Villette in Reading 1001

Sep 10, 2022 Erich C rated it really liked it

Shelves: my-library

A good but not amazing read. The high points for me are:

1) the unreliable narrator Lucy Snowe, who doesn't let the reader in on all of her thoughts or the details of her backstory; independent but also a bit of a cipher

2) Mme Beck: stoic, able, controlling, manipulative, and nosy; all of the hinges in the school are oiled and noiseless

3) Paul Emanuel: irascible, domineering, secretly compassionate

Lucy leaves much unsaid, so many times we must infer her opinions or internal reactions. Bronte ofte ...more

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Apr 21, 2018 Renee Kahl rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, reviewed

It takes the right mindset to enjoy 19th century writing, to patiently absorb the long paragraphs full of multi-clause sentences. Charlotte Bronte’s ornate, convoluted prose in Villette makes Jane Eyre look terse.
But the turgid prose is never repetitious and provides one of the most intricate character studies I’ve ever read. It is a function of Lucy’s excessive introspection, a window into her introverted, complex personality.
Prone to depression and pessimistically convinced she is one of the It takes the right mindset to enjoy 19th century writing, to patiently absorb the long paragraphs full of multi-clause sentences. Charlotte Bronte’s ornate, convoluted prose in Villette makes Jane Eyre look terse.
But the turgid prose is never repetitious and provides one of the most intricate character studies I’ve ever read. It is a function of Lucy’s excessive introspection, a window into her introverted, complex personality.
Prone to depression and pessimistically convinced she is one of the unlucky ones in earthly life, Lucy does expect joy in heaven. Though compliant, submissive and self-effacing, she is proud with a rock-solid sense of herself and her values that she is fierce in defending. Inexperienced as a teacher, she instinctively knows how to grab control of her unruly class at the outset through the right mix of intimidation and entertainment. Deprived of education in her youth, she constantly and hungrily absorbs learning and is sharply perceptive about those around her; her self-assessment as not very bright is perhaps the only instance where she is an unreliable narrator. In each of her relationship s—and they are unique and fascinating (those characters are well-drawn through Lucy’s introspection, too)-- she draws a bright line. With vain, silly Genevra she is a partially tolerant big sister, but shoos her away with a cutting reproof after enough nonsense. She doesn’t care at all that her employer, Madame, mistrusts her, or that Madame snoops through her things, but only so long as Madame replaces them respectfully exactly as they were. She is gratified when Madame figures out that the way to keep her a happy employee is not to bribe her with gifts but to leave her alone. With each of the men with whom she falls in love, she sees his faults clearly and refuses to change herself to suit him.
The book has a few minor flaws, although the prose isn’t one of them. As many have pointed out, the plot is weakened by too many coincidences. Lucy moves from England to France and everyone significant she knows seems to transfer there with her and turn up in multiple implausible ways. The character Polly, who Lucy describes as the only person who “really knows” her, is not nearly as developed as I would have liked. The portrait of this tough heroine more than makes up for these complaints. ...more

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