In The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte chronicles the disillusionment, heartbreak, and final devastation of an intelligent woman who falls in love with a rake. She flees her disastrous marriage and sets up as a professional artist-a highly unusual and daring step for a woman of her time. Bronte’s message remains relevant in a time when the dangerous lover-not unlike the dark and mesmerizing Heathcliff and Rochester respectively of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre-still lurks in romance narratives, and the belief in the beautiful illusion of saving the lost soul through love retains its seductive power.