Tennant Adaptations Essay

Often when a literary work is transposed into a visual medium, the message that the author intended can be altered, diluted or emphasised according to the context in which it was created and the time allowed to convey the ideas. Mike Barker directed the BBC dramatization of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (original text published in 1848) to entertain and attract his 1996 audience while Anne Bronte wrote the original epistolary novel to challenge the ideals of a patriarchal society. It was a written warning to young girls of the era, who may have been infatuated with "romantic notions" and juvenile naivety. However, due to the vast differences in form between written text and the visual interpretation, such as the use of music and setting to create a specific mood for the audience as opposed to the authors use of language to create the tone of the novel, the full impact of Bronte's messages was modified or lost in translation. Barker chose to focus on the trials and tribulation of the protagonist Helen and omit some of the key subplots, due to a more contemporary focus and time constraints. These omissions diminish Bronte's pious ideals – that those who stray from religious morals are punished. Due to the context of the modern audience and time restrictions, one of the novel's key preoccupations regarding the role of moral and religious duty to one's life is also partially removed or obscured, to avoid depicting Helen as being ‘too religious'.

In Barker's visual translation of Anne Bronte's radical text, the director positions the audience to feel more sympathy towards the plight of the tortured protagonist Helen, played by Tara Fitzgerald. This is particularly evident through director Mike Barker's characterisation of Arthur Huntingdon (Rupert Graves), who is more abusive in his conduct towards Helen and their son, which leads Helen to conclude that her ‘marriage to Huntingdon is over.' While Huntingdon never physically or sexually exploits Helen in the original text, he is portrayed as doing so in the film which heightens and intensifies Helen's torment and encourages the contemporary viewers to more fully understand Helen's suffering and feel greater sympathy towards her difficult position. This spiteful violence is shown as a flashback in the opening scenes of the film where a Punch and Judy show compels Helen to recall Huntingdon viciously flinging her to the ground, exclaiming "with my body I thee worship", making a mockery of vows made during the marriage ceremony. This divergence makes sense as Bronte would have been wary not to shock the sensibilities of Victorian England whist Barker did not face such obstacles, given the level of violence modern film goers can tolerate, and often expect.

Interestingly, the character of Esther Hargrave is entirely omitted from the film adaptation, although her siblings Millicent and Walter