M.Paul?Why?

I loved Villette,unfortunately my english is not so good to express my admiration for the atmosphere and the plot of Charlotte Bronte's book..However,I have to confess that I was really shocked by Lucy's choice regarding M.Paul Emmanuel.He was very autocratic and oppressed her in a way that no modern woman could tolerate!And I think Charlotte Bronte gives a funny picture of him,except for the last pages.Graham Bretton,on the other hand is really charming and it would be great if he fell in love with Lucy in the end;but I knew it would not happen,since he liked a different type of woman.

you are so right, I too would have absolutely loved it and i was praying that the novel would be leading to Graham falling in love with Lucy. However I dont think M.Paul was very oppressive. I got the impression that they both knew Lucy was the stronger character beneath it all so he was almost being oppressed by her to an extent. But anyhow, it was an excellent, worthwhile read!!

I partly agree with JiaXiong. Also, in the end, it says that he stopped trying to get her to change her faith and accepted her as a Protestant, actually he admired her for it. I'd just like to add that Graham is an idiot. How could he ever find anything is stupid, clingy Pauline (who I never liked from the beginning, by the way)? And pick her over Lucy, too! But in the end, I'm glad she ended up with M. Paul.

Same! I couldn't feel happier that she fell in love with M. Paul he was perfect for her as he saw her exactly the way she was and loved her for it while Graham never understood her. Anyway he was once in love with Ginevra simply for her looks while M. Paul loved Lucy for her touching personality.

I think that M. Paul was autocratic but it was because he was completely swayed by his passions and his duty towards her rather than a desire to oppress her.