The Transactional Nature of Marriage
As with most novels written by women during this era, Bronte’s story is obsessed with the idea of a marriage as a business transaction more than it is a consequence of falling in love. So many of the characters in and around the Hall view marriage in economic terms that it is almost becomes impossible to remember that love is supposed to an important transactional features as well. Annabella and Jane Wilson look upon marriage as simply a means to becoming rich and settled. Hattersley seems to view marriage as a contract in which essentially a wife becomes property only to reveal unexpected depth by the further revelation that perhaps his contractually based views on marriage were the result of traditional thinking engendered by societal conventions. Meanwhile Mr. Huntington also forced into accepting marital conventions only to reveal that love (or at the very least, lust) still retains the power trump economic good sense.
The Construction of Female Identity
Marriage was, of course, the primary way by which women established their identity…in the eyes of men who could see no further than their place as wife and mother. As the titular tenant of Wildfell Hall, Helen’s identity is based upon a construction of no less than three different surnames. Accordingly, one of the questions that the reader must answer along the way is who, exactly, really is the tenant of Wildfell Hall. Helen’s escape from the merciless Huntington provides the solid narrative foundation upon which so many other women in the story will build as the theme of female identity takes shape and rises upward from that foundation.
Rewarding Righteousness
To suggest that there is a stark contrast between good and evil in this novel is kind of like pointing out the difference in how morality is presented between the original Star Wars trilogy and the prequel trilogy. Anyone who hates the Star Wars prequels will likely love The Tenant of Wildfell Hall: the sinful are clearly delineated and appropriately punished while the righteous are impossible to miss and receive all the rewards expected of living piously. Helen has a tough life, no question, but everything turns out pretty darn good in the end. Mary and Richard can be forgiven the most unpardonable of modern sins—being excruciatingly boring—precisely because they remain morally upright.
Demon Rum
Running underneath the major events of the novel is a consistent theme pointing to the negative effects of overconsumption of alcohol. This theme also ties in rather nicely with the larger thematic concern of rewarding righteousness as alcoholics Lord Lowborough and Mr. Hattersley both manage somehow to reform from their dependence upon demon rum while Mr. Huntington and Mr. Grimsby most assuredly do not manifest the ability.
