# XXIII explained — The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

> Chapter companion for The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë.

## What happens

Helen reflects on her marriage to Arthur Huntingdon after four months of matrimony, acknowledging his selfishness and her willful blindness to his true character. She recounts his impatience during their bridal tour and his jealousy of her religious devotion, leading to a theological argument about duty and self-indulgence.

## Themes in this chapter

### Gender Roles and Marriage

Helen grapples with her duty as a wife to love and cleave to Arthur despite his selfishness, illustrating the constraints of marital expectations.

### Hypocrisy and Social Judgment

Arthur accuses Helen of being 'too religious' while he himself indulges in self-justifying arguments, revealing double standards in their moral evaluations.

### Alcoholism and Dissipation

Arthur's metaphor of feasting and drunkenness foreshadows his intemperate lifestyle, which Helen warns against as a path to ruin.

## Character check-ins

### Helen Huntingdon

Narrates her disillusionment with Arthur, admitting she would not have married him had she known him fully, but now feels duty-bound to love him.

### Arthur Huntingdon

Shows selfishness by hurrying their bridal tour and resenting Helen's religious devotion; argues against her moral exhortations using hedonistic reasoning.

## Key lines

> I am married now, and settled down as Mrs. Huntingdon of Grassdale Manor. I have had eight weeks’ experience of matrimony. And do I regret the step I have taken? No, though I must confess, in my secret heart, that Arthur is not what I thought him at first, and if I had known him in the beginning as thoroughly as I do now, I probably never should have loved him.

Helen admits that after eight weeks of marriage, she realizes Arthur is not the man she believed him to be, and that full knowledge of his character would have prevented her from loving—and thus marrying—him.

_Reveals Helen's early disillusionment and the theme of willful blindness in courtship._

> I could do with less caressing and more rationality. I should like to be less of a pet and more of a friend, if I might choose; but I won’t complain of that: I am only afraid his affection loses in depth where it gains in ardour.

Helen wishes Arthur would treat her as an intellectual equal rather than a pampered darling, fearing his passionate love lacks lasting substance.

_Highlights Helen's desire for companionship and the imbalance in their marital relationship._

> I will give my whole heart and soul to my Maker if I can, and not one atom more of it to you than He allows. What are you, sir, that you should set yourself up as a god, and presume to dispute possession of my heart with Him to whom I owe all I have and all I am?

Helen rebukes Arthur for demanding her undivided devotion, asserting that her primary loyalty belongs to God, not to her husband.

_Illustrates the conflict between religious duty and marital expectations, central to the chapter's moral debate._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_tenant_of_wildfell_hall_se/chapters/xxiii
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- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_tenant_of_wildfell_hall_se/chapters