The Professor [with Biographical Introduction]
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Product Description
Product Description
The hero of Charlotte Bronte's first novel escapes a dreary clerkship in industrial Yorkshire by taking a job as a teacher in Belgium. There, however, his entanglement with the sensuous but manipulative Zoraide Reuter, complicates his affections for a penniless girl who is both teacher and pupil in Reuter's school.
About the Author
Charlotte Brontë (1816-55) is one of the greatest novelists of the 19th century. The author of a number of highly acclaimed and popular novels, she is best-known for her novel Jane Eyre. Heather Glen is a Fellow of New Hall, Cambridge.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
THE other day, in looking over my papers, I found in my desk the following copy of a letter, sent by me a year since to an old school acquaintance:- 'DEAR CHARLES, - I think when you and I were at Eton together, we were neither of us what could be called popular characters: you were a sarcastic, observant, shrewd, cold-blooded creature; my own portrait I will not attempt to draw, but I cannot recollect that it was a strikingly attractive one - can you? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
THE other day, in looking over my papers, I found in my desk the following copy of a letter, sent by me a year since to an old school acquaintance:- 'DEAR CHARLES, - I think when you and I were at Eton together, we were neither of us what could be called popular characters: you were a sarcastic, observant, shrewd, cold-blooded creature; my own portrait I will not attempt to draw, but I cannot recollect that it was a strikingly attractive one - can you? Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
i very much enjoyed this novel and can't understand why it has only 3 stars when it is of superb literary character. Very charlotte bronte, reminded me of vilette, with most of the novel set away from england - cue lots of french, which unless you are fluent means alot of time flicking back to the notes section. However the plot line is charming, in the introduction charlotte is said to have stated that she refused to give her protagonist an easy time, that he would have to earn his money and his wife..and that he does. It is essentially a love story from the male perspective - which is a lovely change from the austin swooning/ heart racing/ carrying on's of some novels
i found it charming
i found it charming
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book did not live up to my expectations. I was originally very excited to read this book because I wanted to see how C. Bronte wrote from a male perspective. In William Crimsworth, she creates a character with a great deal in common with Jane Eyre; yet, he is not as interesting to follow or as sympathetic.
William continues to perservere through any struggle that life has given him. He holds his head with dignity while his closest relative throws him on the street. Then, he maintains a strong Protestant work ethic in the heavily Catholic city of Brussels. C. Bronte seems to be reflecting upon her own experiences while living in Belgium; however, I found the constant negativity surrounding the Catholic faith to be distracting from her message concering hard work and perserverance. When descibing the girls at his school, William says, "I suspect the root of this precocious impurity so obvious, so general in Popish countries, is to be found in the discipline if not the doctrines of the Church of Rome." The comparison between Catholics and Protestants is contant thoughout this book. I found it zenophobic and ignorant while reading.
While a teacher at a girls' finishing school, Crimsworth falls in love twice. First with the coquettish Catholic school mistress, Zoraide Reuter and then with the subserviant Protestant lace-mender, Frances Henri. Frances and Zoraide are as different as night and day; however Crimsworth is attracted to both of them. Again, it seems as though Charlotte is making a comparison between two religions as well as two different types of women with her choices of love interest for William C.
All in all, William Crimsworth is not the character I was expecting to meet. He is pompous, conceited, and non-sympathetic. I suppose there is usually a touch of superiority in most Bronte characters, yet I usually find their circumstances to cause sympathy. I felt none for WC.
One more thing about this addition: there are frequent typographic errors. I suppose that is why it only costs 1.50.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Readers aspiring to have a knowledge of Charlotte Brontë’s work should read "The Professor" as it contains the key to much of her subsequent writing like "Jane Eyre" or "Vilette". The novel is based on the author’s own experiences in Brussels. The central character, William Crimsworth, an orphan, leaves his dreary clerking post in a Yorkshire mill to start a career as a teacher of English in the Belgian capital. He falls in love with a Protestant pupil, Frances Henri, teacher and lace mender. However William’s relationship is complicated by the manipulative and beguiling Catholic headmistress, Zoraide Reuter, and her cunning attempts to divert him from his destiny.
The novel, written in 1846, astonishes by its brevity and realism and by its portrayal of the heroine’s insistence on a working career after her marriage.
The novel, written in 1846, astonishes by its brevity and realism and by its portrayal of the heroine’s insistence on a working career after her marriage.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't understand why this book, Charlotte's first, which she wrote before Jane Eyre, was rejected for publication at the time. Read more
Published 16 months ago by hoden
The main character is a self-made man
THIS IS CHARLOTTE BRONTE'S FIRST BOOK, BUT NOT A FIRST ATTEMPT, AS THE WRITER SPECIFIES IN HER PREFACE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK. NICE PLOT, NICE CHARACTERS.... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Federica
First version of Villette
This is Charlotte Bronte's first version of what later becomes Villette. As such, it's a far simpler story that lacks the multidimensions that make the later work so powerful. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Roman Clodia
...good reviews for her surname perhaps?
This book claims to be a book about a man who falls in love; however the author spent over half of the book building up to this moment talking about the main character's early... Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2009 by Hazel Cryostat
Interesting although not always great
This was Bronte's first novel, and as a consequence it is interesting to read because she lays out here, many of the issues that she addresses in her later, and so much greater... Read more
Published on 22 Nov 2007 by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
The Professor - Charlotte Bronte's First Novel
This is not the best known of Charlotte Bronte's Work and was not published until after her death. I do feel that it is worth picking up and reading although it can be hard going... Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2002 by "vickiellis"
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