The Tenant of Wildfell Hall to her son, while Anne was governess to her daughters. Du Maurier concluded that in childhood years Branwell "shared in his sister's writings; somehow he must continue to live out their characters in the world of his imagination." In her early essays on Anne Brontë's novels and poetry Muriel Spark praised her proficiency. She believed that Charlotte was a "harsh sister to Anne" and "had she taken an impartial view of "Wildfell Hall", she must have discovered its merits." Despite notion that Charlotte and Emily were "more gifted," Spark stated that "[Anne's] writings none the less take no mean place
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and "eloquence in proclaiming the equality of men and women." She believed that "The Tenant" "might be said to be the first manifesto for 'Women's Lib'". Inga-Stina Ewbank considered Anne the least talented of the sisters and claimed that the framing structure, where "Helen can reveal her innermost being to the diary" while Gilbert is "bound to be as objective as possible," "throws novel out of balance." However, she believed that "through the very nature of its central concern, "The Tenant" is feminist in the deepest sense of the word." Daphne du Maurier discussed "The Tenant" in the context Anne's