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Villette

Charlotte Brontë

Start date: April 1, 2026

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By Lesle , Appalachian Bibliophile · 8 posts · 43 views

last updated Nov 27, 2025 11:36AM

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Jul 21, 2025 Anubha rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, british

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I truly wanted to love Villette, but despite its literary merit, I found myself consistently exasperated by Lucy Snowe. While Charlotte Brontë's prose is undeniably beautiful and skillfully crafted, Lucy's narrative voice often felt less than forthright.

A significant point of contention for me was Lucy's recurring portrayal of French people – or "foreigners," as she often called them – as inherently weak, stupid, or lazy. Perhaps it was a reflection of the prevailing attitudes of the time, but h I truly wanted to love Villette, but despite its literary merit, I found myself consistently exasperated by Lucy Snowe. While Charlotte Brontë's prose is undeniably beautiful and skillfully crafted, Lucy's narrative voice often felt less than forthright.

A significant point of contention for me was Lucy's recurring portrayal of French people – or "foreigners," as she often called them – as inherently weak, stupid, or lazy. Perhaps it was a reflection of the prevailing attitudes of the time, but her constant remarks grated on me. For instance, when describing her and Paulina's German classes, she would insist that French girls simply didn't work as hard at learning anything. This sense of superiority and superciliousness on her part was genuinely irritating. She kept reminding readers that she is the 'oh so simple', modest woman while genuinely thinking she is better than other people. So self satisfied !

Also, Lucy's claims about just being friends with John Graham Bretton didn't feel real. Despite her earnest attempts to convince the reader that she merely regarded him as a friend, her narrative consistently betrayed a deep, one-sided love, punctuated by obvious jealousy and disappointment. While Graham continued to ignore her as soon as he had any other distraction. I also found it weird the matter of fact way in which took the neglect. I mean her Godmother, knowing her entire traumatizing history, and knowing that she almost had a nervous breakdown the previous year, does not contact her for almost 2 months and royally ignore her as soon as they get busy. I mean what!!!

In fact, because she loved Graham so much, I suspect she saw him through rose-colored glasses and I couldn't trust her high praise. While he appeared to be a good-looking, well-spoken, and decent young man, he also struck me as more than a little self-centered. I mean he kept ignoring her for 2/3rd of the book and at best paid attention to her only when he wanted a sympathetic ear to hear about his love problems.
Plus the whole Paulina and Graham was giving me major "ick". The whole discussion of Paulina's childhood "love" for him was quite cringeworthy. While social customs of the era might have permitted a 26-year-old man to marry an 18-year-old girl, dwelling on their "love" when one was six and the other sixteen felt frankly bizarre and uncomfortable.

And speaking of M. Paul, his actions were often perplexing. If he intended to marry Lucy, why the convoluted proposal to be her "brother"? It was odd. Plus the man was beastly to her. Three quarters of his acquaintance with Lucy was spent in insulting her intelligence, her dress, her deportment, her "Englishness". What a misogynist. He actually insists that women must be controlled and subdued, that Lucy shouldn't wear nice clothes, or accessories or jewelry, and basically calls her a "sl*t" for writing a letter to Graham. I mean the guy really needs to chill. I also distinctly remember him being upset with Lucy, thinking that she was smarter than she let on. I mean why? How insecure was he!

I'll admit that many of my objections stem from the social customs and narrative conventions of the Victorian era or do they??

The plot was downright sloppy or at least perplexing at times. For example, the entire episode with the two professors arriving to "test" Lucy felt like a pointless detour. What was its ultimate purpose, beyond M. Paul learning that Lucy was perhaps less intelligent than he assumed her to be?

I also did not understand the whole business about the nun. Why was it even included. The plot was all over the place.

I'm still split about the whole ending. On one hand, I feel happy that she stopped pining over Graham. And M. Paul does redeem himself in the end, but hard for me to forget his beastly side. ...more

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