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Putting the “Wild” back in Wildfell Hall: Animals and Animalization in the Novels of
Anne Bronte
By: Eric Kwartler
The two novels of Anne Bronte aggressively deconstruct the strong female
archetype through animalization 1 of primary characters. Agnes Grey (1847) portrays a
young governess who, despite numerous assurances to the contrary, has no control over
her family, her charges, or her life. In The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), Anne Bronte
deconstructs 2 Helen, the primary mother-figure in the novel, by exposing the
unconscionable damage she inflicts on her son as a result of her own insecurity. In each
case, primary characters are brutally animalized and then led by animals into situations
the status of which even at the end remains dubious. In Agnes Grey, Anne animalizes
Agnes herself and then mediates her relationship with Edward Weston through animal
contact, while The Tenant of Wildfell Hall animalizes Arthur, Helen’s son, which leads to
the complete reliance of his—and thereby his mother’s—relationship to Gilbert on
Gilbert’s dog Sancho.
Agnes Grey’s psychological development connects inextricably to the treatment
of animals in the novel. The financial downfall of the Greys forces them to sell the
phaeton pony present initially in the Grey household, which greatly disappoints the
family. Agnes declares her love for the pony, describing the beast as “the old favourite
that we had fully determined should end its days in peace, and never pass from our
hands.” 3 In the first chapter, Agnes identifies herself as “the pet of the family,” 4
specifically, with her pet cat. After her sister commands her in response to her offer of
assistance to “Go…play with the kitten,” 5 Agnes mutters that around the house, she “was
not many degrees more useful than the kitten.” 6 The text further confirms this
association through Agnes’ farewell to her kitten, as she laments:
My dear little friend, the kitten, would certainly be changed: she was already
growing a fine cat; and when I returned, even for a hasty visit at Christmas,
would, most likely, have forgotten both her playmate and her merry pranks. I had
romped with her for the last time; and when I stroked her soft bright fur, while she
lay purring herself to sleep in my lap, it was with a feeling of sadness I could not
easily disguise. 7
1 “Animalization” refers to the forced regression of a character to a more primitive physical and emotional
state as a result of their environment. More specifically, in this essay it denotes the way characters respond
to and emulate animals with which they come into contact.
2 “Deconstruction” often designates a process designed, as the OED puts it, to expose unquestioned
metaphysical assumptions and internal contradictions in a given work or system of ideas. In the case of
Anne Bronte, deconstruction refers to her attempt to subvert traditional ideas of motherhood and family
dynamics by breaking down the humanity of the primary women and children in her novels through the
connections they develop, often unwillingly, with animals.
3 Anne Bronte, Agnes Grey, ed. Marsden and Inglesfield (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 8.
4 Ibid., 4.
5 Ibid., 9.
6 Ibid., 10.
7 Ibid., 14.