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Product Description
Review
"Bronte's finest novel."
--Virginia Woolf
--Virginia Woolf
Product Description
'I am only just returned to a sense of the real world about me, for I have been reading Villette, a still more wonderful book than Jane Eyre.' George Eliot Lucy Snowe, in flight from an unhappy past, leaves England and finds work as a teacher in Madame Beck's school in 'Villette'. Strongly drawn to the fiery autocratic schoolmaster Monsieur Paul Emanuel, Lucy is compelled by Madame Beck's jealous interference to assert her right to love and be loved. Based in part on Charlotte Brontë's experience in Brussels ten years earlier, Villette (1853) is a cogent and dramatic exploration of a woman's response to the challenge of a constricting social environment. Its deployment of imagery comparable in power to that of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, and its use of comedyDSironic or exuberantDSin the service of an ultimately sombre vision, make Villette especially appealing to the modern reader.
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First Sentence
My godmother lived in a handsome house in the clean and ancient town of Bretton. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
My godmother lived in a handsome house in the clean and ancient town of Bretton. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
By the time I had forced myself through the first volume of Villette I was seriously concerned I would not be able to finish it, which bothers me as I hate it when I feel defeated by a book. I persisted, however, and am so glad I did because Volume 2 was a massive improvement and Volume 3 utterly captured my heart. I finished the book last week and cannot stop thinking about it, so much has it grabbed hold of my imagination. I wont summarise the plot as others have done so, but instead will give my thoughts on the what I disliked and what I loved about Villette.
Firstly, the dislikes. It is a shame that Volume 1 is a let down, because asides from this then Villette would probably be more highly thought of than Jane Eyre. I found Volume 1 simply too relentlessly depressing for even my serious literary tastes. At this stage of the book Lucy Snowe, well and truly lives up to her name - she is a cold, unsympathetic character reluctant to give away her feelings and thoughts which is never appealing in a narrator. The first few chapters regarding Lucy's time in Bretton feel very disjointed from the rest of the volume, and it is only once you get into Volume 2 that their presence in the novel make any sense. I can see that Bronte was trying to create an element of suspense and suprise here (which I won't give away here), but to me those chapters could still have been better integrated into the rest of the volume.
Now the likes. Bronte's prose is a delight to read, and sits well even to the modern reader. Sometimes the direct appeal to the "reader" can be a bit jarring but on the whole her style is very appealing. The best thing about Villette, though, is the characters. The plot is pretty thin, as is often the way with literature of this period, but that matters not a jot as the characters are more than enough to hold the interest. As I have already said, I found Lucy a hard to like character in the first volume but after that I really grew to love her. Bronte peels away layers of Lucy's psychology like peeling away layers of an onion, gradually revealing more and more about her to the reader until you really come to feel like you know and understand her. She is also quite an unusual character for this period - a woman who takes control of her own life and earns an independent living, unreliant on anyone else for anything - and this makes her very appealing. There are a number of other characters who make fascinating reading. For me I thought M. Paul was easily able to stand up to Mr Darcy and Mr Rochester in the annals of romantic yet moody leading men. Dr John and Mme Beck are also full of character and come to life on the page.
I think I liked the ending, despite it's ambiguity, although I am still debating this with myself internally even now. Whilst Bronte has left the ending up to the reader's imagination, to me it is quite clear what her intention for the ending was and she was put off from it by the publisher who felt it would be too sad. I really wish she had had the courage of her convictions and written it the way she wanted. Whilst I don't mind an ambiguous ending normally, here I felt here that the reader deserved and needed a more definate ending given that by this point the reader has invested so much in Lucy's fate.
All in all though, Villette is a splendid read which, if you can persist past the first volume, will very likely capture a place in your heart and for this is is well worth a read.
Firstly, the dislikes. It is a shame that Volume 1 is a let down, because asides from this then Villette would probably be more highly thought of than Jane Eyre. I found Volume 1 simply too relentlessly depressing for even my serious literary tastes. At this stage of the book Lucy Snowe, well and truly lives up to her name - she is a cold, unsympathetic character reluctant to give away her feelings and thoughts which is never appealing in a narrator. The first few chapters regarding Lucy's time in Bretton feel very disjointed from the rest of the volume, and it is only once you get into Volume 2 that their presence in the novel make any sense. I can see that Bronte was trying to create an element of suspense and suprise here (which I won't give away here), but to me those chapters could still have been better integrated into the rest of the volume.
Now the likes. Bronte's prose is a delight to read, and sits well even to the modern reader. Sometimes the direct appeal to the "reader" can be a bit jarring but on the whole her style is very appealing. The best thing about Villette, though, is the characters. The plot is pretty thin, as is often the way with literature of this period, but that matters not a jot as the characters are more than enough to hold the interest. As I have already said, I found Lucy a hard to like character in the first volume but after that I really grew to love her. Bronte peels away layers of Lucy's psychology like peeling away layers of an onion, gradually revealing more and more about her to the reader until you really come to feel like you know and understand her. She is also quite an unusual character for this period - a woman who takes control of her own life and earns an independent living, unreliant on anyone else for anything - and this makes her very appealing. There are a number of other characters who make fascinating reading. For me I thought M. Paul was easily able to stand up to Mr Darcy and Mr Rochester in the annals of romantic yet moody leading men. Dr John and Mme Beck are also full of character and come to life on the page.
I think I liked the ending, despite it's ambiguity, although I am still debating this with myself internally even now. Whilst Bronte has left the ending up to the reader's imagination, to me it is quite clear what her intention for the ending was and she was put off from it by the publisher who felt it would be too sad. I really wish she had had the courage of her convictions and written it the way she wanted. Whilst I don't mind an ambiguous ending normally, here I felt here that the reader deserved and needed a more definate ending given that by this point the reader has invested so much in Lucy's fate.
All in all though, Villette is a splendid read which, if you can persist past the first volume, will very likely capture a place in your heart and for this is is well worth a read.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Reader, I heart Ms. Bronte! Reading Villette was like reading a huge epic that I was so emmersed in that I walked in Lucy Snowe's shoes, I felt what she felt. How many authors can do that to you?
Lucy Snowe is difficult to get to know at first. In fact, she is difficult to like. This is deliberate; she tells you about other people, what they think, what they feel, but precious little about herself, of whom she appears fiercely private. Only as the story unfolds does she start to let you in - I remember being surprised when she showed such tender, gentle thoughts and actions towards the sick daughter of her employer; that, I believe, was the first glimpse of emotion from Lucy and it really endeared me to her. Lucy Snowe's name was not an accident - Bronte toyed with Lucy Frost for a while before settling on Snowe. She also allows us to see her as others do: "Crabbed and crusty" said Ginevra, a pupil at the school, and "unfeeling thing that I was" written to her in a letter. The point is, she isn't unfeeling at all. She is lonely and trying to make her way in an unfamiliar world. Lucy's past is only hinted at but it appears to have been an unhappy one.
Brontes prose is gorgeous, Villette is such a richly embroidered account of a young woman trying to make a life for herself in a foreign country and fighting for independence and friendship. This book isn't a romance in the same way that Jane Eyre is. I wasn't sure for a long time who the leading man would be (in fact he doesn't even appear until the second half of the book). And it isn't love at first sight, we watch it grow.
I absolutely adored this book and it is now a firm favourtie of mine. I finished it last night and I finally closed the book in a daze. I don't want to give anything away, but I was not expecting what happended at the end at all. That came completely out of the blue for me.
Go ahead, indluge and enjoy!
Lucy Snowe is difficult to get to know at first. In fact, she is difficult to like. This is deliberate; she tells you about other people, what they think, what they feel, but precious little about herself, of whom she appears fiercely private. Only as the story unfolds does she start to let you in - I remember being surprised when she showed such tender, gentle thoughts and actions towards the sick daughter of her employer; that, I believe, was the first glimpse of emotion from Lucy and it really endeared me to her. Lucy Snowe's name was not an accident - Bronte toyed with Lucy Frost for a while before settling on Snowe. She also allows us to see her as others do: "Crabbed and crusty" said Ginevra, a pupil at the school, and "unfeeling thing that I was" written to her in a letter. The point is, she isn't unfeeling at all. She is lonely and trying to make her way in an unfamiliar world. Lucy's past is only hinted at but it appears to have been an unhappy one.
Brontes prose is gorgeous, Villette is such a richly embroidered account of a young woman trying to make a life for herself in a foreign country and fighting for independence and friendship. This book isn't a romance in the same way that Jane Eyre is. I wasn't sure for a long time who the leading man would be (in fact he doesn't even appear until the second half of the book). And it isn't love at first sight, we watch it grow.
I absolutely adored this book and it is now a firm favourtie of mine. I finished it last night and I finally closed the book in a daze. I don't want to give anything away, but I was not expecting what happended at the end at all. That came completely out of the blue for me.
Go ahead, indluge and enjoy!
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I know that a lot of people have only read Charlotte's Jane Eyre, but I would strongly urge you to try this. This book is inspired by the experiences that Charlotte and Emily had when they taught in a boarding school in Brussels, and written by an older Charlotte than the author of Jane Eyre, this book shows how she had developed in her writing.
The main character in this is Lucy Snowe who eventually travels to the Continent to teach, as did Charlotte. Why this novel works and is so masterful is due to the deftness of touch that Charlotte brings to it. The narrator, Lucy does not come out and tell you everything at once, being a bit secretive. Due to this there is a certain playfulness to the whole tale and Charlotte plays to some extent with her reading audience. To be able to do such a thing and pull it off shows how much she had advanced in her writing skills, and that she had a more positive and commanding attitude to writing.
I do not want to go into the story here in case I end up giving away some spoilers but if you love reading then you must read this book. I personally much prefer this to Jane Eyre, and I know that a lot of others do to, this is Charlotte Bronte's masterpiece.
The main character in this is Lucy Snowe who eventually travels to the Continent to teach, as did Charlotte. Why this novel works and is so masterful is due to the deftness of touch that Charlotte brings to it. The narrator, Lucy does not come out and tell you everything at once, being a bit secretive. Due to this there is a certain playfulness to the whole tale and Charlotte plays to some extent with her reading audience. To be able to do such a thing and pull it off shows how much she had advanced in her writing skills, and that she had a more positive and commanding attitude to writing.
I do not want to go into the story here in case I end up giving away some spoilers but if you love reading then you must read this book. I personally much prefer this to Jane Eyre, and I know that a lot of others do to, this is Charlotte Bronte's masterpiece.
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