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I agree with the comments about Gilbert; yet he is the romantic hero of the piece, the man Helen comes to love and trust. I don't think Anne Bronte wanted the reader to believe that Helen is making another stupid mistake, but it sure seems like another stupid mistake, especially considering the violent attack on Lawrence. Gilbert's main "virtue" seemed to be that he wasn't a drunkard, and I guess that was enough for Helen.
I don't see how this is much of a feminist novel--it is to a point, with Helen defying convention and leaving her husband, but that is undercut by her return. Really? Bronte couldn't have just had mean old Arthur die offstage and free Helen to marry again (or live happily alone)? No, she has to have noble Helen burnish her halo and return to caress the fevered brow of her oppressor. Such saintliness!
But then all the emphasis on religion annoyed me. That's too mild a statement--it made me want to scream.
While I'm hating on Helen--the doctoring of booze to make her son sick was horrifying.
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