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Situational Irony
Chapter 14. An Assault
Explanation and Analysis:
The style of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is deeply related to its unique structure. Volume 1 of the novel consists of a long letter from Gilbert to his brother-in-law Jack Halford plus a few entries from Helen’s diary that Gilbert has included in the letter; Volume 2 is entirely made up of entries from Helen’s diary entries; and Volume 3 concludes Helen’s diary entries, followed by Gilbert detailing recent events in his letter to Jack (in which he also copies letters that Helen has written to him) and ultimately ends the novel by signing off on his letter.
As the book moves between the points-of-view of these two narrators, the writing changes in subtle ways. Unlike Helen, Gilbert is writing to a person, so he uses direct address (writing to a “you”) and also references Christianity much less than Helen. Gilbert is, on the whole, less concerned with acting in line with Christian values, so his sections contain more honest depictions of his own immorality. This comes across in the following passage when he writes of his “savage satisfaction” after attacking Helen’s brother Frederick:
I had seized my whip by the small end, and – swift and sudden as a flash of lightning – brought the other down upon his head. It was not without a feeling of savage satisfaction that I beheld the instant, deadly pallor that overspread his face, and the few red drops that trickled down his forehead, while he reeled a moment in his saddle, and then fell backward to the ground.
Unlike Gilbert, Helen would never find “savage satisfaction” in beating another person almost to death, and certainly wouldn’t write about violent matters in such a crude way. She typically depicts herself as the victim of Arthur’s violence and abuse, while Gilbert tends to be more of the aggressor in his stories.
Unlike Gilbert's letter, Helen’s diary entries are for herself and contain long sections of emotional prose—both positive, when she falls in love with Arthur, and negative, when she realizes his true character—as well as references to God and philosophical reflections on what happens to sinners after they die.
Despite the fact that both characters are telling stories after they happened, they are able to reproduce long swaths of dialogue and action, one unrealistic aspect of the novel.
Related Themes:
