The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Literary Devices

Explanation and Analysis—Helen Getting Remarried:

Near the beginning of the novel, Helen tells Mrs. Markham that she (Helen) will never get remarried. This is an example of situational irony as she goes on to marry Gilbert. Here Mrs. Markham recounts the conversation with Helen:

"Though you are alone now, you will not be always so; you have been married, and probably – I might say almost certainly – will be again." "You are mistaken there ma’am," said [Helen], almost haughtily; "I am certain I never shall." – But I told her I knew better.

Despite the fact that Mrs. Markham has only just met Helen and knows nothing about the abusive marriage from which she has recently fled, she believes that Helen will “almost certainly” get married again. The irony here is not only that Helen will go on to be remarried by the end of the novel, but that she will go on to marry Mrs. Markham’s son, Gilbert. A second layer of irony is that Mrs. Markham—a character who Brontë presents as limited in intelligence—is correct about Helen’s future while Helen herself is not.

Here Mrs. Markham also demonstrates how she is willing to uphold unfair standards for women, suggesting in her insistence about Helen’s impending nuptials that for Helen to remain a single woman is not acceptable.

Explanation and Analysis—Mrs. Maxwell's Warning:

Near the beginning of Helen’s diary entries—before she has met Arthur—she recounts a conversation with her aunt Mrs. Maxwell in which her aunt warns her against choosing to marry a man for superficial reasons, such as for his good looks and agreeable personality:

“If you should marry the handsomest and most accomplished and superficially agreeable man in the world, you little know the misery that would overwhelm you, if, after all, you should find him to be a worthless reprobate, or even an impracticable fool.”

This warning foreshadows the fact that Helen will go on to do exactly that in choosing to marry Arthur—he is handsome and charming on the surface, but cruel, abusive, and lazy underneath. Helen’s response is an example of situational irony in that she promises her aunt she will not make this mistake and urges her to “set your mind at rest”:

“I know there is truth and sense in what you say; but you need not fear me, for 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 […] So set your mind at rest.”

Here Helen promises her aunt that she would “hate,” “despise,” and “pity” “a man that was deficient in sense or in principle,” but she goes on to love a man who exactly fits that description. Readers expect that Helen will follow through with this promise given her confidence but, as she goes on to fall for Arthur, she proves that she is more naïve than she made herself out to be.

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Explanation and Analysis—Poor Fools:

When Helen’s aunt Mrs. Maxwell tries to warn her about marrying a man who appears to be a good match but is actually a “reprobate” (or immoral person) or “fool,” Helen responds by teasing her aunt, using verbal irony in the process, as seen in the following passage:

“If you should marry the handsomest, and most accomplished and superficially agreeable man in the world, you little know the misery that would overwhelm you, if, after all, you should find him to be a worthless reprobate, or even an impracticable fool.”

“But what are all the poor fools and reprobates to do, aunt? If everybody followed your advice the world would soon come to an end.”

In asking her aunt “But what are all the poor fools and reprobates to do?” Helen is using sarcasm—she is not overly concerned with men like this, as she makes clear in her later promise to her aunt never to marry a man of the sort.

Following up by stating that “the world would soon come to an end” if immoral or foolish men never found partners, Helen also makes it clear what she thinks of the opposite sex—that, despite the sexist idea that men are superior to women that was prevalent in her time, she does not think so highly of men in general.

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Explanation and Analysis—Pious Arthur:

When Helen tells Arthur during their courtship that her aunt Mrs. Maxwell does not approve of him because she wants Helen to marry “a really good man,” Arthur understands that she means a man more devoted to his Christian faith. In his response to Helen, Arthur sarcastically commits to becoming more like a man Mrs. Maxwell would approve of, using verbal irony and a simile in the process:

“She wishes me to – to marry none but a really good man.”

“What, a man of ‘decided piety?’ – ahem! – Well, come, I’ll manage that too! It’s Sunday today, isn’t it? I’ll go to church morning, afternoon, and evening, and comport myself in such a godly sort that she shall regard me with admiration and sisterly love […] I’ll come home sighing like a furnace, and full of the savour and unction of dear Mr Blatant’s discourse –”

Arthur’s declaration that he will go to church “morning, afternoon, and evening” is clearly an exaggeration, as is his statement that he will be “full of the savour and unction of dear Mr Blatant’s discourse.” Arthur even gets the preacher’s name wrong on purpose, calling him “Mr. Blatant” rather than “Mr. Leighton,” likely as a nod to how uninteresting he finds church services. The simile Arthur uses—that he will be “sighing like a furnace” after attending church—is also meant to mock the type of people who feel pleasure and satisfaction from church.

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Explanation and Analysis—Arthur and Anabella:

Early in Arthur and Helen’s marriage, Helen witnesses Arthur sitting with Annabella and kissing her hand and later confronts him about it. In an example of situational irony, Arthur denies that he is interested in Annabella and—going even further—says that he will never be seriously interested in anyone else:

“Will you never learn?” he continued more boldly, "that you have nothing to fear from me? that I love you wholly and entirely? – or if,” he added with a lurking smile, “I ever give a thought to another, you may well spare it, for those fancies are here and gone like a flash of lightning, while my love for you burns on steadily, and for ever like the sun.”

Here Arthur uses weather-related similes to try to convince Helen that, even if he does have feelings for other women, they are brief “like a flash of lightning” while his love for Helen is steady “like the sun.” This moment is ironic—and also an example of foreshadowing—because Arthur ends up having a full-fledged affair with Annabella for years and also has dalliances with many other women. In other words, his feelings for other women are much more than a simple lightning flash.

Arthur’s inability to remain faithful to Helen—along with the ease with which he lies to her—shows his lack of morality. Unlike Helen, he does not adhere to Christian principles of honoring a marriage.

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Explanation and Analysis—Helen the Angel:

One of the metaphors that appears periodically throughout The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is that of Helen being an angel. For example, in Chapter 27, after Helen witnesses Arthur secretly kiss Annabella’s hand, Arthur says that Helen is an angel while Annabella is a mortal:

“She is a daughter of earth; you are an angel of heaven; only be not too austere in your divinity, and remember that I am a poor, fallible mortal.”

This language is notable in that it might actually be how Arthur views the two women, but it doesn’t mean that he loves or respects Helen more for it. In fact, he likely sees himself as a better match with Annabella (with whom he’s having an affair) because she is selfish and imperfect, like him. Thus, Arthur’s comparison of Helen to an angel can also be considered an example of situational irony—though he may see her as an angel, he certainly doesn’t treat her like one.

Later, in Chapter 39, when Hargrave tries to force Helen into having an affair with him, he also compares her to an angel:

“I do not insult you,” cried he: “I worship you. You are my angel – my divinity! I lay my powers at your feet – and you must and shall accept them!” he exclaimed impetuously, starting to his feet.

Here Hargrave’s words and actions don’t add up—like Arthur, he says he worships her while also actively harming her. Overall, Helen’s supposed angelic nature—which stems from her morality and commitment to acting in line with her Christian faith—both draws men to her and makes them resent her at the same time.

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Explanation and Analysis—Hargrave's Reputation:

In an example of foreshadowing, Helen writes in her diary that she has suspicions about Hargrave’s character even as he acts like a gentleman in front of her:

He seemed bent upon doing the honours of his house in the most unexceptionable manner, and exerting all his powers for the entertainment of his guest, and the display of his own qualifications as a host, a gentleman, and a companion; and actually succeeded in making himself very agreeable – only that he was too polite. – And yet, Mr Hargrave, I don’t much like you; there is a certain want of openness about you that does not take my fancy, and a lurking selfishness, at the bottom of all your fine qualities, that I do not intend to lose sight of.

Despite Hargrave adequately displaying his “qualifications as a host, a gentleman, and a companion,” Helen finds him “too polite” and senses a “lurking selfishness” that she refuses to overlook the way other people in the novel do. This passage foreshadows the moment in which Hargrave tries to force himself on Helen, wanting her to have an affair with him, after many months of claiming that he only wants to be her friend.

Hargrave’s behavior is also an example of situational irony because, according to everyone in their community, Hargrave is the only one of Arthur’s companions who is a moral and virtuous man (in that he is said not to be given to drinking or womanizing the way the others are). While his actions may not be as extreme as theirs, he certainly proves that he is not the moral man everyone makes him out to be.

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Explanation and Analysis—Helen the Angel:

One of the metaphors that appears periodically throughout The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is that of Helen being an angel. For example, in Chapter 27, after Helen witnesses Arthur secretly kiss Annabella’s hand, Arthur says that Helen is an angel while Annabella is a mortal:

“She is a daughter of earth; you are an angel of heaven; only be not too austere in your divinity, and remember that I am a poor, fallible mortal.”

This language is notable in that it might actually be how Arthur views the two women, but it doesn’t mean that he loves or respects Helen more for it. In fact, he likely sees himself as a better match with Annabella (with whom he’s having an affair) because she is selfish and imperfect, like him. Thus, Arthur’s comparison of Helen to an angel can also be considered an example of situational irony—though he may see her as an angel, he certainly doesn’t treat her like one.

Later, in Chapter 39, when Hargrave tries to force Helen into having an affair with him, he also compares her to an angel:

“I do not insult you,” cried he: “I worship you. You are my angel – my divinity! I lay my powers at your feet – and you must and shall accept them!” he exclaimed impetuously, starting to his feet.

Here Hargrave’s words and actions don’t add up—like Arthur, he says he worships her while also actively harming her. Overall, Helen’s supposed angelic nature—which stems from her morality and commitment to acting in line with her Christian faith—both draws men to her and makes them resent her at the same time.

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Explanation and Analysis—Brilliant Specimens:

In a note at the end of Helen’s diary entries, Gilbert describes how the the rest of the pages are torn away right when she starts to describe her seemingly negative initial opinions of him. In reflecting on why Helen might have judged him so severely, Gilbert uses verbal irony, describing the men in her life as “brilliant specimens":

Here it ended. The rest was torn away. How cruel – just when she was going to mention me! for I could not doubt it was your humble servant she was about to mention, though not very favourably of course – I could tell that, as well by those few words as by the recollection of her whole aspect and demeanour towards me in the commencement of our acquaintance. Well! I could readily forgive her prejudice against me, and her hard thoughts of our sex in general, when I saw to what brilliant specimens her experience had been limited.

Gilbert’s phrasing of “brilliant specimens” is ironic because, as Gilbert intimately knows after reading her diary from the past eight or so years, every man in Helen’s life has been the opposite of brilliant—Arthur, Hattersley, Hargrave, and all of the other men who tried to court Helen were, for the most part, cruel, foolish, and lazy. This is why, as Gilbert writes, he can “forgive her prejudice against me, and her hard thoughts of our sex in general”—because he knows the type of men to which she has been exposed.

Here Gilbert shows he is different than the other men in Helen’s life because he understands and affirms her experiences and opinions rather than undermining them. This is one of the reasons he is a good romantic match for her.

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Explanation and Analysis—Gilbert's Assumptions:

In two of the most ironic and dramatic moments in the novel, Gilbert makes assumptions about Helen that turn out to be untrue. First, he assumes incorrectly that Helen is Frederick’s lover (and that Frederick is little Arthur’s father) and goes as far as to publicly whip Frederick almost to death based on this false assumption.

Much later in the novel, Gilbert wrongly assumes that Helen will no longer want to marry him after inheriting her aunt and uncle’s estate, believing that she will think him only interested in her because of her newfound wealth. The internal crisis he goes through in this moment is immense, as seen in the following passage:

I must not suffer her to see me; for what could have brought me hither but the hope of reviving her attachment, with a view hereafter to obtain her hand? And could I bear that she should think me capable of such a thing? – of presuming upon the acquaintance – the love if you will – accidentally contracted, or rather forced upon her against her will, when she was an unknown fugitive, toiling for her own support, apparently without fortune, family or connections – to come upon her now, when she was reinstated in her proper sphere, and claim a share in her prosperity, which, had it never failed her, would most certainly have kept her unknown to me for ever? and this too, when we had parted sixteen months ago, and she had expressly forbidden me to hope for a reunion in this world – and never sent me a line or a message from that day to this? No! The very idea was intolerable.

Gilbert is clearly upset at the story he is telling himself about Helen’s (lack of) feelings for him, believing that she would feel he “forced” his feelings on her “against her will” and that all he wants is to “claim a share in her prosperity.” He also reads into the fact that she never wrote to him, taking it to mean that she certainly did not care for him anymore. All of this adds to the irony that Helen does want to be his wife and has loved him all along.

Ultimately, both of these moments of situational irony show how strong Gilbert’s love for Helen is (his emotional reactions are intense because his feelings for her are equally intense) and also how, unlike Helen, he is unable to control his emotions. This also highlights the double standards for men and women—Gilbert can be reactionary, mopey, and violent when he does not get what he wants, while Helen is supposed to be moral and self-contained at all times.

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The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Anne Brontë

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall: Irony 9 key examples