From Private to Public Sphere: A Representation of Women’s Economic Empowerment in Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Abstract

Abstract: This paper seeks to address the issue of women’s economic empowerment in Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by focusing particularly on the ways in which the protagonist Helen Graham challenges Victorian patriarchal system and works hard to achieve social and financial autonomy. Building on Virginia Woolf's radical feminism which puts to the fore the 'economic power' of women in A Room of One’s Own, this study attempts to show how the heroine Helen Graham resists discrimination, gender inequalities and labours hard to reach her self-fulfilment. The study ultimately revealed that Helen Graham has gained economic independence through her boldness and hardworking in Victorian gender-based society. Keywords: women, economic empowerment, Victorian patriarchal system, self-fulfilment, boldness