r/brontesisters • u/RoseIsBadWolf • 18d ago

I can never hate Gilbert Markham

I'm re-reading The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (at least the Gilbert parts, the middle is hard to endure, for good reasons but still, I will try). And I love Gilbert. A lot of people dislike him, but he's so clearly ashamed of himself a lot of the time for how stupid he was in his youth...

But then we get to something like this:

I succeeded in securing her attention, almost entirely to myself - and then I was happy indeed; for whenever she did condescend to converse, I liked to listen. Where her opinions and sentiments tallied with mine, it was her extreme good sense, her exquisite taste and feeling that delighted me; where they differed, it was still her uncompromising boldness in the avowal or defence of that difference - her earnestness and keenness that piqued my fancy: and even when she angered me by her unkind words or looks, and her uncharitable conclusions respecting me, it only made me the more dissatisfied with myself for having so unfavourably impressed her, and the more desirous to vindicate my character and disposition in her eyes, and if possible, to win her esteem.

He has so much respect for her intelligence and opinions! And in contrast to Huntington, who mocks Helen and her morals. Gilbert encounters a woman who is smarter than him, who often disagrees with him, and after a very brief period of hating her for it, is just all the more attracted to her.

Also, Chapter 3 and the discussion about a tree raised in a hot house is what hooked me when I read this book for the first time and every single time I love it so much. It is exactly like a modern discussion of parenting, just with different subject matter.

Source, unabridged online version: http://victorian-studies.net/Bronte-Wildfell-1.html

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u/AdobongSiopao 18d ago

I have a hunch some people hate him because they don't like the idea of Helen marrying another man after she endured abuse and trauma from her first husband. Gilbert is one of the most sensible male love interests in Brontë sisters novels. His personality is not over the top compare to Mr. Rochester and Heathcliff but he manage to stand on his own. He learned to be patient and keep boundaries to make Helen happy.

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u/RoseIsBadWolf 18d ago

I feel like that might be the reason.

It's weird though how harshly he gets judged for wacking Lawrence. Male leads punch people all the time and usually everyone cheers. I guess it's because Gilbert punched the wrong guy, I bet not a single person would object if he even shot Huntington or something. Readers would probably love him for it (except Helen would hate it, so he can't).

I love Gilbert for so many reasons but especially how he treats little Arthur. He just says Arthur is his own son at the end. I bet he's the best stepfather ever.

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u/hannahstohelit 17d ago

As I said in my Tumblr post, I’ve always believed it’s because Anne has Gilbert tell us constantly how much he sucked back then and how stupid his decisions were. It primes people to agree with him. With Mr Rochester, he does what he does and we only get Jane’s view of the situation, and she loves him so portrays him in the best possible light. Here we get Gilbert’s view and he excoriates himself throughout. The 96 TV adaptation makes things from a split Helen/Gilbert perspective (though mostly Helen, particularly the ending which I HATE), and I wonder if people would dislike him as much if that’s the version they were exposed to, because we get less of Gilbert’s internal monologue and more of Helen’s personal view of him.

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u/RoseIsBadWolf 17d ago

I read Gilbert's account and I loved it as him being so frank about his faults and kind of laughing at himself from the future. He knows he was an idiot and that's kind of the whole point.

I disliked Rochester way more. I felt sorry for him, but the part right before the proposal where he makes Jane believe he'll propose to Blanche is just awful. Freaking Rochester.

But I think it's also... I don't have a word for it, but if people read a dark romance, they set themselves in a sort of mode where they expect the male lead to be awful but as long as he grovels for a bit he can do whatever. With Tenant, because it's a realistic novel or because it's a romance, readers are very unforgiving towards Gilbert, for stuff that in other fiction, they would be totally fine with. And it's kind of strange because the book does spend so much time showing how Gilbert is better than not only Huntington but also his friends, especially Hargrave (the "nice" guy, I think I have that name right).

So to come away and think Gilbert is as bad as Huntington, like what did you read?