Sisters Anne, Charlotte and Emily Bronte were all authors whose works often revolved around womenÆs issues with respect to living in a patriarchal society. Women in the era in which the sisters wrote were often limited to roles of wife, mother or family caretaker, and were seldom able to express their own feelings or emotions. This was particularly true in relations with men and in expressions of sexuality. In AnneÆs The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, CharlotteÆs Jane Eyre, and EmilyÆs Wuthering Heights, we are treated to heroines who often go against the values, norms, and roles set for women in their societies. In The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Helen Huntingdon is a single, divorced mother who must live off her own earnings and wits, a prototype feminist who is years ahead of such womenÆs movements. In Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre opposes the Victorian notion and tradition that a good woman does not feel passion or needs to require it from her lover. In Wuthering Heights Catherine (Cathy) Earnshaw also represents a feminist whose rejection of grand passion in favor of materialism makes her one of literatureÆs most multifaceted women. This analysis will explore the issues of feminism, equality, and sexuality as experienced by these three heroines of the Bronte sisterÆs works.
In The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Gilbert Markham is a farmer who acts as narrator of the story. Early on he is consumed by his love for Helen, a young widow who arrives as a tenant of Wildfell Hall with her son Arthur. Originally, Gilbert defends Helen from the gossip he hears about her alleged relationship with the landlord of Wildfell, Lawrence. More than Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights, this novel explores feminist themes and conditions for women in the Victorian era. Helen must deal with alcoholism, abuse from her husband, being a single-parent, and earning a living by her own means. HelenÆs marriage is initially happy, but once her husbandÆs alcoholism ...