The Tenant of Wildfell Hall a present-day Yorkshire village. In "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" film adaptation, Juliet Ashton (Lily James), argues about the cultural significance of "The Tenant": "In "Wildfell Hall", Anne Brontë laid bare the essential imbalance of power between men and women in the suffocating hierarchical structure of Victorian marriage." According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term cardboard first appeared in "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall". Phrase "tied to the apron strings" was also coined in the novel: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is the second and final novel by the English author
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall son, Arthur, are slowly drawn into the social circles of the village. Initially Gilbert Markham casually courts Eliza Millward, despite his mother's belief that he can do better. His interest in Eliza wanes as he comes to know Mrs Graham. In retribution, Eliza spreads (and perhaps creates) scandalous rumours about Helen. With gossip flying, Gilbert is led to believe that his friend Mr Lawrence is courting Mrs Graham. At a chance meeting on a road Gilbert strikes the mounted Lawrence with a whip handle, causing him to fall from his horse. Though she is unaware of this confrontation, Helen Graham