Frank Johns
05-24-2005, 06:07 PM
Anne Bronte's second novel is much more than an account of marital strife. <br><br>It is a feminist novel, in that it presents Helen Huntingdon as an independent woman. She chooses to marry Arthur Huntingdon, a man whom she knows to be spineless and mercurial. Then she suffers physical and mental abuse from her husband and watches as Arthur tries to pervert their young son. She takes the drastic measure of leaving her husband, taking young Arthur with her. She supports herself and her son by selling her paintings. She falls in love but is faithful to her husband whom she nurses in his final illness. She then makes the decisions as to when and where she and Gilbert Markham will marry<br><br>But it is much more than a feminist novel. Like Helen's paintings, it paints a picture of the human condition .....