MovieChat Forums > The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1997) Discussion > What Did Arthur Huntingdon Die Of?

What Did Arthur Huntingdon Die Of?

posted 14 years ago by hanna_house
9 replies | jump to latest

Just curious as to what Arthur Huntingdon died of. If they stated it in the movie, I must have missed it. He was coughing up blood, but that could be any number of things. Even if there is no way to know for sure, I would be interested in people's thoughts of what it may have been.

[–] randommovies2002 14 years ago

I thought it might have been liver disease caused by alcohol abuse. Coughing up blood can be caused by varices in the stomach and esophagus-- indications of a diseased liver.

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/esophageal-varices/DS00820.html

[–] perorewen 14 years ago

It's years and years since I read the book, and I haven't finished this tv-series yet, so I don't quite remember what he died from, but as far as I remember it was related to his abuse of alcohol.

**********
- Who's the lady with the log?
- We call her the Log Lady.

[–] randommovies2002 14 years ago

I'm going to have to break down and re-read this now, aren't I? Okay, you've convinced me, but I'm not going to give in and re-read Wuthering Heights! I won't! I swear I wont!

[–] randommovies2002 13 years ago

I just re-read the ending. Huntingdon died as a result of injuries sustained during a fall from his horse. He was unable to recover due to his poor state of health, the result of an over-indulgent lifestyle (esp. too much alcohol).

[–] romina_p 13 years ago

Yes, he fell from his horse, but he had an open wound somewhere in his body that wasn't really described well by Bronte. However, when Helen returned to him, he started to get really well, the doctor said he was out of danger, but then he regained his capricious self and got the butler to bring him a bottle of his strongest wine, he drank it all, had a heavy relapse, and finally died.

The whole description of the disease is quite difficult to understand in today's terms. The fact that drinking excessively was what at the end killed him (yes, after being weakened by years of vice) is very interesting... what could it have been, cancer of the liver?

No Englishman'd dream of dying in someone else's home,esp. of someone they didn't know!

[–] randommovies2002 13 years ago

The liver can be failing without having cancer of the liver. In layman's terms, a diseased liver has severe scarring, which prevents blood from passing through it. Scarring of the liver is called cirrhosis.

Cirrhosis is a slowly progressing disease in which healthy liver tissue is replaced with scar tissue, eventually preventing the liver from functioning properly. The scar tissue blocks the flow of blood through the liver and slows the processing of nutrients, hormones, drugs, and naturally produced toxins. It also slows the production of proteins and other substances made by the liver.

Hepatitis C, fatty liver, and alcohol abuse are the most common causes of cirrhosis of the liver in the U.S., but anything that damages the liver can cause cirrhosis.
http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/cirrhosis-liver

Essentially, Huntingdon's liver was likely severely scarred at the time he fell from his horse (the result of years of excessive drinking, no doubt). His liver was so diseased that when he started abusing alcohol again, it killed him pretty quickly. That said, his liver was probably so diseased that he would have died anyhow, but perhaps not quite as quickly.

the doctor said he was out of danger

The doctor wouldn't have known/ understood about the diseased liver. With severe liver disease, Huntingdon would also have had low blood platelet counts and that means his blood doesn't clot propery. Additionaly, another side-effect of liver disease is varices occurring in other organs (e.g. esophagus and stomach). (When blood cannot pass through the liver because of cirrhosis/scarring in the liver, great pressure builds up in the vessels leading to the liver, causing varices/varicose veins in other organs, such as the esophagus and stomach. The blood vessel walls become so thin that eventually there is bleeding in those organs.) With bleeding varices and compromised blood clotting ability, he was in severe danger of bleeding to death.

If the doctor had bled Huntingdon (as part of his treatment) it would have hastened his death, since his blood wasn't clotting properly due to a low platelet count. (Bleeding him would have hastened his death.)

[–] dobieclose 12 years ago

I had rather thought it was tuberculosis.

[–] zolazona 12 years ago

I had thought it was tuberculosis as well or as they called it back then, consumption. The doctor had said he had inflammation of the lung before using the "cups" on his chest. Later at the dinner table his dry coughing led to a hemorrhage.

[–] Popcorngal (4321) 4 years ago

I did as well.