Villette / Charlotte Bronte

 

Villette by Charlotte Brontë
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I truly enjoyed this book, but I can see that it is not for everyone. For as thick as it is, very little actually happens. Our narrator, Lucy Snowe, is a woman who is hiding her passions under a veil of plainness and self effacement. She may have a cold name and try to project a cold persona to the world, but there is a molten core to the woman, causing occasional tectonic upheaval. Indeed, the many storms which feature in the book seem to represent her internal hurricanes. She declares at one point her delight in sitting out in a thunderstorm, reveling in its power. Does she long to cause significant drama around her? I think so, judging from her performance in the school play!

Nor is Lucy completely forthcoming to the reader. We know there is some trauma in her past which left her without means and forced her to find her way to employment in France, but she confides none of the details to us. She also recognizes Graham/Dr John well before she lets her audience in on the secret.

In many ways, she illustrates the tiresome responsibilities that devolve onto women: dealing with children, taking care of the elderly and the invalid, and doing this difficult work for barely a pittance. Lucy has intelligence, but whatever disaster left her adrift in England also deprived her of an education. During her tenure at Mme. Beck's school, she educates herself, studying in her spare time. Mme. Beck recognizes this and promotes her from nursemaid to teacher. Charlotte Bronte's personal experience as both a student and an instructor in such situations allows her to write a very realistic scenario for Lucy.

There are two men who dominate Lucy's life. John Graham Bretton, the handsome Englishman, who she has known since her youth, and M. Paul Emmanuel, the fiery & opinionated literature teacher at the school. Once again, Lucy declines to tell us how she lost touch with her godmother, but in Villette she comes back into their lives when she collapses in a rainstorm and Dr. John is the doctor who comes to her aid. When she returns to the school, his letters sustain her and we know of her devotion to him. Ironically, he also is reunited with Polly/Pauline as a result of his profession and Lucy is with him during that event. Shortly afterwards, Lucy buries his letters in the garden, effectively burying her hope of his love. But who tends this garden? Why M. Paul, of course, whose fiery and passionate nature worries Lucy as much as it attracts her. It would seem that Paul is a confirmed bachelor, possibly a safe man to love for someone who prizes independence as much as Lucy does. It is his attention and kindness that causes Lucy to bloom a bit, to learn mathematics for example, and to have confidence in her teaching abilities.

For Lucy does prize independence and intellectual pursuits with all her heart. Probably more than either John or Paul. The drive towards marriage seems to be a cultural expectation. Frustration of all kinds is at the heart of the volcano that is Lucy Snowe. Financial, intellectual, sexual frustration, all of which can only be solved in a culturally appropriate manner in Victorian society by the institution of marriage. In this book, Charlotte gets to have her cake and eat it too, if I am interpreting that ending correctly.

As I said at the beginning, very little happens. Most of what takes place happens exclusively in Lucy's imagination, her fantasy life if you will. Readers who need more direct action should set this book aside.


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