The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is Anne Brontë’s 1848 novel, told partly through letters and a diary. It follows a mysterious young woman who takes up residence at Wildfell Hall and the community’s curiosity about her past, exploring a woman’s struggle for independence within an oppressive marriage. It is worth listening for its frank, compassionate treatment of difficult domestic themes.
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Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
The Tenant of Wildfell
Hall
by Anne Brontë
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY MRS HUMPHREY WARD
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
1920
Contents
This Table of Contents contains the original chapter headings that were present in the first printed edition of 1848. These headings were removed in later (one-volume) editions of the text, after Anne Brontë’s death in 1849.
I. A Discovery
II. An Interview
III. A Controversy
IV. The Party V. The Studio VI. Progression VII. The Excursion VIII. The Present IX. A Snake in the Grass X. A Contract and a Quarrel XI. The Vicar Again XII. A Tête-à-Tête and a Discovery XIII. A Return to Duty XIV. An Assault XV. An Encounter and its Consequences XVI. The Warnings of Experience XVII. Further Warnings XVIII. The Miniature XIX. An Incident XX. Persistence XXI. Opinions XXII. Traits of Friendship XXIII. First Weeks of Matrimony XXIV. First Quarrel XXV. First Absence XXVI. The Guests XXVII. A Misdemeanour XXVIII. Parental Feelings XXIX. The Neighbour XXX. Domestic Scenes XXXI. Social Virtues XXXII. Comparisons: Information Rejected XXXIII. Two Evenings XXXIV. Concealment
XXXV. Provocations XXXVI. Dual Solitude XXXVII. The Neighbour Again XXXVIII. The Injured Man XXXIX. A Scheme of Escape XL. A Misadventure XLI. “Hope Springs Eternal in the Human Breast” XLII. A Reformation XLIII. The Boundary Past XLIV. The Retreat XLV. Reconciliation XLVI. Friendly Counsels XLVII. Startling Intelligence XLVIII. Further Intelligence XLIX. L. Doubts and Disappointments LI. An Unexpected Occurrence LII. Fluctuations LIII. Conclusion LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Portrait of Anne Brontë Moorland Scene, Haworth Moorland scene (with water): Haworth Moorland scene (with cottage), Haworth Blake Hall—The Approach (Grassdale Manor)
Blake Hall—Front (Grassdale Manor)
Blake Hall—Side (Grassdale Manor)
Illustration: Anne Brontë from a drawing by Charlotte Brontë in the possession of the Rev. A. B. Nicholls
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