The Tenant of Wildfell Hall construction, the artists hand also offers a form of independence, a possibility of earning a living, in a period when a woman had virtually no independent power base in any sphere." Nicole A. Diederich has argued that in "The Tenant" Anne Brontë constructs marriage and remarriage as a comparative and competitive practice that restricts Helen's rights and talents. Helen's artistic ability plays a central role in her relationships with both Gilbert and Arthur. Her alternating freedom to paint and inability to do so on her own terms not only complicate Helen's definition as wife, widow, and artist, but also enable
Helen Graham (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall) her father, unwilling to take any care of a girl, sends Helen to her aunt, Mrs. Peggy Maxwell, at Staningley Hall. At the age of eighteen Helen enters her first season, where she meets witty and handsome Arthur Huntingdon. She falls in love with him and eventually marries him, in spite of all his faults and strong disapproval of her aunt. Helen is firmly convinced that she can reform Arthur with gentle persuasion and good example. One year after their marriage Helen gives birth to their son, also named Arthur, often referred to in the novel as Little Arthur. Huntingdon,