku 1995, nakladatelství Naše vojsko můj překlad můj překlad můj překlad

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komparací s myšlenkami Mary Wollstonecraftové dokumentují tvrzení z primární literatury, totiž že se odkaz Mary Wollstonecraftové, byť s jistými odchylkami, stal inspiračním zdrojem Anny Brontëové.

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