As Helen’s two love interests in the novel, Gilbert and Arthur act as foils for each other. Arthur is a cruel, abusive alcoholic who wastes his wealth and consistently cheats on Helen, while Gilbert is a caring farmer who (mostly) treats Helen with respect and values his Christian faith. Readers are meant to understand Helen’s marriage to Gilbert as the antidote to her terrible marriage with Arthur.
That said, there are moments in the novel that show, for all the ways Gilbert is different from Arthur—and clearly the better match for Helen—he can also reproduce the sexism of their society. In the following passage, Helen criticizes Gilbert for suggesting that young boys (like her son) should be granted full freedom and young girls should be sheltered and doted upon:
“I would not send a poor girl into the world, unarmed against her foes, and ignorant of the snares that beset her path: nor would I watch and guard her, till, deprived of self-respect and self-reliance, she lost the power, or the will, to watch and guard herself; – and as for my son – if I thought he would grow up to be what you call a man of the world – one that has ‘seen life,’ and glories in his experience, even though he should so far profit by it, as to sober down, at length, into a useful and respected member of society – I would rather that he died tomorrow!”
This quote shows Helen’s extreme anger toward Gilbert when he shows that he may reproduce the same sort of sexism and gendered double standards that she constantly had to face in her relationship with Arthur. It’s also clear that beneath Helen’s declaration that she would rather her son “die tomorrow” than become a man who has “seen life,” that she equates “seeing life” with becoming like her abusive husband Arthur—something she is committed to having him avoid.
As Gilbert’s two love interests in the novel, Eliza and Helen act as foils for each other. Though Gilbert starts off the novel flirting with Eliza and considering her to be a potential romantic match for him, he comes to see how—unlike Helen—she has a cruel side.
The following passage shows Gilbert’s growing awareness of Eliza’s unkind character:
But Eliza took advantage of the first convenient pause to ask if I had lately seen Mrs Graham, in a tone of merely casual enquiry, but with a sidelong glance – intended to be playfully mischievous – really, brimful and running over with malice.
Here Gilbert indicates that while he used to respect Eliza and trust her when she spoke with a “tone of merely casual enquiry,” he now sees that such a tone contains “malice” and, therefore, he no longer trusts her.
Unlike Eliza, Helen never says a bad word about anyone, even about those who have caused her harm, and proves to be a more moral and caring character in the process. While Eliza exudes malice, Helen truly respects everyone. This is most evident in how, despite Arthur’s years of abuse against her, she goes home to Grassdale to care for him when he is sick and dying from alcoholism. Ultimately, in comparing Eliza to Helen, Gilbert comes to love and desire Helen as a wife even more.
As Arthur’s two main love interests in the novel, Annabella and Helen act as foils for each other. Though Annabella at first presents herself as a kind friend to Helen—telling her that marrying Arthur would not be a good idea because of his debaucherous nature—her true character starts to come out later in the novel.
For example, she targets Lord Lowborough for marriage because she wants his aristocratic title for herself—she does not actually care about or respect him. This comes across in the following passage, in which Annabella reveals her true intentions to Helen:
“I wish,” returned [Annabella], with a short laugh, “that all the attractive points and desirable qualifications of the two gentlemen were united in one – that Lord Lowborough had Huntingdon’s handsome face and good temper, and all his wit, and mirth and charm, or else that Huntingdon had Lowborough’s pedigree, and title, and delightful old family seat, and I had him; and you might have the other and welcome.”
Here the only positive qualities that Annabella lists when describing Lowborough are his “pedigree, and title, and delightful old family seat,” hinting at her selfish intentions in pursuing him.
Annabella also proves to be shameless in her flirting with Arthur, eventually having a full-on affair with him right under Helen’s nose. The quote captures Annabella’s selfishness—she wants both of these men for herself and even says so directly to Helen who is engaged to be married to Arthur at the time.
Ultimately, Helen’s character is entirely counter to Annabella’s—unlike Annabella, Helen is humble, modest, and moral, always prioritizing her Christian principles above all else.
As the two characters in the novel with the most divergent personalities and characteristics—as well as the two characters tied up in the central conflict—Helen and Arthur act as foils for each other.
Though the two are initially attracted to each other and decide to get married, their characters could not be more opposed: Helen is innocent, naïve, and deeply committed to acting in a moral way aligned with her Christian values, while Arthur is manipulative, cruel, and has no sense whatsoever of morality. Unlike Helen, he is motivated by pleasure and desire (for women and alcohol, mostly).
It is worth nothing that the more immoral and depraved Arthur becomes over the course of the novel, the more virtuous and religiously motivated Helen becomes. Both of them feel trapped by this dynamic. Arthur hints at his dissatisfaction with this relationship dynamic directly when, in a conversation with Helen about halfway through the novel, he compares their characters:
“You are an angel of heaven; only be not too austere in your divinity, and remember that I am a poor, fallible mortal.”
Here Arthur seems to be complimenting Helen by calling her an “angel” but also shows that he believes this moral superiority gives her the ability to be “too austere” with him, a “poor, fallible mortal.” In presenting himself as a mere “mortal,” Arthur tries to rewrite all of his abuse, cruelty, and infidelity as simply human behavior, a common maneuver by the manipulative men in the novel.
As two debaucherous and unfaithful husbands who take divergent paths, Arthur and Hattersley act as foils for each other. The following passage shows Arthur reflecting on how his friend’s behavior at the beginning of the novel is much like his own in that he abuses alcohol and has affairs without any care for his wife:
He might amuse himself just as he pleased, in regular bachelor style, and [his wife Milicent] never complained of neglect; he might come home at any hour of the night or morning, or not come home at all; be sullen sober, or glorious drunk; and play the fool or the madman to his own heart’s desire without any fear or botheration. She never gives him a word of reproach or complaint, do what he will.
Like Arthur, Hattersley comes home “at any hour of the night or morning,” is regularly drunk, and can act like a “fool” or “madman.” Just as most people in Helen’s life warn her about marrying Arthur due to his adultery and substance abuse, Helen (and others) warn her friend Milicent about marrying Hattersley for the same reasons.
Despite Hattersley and Arthur’s similar wild behavior, Hattersley ultimately decides to change his ways, giving up alcohol and becoming faithful to his wife. This is what makes Hattersley a notable foil for Arthur—his presence proves that it’s possible for immoral men to change their ways and that Arthur is choosing not to do so. Arthur dies at the end of the novel and Hattersley ends up happy in his marriage, perhaps part of the lesson Brontë is trying to communicate about how those with moral characters are rewarded in the end (even those who acted unethically in the past).
