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I think most of you are blind to the fact that Helen is a Christ-like character. She sacrifices herself to the benefit of some of the most unloveable characters written. She seeks salvation and repentance for the lost soul right to the very end. Intercessory prayer and words of forgiveness spoken throughout the story...
Unforunately I read The Tenant of Wilfell Hall as an
inter-library loan book, and haven't gotten a chance to buy
it yet. I agree with the concept of Helen being a Christ-like
character. I recall the scene in which Arthur is imploring
her to "plead for me", and she directs him to plead to Jesus,
the reedeemer, and his sacrifice on Calavary. What a great
passage!
Also the winter rose at near the end of the novel is
beautiful, perhaps showing grace and life in blooming in
the midst of desolation and death.
I still can't believe that this novel is considered by so
many to be a few steps lower than Jane Eyre and
Wuthering Heights .
I wouldn't view Helen per se as a "Christ-like" figure, that doesn't appear Anne Bronte's intent. What Anne does in both The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey is present genuinely Christian characters and contrast them with pagan characters (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall) or characters that are nominally Christian but lacking truely Christian fruits (Agnes Grey; cf. Matthew 7).
As a Christian character, Helen is a "Christ-like" figure insomuch as Christians are supposed to reflect (imperfectly) Christ. But Anne does not present Helen as a "Christ-figure" in an allegorical sense of the word. It is the fact that she represents such a contradiction that she is such an interesting character. At times she seems to reflect Christ-like virtues so perfectly; at other moments she readily confesses that she too battles carnal temptation. In fact, the reader is left with the question: "How is it that such a seemingly wise and virtuous character could have been tempted to marry such a man as Arthur Huntingdon in the first place?" The potential answers to the question are many, but in spite of her many virtues Helen remains (as all Christians do) a fallen creature, imperfect -- battling the ever present sinful nature (cf. Romans 7).
That's a really curious idea, Helen as a Christ like figure..But i have to say I agree with ssauve. She's a good strong christian woman, who is prone to weakness just like the rest of us. I think that the scene that Scott referred to only strengthens that idea, she is simply a good christian woman doing what she knows is right. However, I think that if she had not have married Huntingdon, these values wouldn't have been made apparent in her. that is why she allowed herself to be swept off her feet by Huntingdon and his flattery because she allowed her naiveity and arrogance to make her think she could save him. She enters the marriage trying to change him, to fix him. and at first Huntingdon complies, but she is trying to force a man who has always done things one way to do them another! I believe that she didn't see his alcoholism as an problem addiction, its not until much later that the truth of the situation strikes her, she simply thinks he is choosing to drink himself into states of humiliating imbecility. It is important to realise that it cannot only be Huntington at fault here. there are two sides to every story and Helen cannot be excused on the basis that she is being a good christian.
The idea of Helen as a Christ like figure is certainly a appealing one, but you must read further into the novel and always keep in mind the fact that each journal we read, whether it be by Gilbert or Helen, is heavily biased. we see what these narrators WANT us to see and nothing more. there are certain subtleties where the narrators let information slip so to speak and it is important to look for them if you hope to gain a true understanding of what Bronte is actually trying to show us with her novel, aside from the obvious.