Villette in Classics Without All the Class

Jan 04, 2013 Michelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Villette was a journal of Miss Lucy Snowe. The setting was mostly in the town of Villette, France. It was a sad chronicles by a person whose life was filled with tragic events from childhood until her adulthood. I admit that it was a difficult read especially with the absence of translation for characters dialogue in French. But I guess this added to the story authentic value. The writing though, was excellent and beautiful.

Speaking of the narrator, Lucy Snowe was not charming, also she was a ve Villette was a journal of Miss Lucy Snowe. The setting was mostly in the town of Villette, France. It was a sad chronicles by a person whose life was filled with tragic events from childhood until her adulthood. I admit that it was a difficult read especially with the absence of translation for characters dialogue in French. But I guess this added to the story authentic value. The writing though, was excellent and beautiful.

Speaking of the narrator, Lucy Snowe was not charming, also she was a very different person than I am, it was hard to relate to her and her decisions. The way Charlotte Bronte planned the plots and revelations was genius. At the beginning, I was dumbstruck at the method Lucy dealt with her money and later, it was revealed she had no basic arimethic background. However, she did not gave up on improving herself so she would be worthy of her position as teacher at Rue Fosette.

Lucy’s relationships with the people from her childhood (The Brettons and The Homes/de Bassompierre) as well as the people in Rue Fosette (particularly M. Emanuel, Mdm. Beck and Ginevra Fanshawe) were interesting. She was a quiet person, keeping things to herself rather than confided to her friends. The tragedies that had followed her throughout her young life had not only scarred her emotionally but also negative impacts on her person long afterwards. She was afraid to be close to people in fear they would be snatched away from her by another or death. Based from what I had read, her fear was very much well founded. Misfortunes kept on tailing her, preventing the much deserved happiness away from our poor narrator until the bitter end.

As for the other characters, my favorite was most probably the owner of the bookstore. Even though he only appeared for perhaps a paragraph or two and was mentioned by M. Emmanuel and Lucy once or twice, he was, in my opinion, the most likable person in this tale. Ginevra Fanshawe, on the other hand, won the award for the most entertaining character. I found Paulina to be annoying and her relationship with her father was too co-dependent. Same went for Dr. John and his mother. Dr. John and Paulina romance that took up few of the chapters bored me to death and cheesy at its best. Monsieur Emmanuel was at first, came off as an extremely unlikable man but once his past was revealed, I wanted him to be with Lucy and build their lives together. Mdm Beck had always come off wrong in my book. Lucy, in her narration and a little twisted sense of decorum, kept on justifying the despicable woman’s actions even though she did acknowledge as well as laugh at some of Mdm Beck's antics. I admit the final paragraph vexed me so but I guess life is not always the way we wanted it to be.

Villette was said to be Charlotte Bronte’s greatest masterpiece. The prose and the writing were excellent and top-notched. While I admit it definitely deserved its place as one of the great classics, I did not like it as much as I thought I would. I might re-read it again in the far off future.
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