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A review by theanitaalvarez
Villette by Charlotte Brontë
5.0
It’s not a secret that I adore XIXth century Literature written by ladies. Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell and George Eliot. I simply adore them. So I got into this book knowing that I was going to love it.
I wasn’t wrong. At all. I adored it!
At first, I couldn’t help but compare it to my beloved Jane Eyre. They have similarities, of course. Both protagonists, Jane and Lucy Snowe, are orphans who are completely alone in the world. They both teach to earn their living, and both fall in love with a brooding gentleman. But, even with all those similarities, Lucy seemed very different to dear old Jane.
Lucy was more playful than Jane, I guess. She kept playing games with the reader and hiding information. For example, in the first part of the book, there is a young man called Graham John Bretton, the son of Lucy’s godmother. Then, when she moves to the French school, there is a Doctor John. And yes, they are the same person! And it’s not like she didn’t know that, she only preferred not to tell. You naughty girl, Miss Snowe!
Jane was more serious, more committed to the truth. And somewhat more contained, despite some paragraphs in which she let her passion sweep through.
I’m too weird if I say I actually liked Ginevra? Not in a way “I’d like to meet someone like her” (because that would be a vile lie), but in more in the sense of “what a funny character”. Her relation to Lucy was so hilarious, especially when hearing it from Lucy’s words. She said that she didn’t like Ginevra much, but at the same time she was kind of waiting for her to appear and talk about her vain stuff. She also reminded me of some friends. I could picture myself reading (instead of getting ready to whatever party we were going) and they asking me about their clothes and makeup and all that didn’t interest me much.
One of the things that made me laugh as I read the book was Lucy’s attitude towards the French people and culture. She clearly didn’t like them much, I guess. And it was funny to see her being all moralistic (because, you know, French people could be forgiven by their priests, so they were more relaxed in that field), and commenting how lax were everyone’s morals. My favorite part there was when she was watching the Cleopatra painting and all her comments were about how scantily clad the figure was! Brilliant! (Especially if you know your Art History and can picture paintings of that period).
And the characters! Oh, the characters! In true Brontë fashion, Charlotte managed to describe the whole world of characters in Villette just perfectly. Lucy, of course, it’s brilliantly portrayed. Her efforts at containing her feelings, her fears, her anxiety… basically she was awkward the whole novel and, as a fellow awkward person, I adored her. Jane wasn’t so awkward and clumsy, I think. And it’s easy to relate to Lucy’s feelings about her physical aspect. She said so many times she was plain and weird, poor thing.
Madame Beck was so… perfect. I mean, at first she seemed like a perfectly nice person, and she was kind of trying to help poor Lucy out. Until she fell for her cousin, and jeopardized her inheritance or something. Then, Madame lost her shit. And if you get to see the early parts, it was totally foreshadowed that she wasn’t a nice person. It was there and we couldn’t see it (thanks to a masterfully well written first person —and therefore, limited— narrator).
And Polly, oh my. At first she was somewhat pretty and I was conflicted about her. Because her story with Graham was sweet and that, I was inclined to like her. And I totally could see that she was going to be a total brat when she grew up. So, when she showed up (and actually was pretty much a spoilt brat), I was surprised that she was actually an endearing character. In her own spoilt way, she was very sweet and caring. I loved the way in which she conducted her affair with Graham (I TOTALLY SAW THAT COMING), and how she could make any man around her do anything she wanted them to do. Respect for that, sister.
One thing that was here and completely missing in Jane Eyre is the tension between the love interests (let’s face it: St John didn’t stand a chance over Mr. Rochester. None at all). Lucy was actually conflicted about them in a way that simply Jane couldn't be.
Doctor John/Graham had me confused. Mainly because I sort of shipped him with Polly at the beginning (yes, I know that she was six at that point, but I could see them growing up and all that. CUTE). And then I started shipping him with Lucy because she deserved something cute. But again, I almost forgot what the Brontë sisters were all about: BROODING. Graham was many cool things, I’ll admit, but brooding, NOT. So, when Lucy’s feelings for M. Emmanuel began to show, that ship sailed itself.
By the way, what a man was that Monsieur. Most of the time he was criticizing poor Lucy, but at the same time he was so proud of her. One of my favorite parts was precisely when he was almost showing her up to his snobby friends, who didn’t believe his students were any good. And how he kept constantly helping her improve was just perfect. Yeah, that’s my dream man. One who teaches me stuff (and whom I can teach, as well).
And he got Romantic Hero points for his love story with Marie Justine. Come on, it was a pretty sweet piece of story. Though I’d question his so-called-friends. Seriously? Let the poor fellow move on! I know that it’s so cool and Romantic to be constantly mourning a lost love and shit, but… you just can go like that forever. It’s just not healthy. That they tried to divide Lucy and M. Emanuel I wanted to throw my kindle away.
My favorite part was totally when he gave Lucy a school before leaving. It was a pretty good gift. With it, he was not only telling her how much he trusted her, but also that he valued her independence and how high he regarded her intelligence. Man, that was one smooth gift. Of course I fell for him as much as Lucy had! He was basically telling her that he felt she was as able and capable of doing anything on her own, without his help. He was a feminist!
I’ll admit that the ending kind of shocked me. I wanted a sort of bittersweet ending, such as the one in my beloved Jane Eyre. They get to be together, but he is maimed in some way. And they live happily ever after despite everything. When I got to the ending of Villette I was like:WHAT THE H… HAS HAPPENED HERE? HE’S DEAD?
Not fair, Charlotte. I trusted you and you broke my heart! (I guess I know now where John Green learnt from).
It was somewhat ambiguous, butLucy said that the years in which she expected him were the happiest in her life, and that she was going to leave the reader picture a better ending (OMG, Charlote Brontë also influenced Lemony Snicket).
By the way, for a moment I thought that Miss Brontë had anticipated Henry James’ “The Jolly Corner” and the nun was a projection of her inner conflicts. But no, it was a guy disguised as a nun to visit Ginevra. It was a weird explanation, though. Pretty weird.
I’ll always love Jane Eyre, because of reasons. But Villette has won a special place in my heart. Where all great books go!
I wasn’t wrong. At all. I adored it!
At first, I couldn’t help but compare it to my beloved Jane Eyre. They have similarities, of course. Both protagonists, Jane and Lucy Snowe, are orphans who are completely alone in the world. They both teach to earn their living, and both fall in love with a brooding gentleman. But, even with all those similarities, Lucy seemed very different to dear old Jane.
Lucy was more playful than Jane, I guess. She kept playing games with the reader and hiding information. For example, in the first part of the book, there is a young man called Graham John Bretton, the son of Lucy’s godmother. Then, when she moves to the French school, there is a Doctor John. And yes, they are the same person! And it’s not like she didn’t know that, she only preferred not to tell. You naughty girl, Miss Snowe!
Jane was more serious, more committed to the truth. And somewhat more contained, despite some paragraphs in which she let her passion sweep through.
I’m too weird if I say I actually liked Ginevra? Not in a way “I’d like to meet someone like her” (because that would be a vile lie), but in more in the sense of “what a funny character”. Her relation to Lucy was so hilarious, especially when hearing it from Lucy’s words. She said that she didn’t like Ginevra much, but at the same time she was kind of waiting for her to appear and talk about her vain stuff. She also reminded me of some friends. I could picture myself reading (instead of getting ready to whatever party we were going) and they asking me about their clothes and makeup and all that didn’t interest me much.
One of the things that made me laugh as I read the book was Lucy’s attitude towards the French people and culture. She clearly didn’t like them much, I guess. And it was funny to see her being all moralistic (because, you know, French people could be forgiven by their priests, so they were more relaxed in that field), and commenting how lax were everyone’s morals. My favorite part there was when she was watching the Cleopatra painting and all her comments were about how scantily clad the figure was! Brilliant! (Especially if you know your Art History and can picture paintings of that period).
And the characters! Oh, the characters! In true Brontë fashion, Charlotte managed to describe the whole world of characters in Villette just perfectly. Lucy, of course, it’s brilliantly portrayed. Her efforts at containing her feelings, her fears, her anxiety… basically she was awkward the whole novel and, as a fellow awkward person, I adored her. Jane wasn’t so awkward and clumsy, I think. And it’s easy to relate to Lucy’s feelings about her physical aspect. She said so many times she was plain and weird, poor thing.
Madame Beck was so… perfect. I mean, at first she seemed like a perfectly nice person, and she was kind of trying to help poor Lucy out. Until she fell for her cousin, and jeopardized her inheritance or something. Then, Madame lost her shit. And if you get to see the early parts, it was totally foreshadowed that she wasn’t a nice person. It was there and we couldn’t see it (thanks to a masterfully well written first person —and therefore, limited— narrator).
And Polly, oh my. At first she was somewhat pretty and I was conflicted about her. Because her story with Graham was sweet and that, I was inclined to like her. And I totally could see that she was going to be a total brat when she grew up. So, when she showed up (and actually was pretty much a spoilt brat), I was surprised that she was actually an endearing character. In her own spoilt way, she was very sweet and caring. I loved the way in which she conducted her affair with Graham (I TOTALLY SAW THAT COMING), and how she could make any man around her do anything she wanted them to do. Respect for that, sister.
One thing that was here and completely missing in Jane Eyre is the tension between the love interests (let’s face it: St John didn’t stand a chance over Mr. Rochester. None at all). Lucy was actually conflicted about them in a way that simply Jane couldn't be.
Doctor John/Graham had me confused. Mainly because I sort of shipped him with Polly at the beginning (yes, I know that she was six at that point, but I could see them growing up and all that. CUTE). And then I started shipping him with Lucy because she deserved something cute. But again, I almost forgot what the Brontë sisters were all about: BROODING. Graham was many cool things, I’ll admit, but brooding, NOT. So, when Lucy’s feelings for M. Emmanuel began to show, that ship sailed itself.
By the way, what a man was that Monsieur. Most of the time he was criticizing poor Lucy, but at the same time he was so proud of her. One of my favorite parts was precisely when he was almost showing her up to his snobby friends, who didn’t believe his students were any good. And how he kept constantly helping her improve was just perfect. Yeah, that’s my dream man. One who teaches me stuff (and whom I can teach, as well).
And he got Romantic Hero points for his love story with Marie Justine. Come on, it was a pretty sweet piece of story. Though I’d question his so-called-friends. Seriously? Let the poor fellow move on! I know that it’s so cool and Romantic to be constantly mourning a lost love and shit, but… you just can go like that forever. It’s just not healthy. That they tried to divide Lucy and M. Emanuel I wanted to throw my kindle away.
My favorite part was totally when he gave Lucy a school before leaving. It was a pretty good gift. With it, he was not only telling her how much he trusted her, but also that he valued her independence and how high he regarded her intelligence. Man, that was one smooth gift. Of course I fell for him as much as Lucy had! He was basically telling her that he felt she was as able and capable of doing anything on her own, without his help. He was a feminist!
I’ll admit that the ending kind of shocked me. I wanted a sort of bittersweet ending, such as the one in my beloved Jane Eyre. They get to be together, but he is maimed in some way. And they live happily ever after despite everything. When I got to the ending of Villette I was like:
Not fair, Charlotte. I trusted you and you broke my heart! (I guess I know now where John Green learnt from).
It was somewhat ambiguous, but
By the way, for a moment I thought that Miss Brontë had anticipated Henry James’ “The Jolly Corner” and the nun was a projection of her inner conflicts. But no, it was a guy disguised as a nun to visit Ginevra. It was a weird explanation, though. Pretty weird.
I’ll always love Jane Eyre, because of reasons. But Villette has won a special place in my heart. Where all great books go!