Hello everyone!
I finished reading 'Villette.' I loved it. I liked very much Dr. Bretton and Paulina, but my heroine was Lucy Snowe, absolutely!! Has anyone read it?
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Hello everyone!
I finished reading 'Villette.' I loved it. I liked very much Dr. Bretton and Paulina, but my heroine was Lucy Snowe, absolutely!! Has anyone read it?
I read it. I didn’t make a big impression on me, but I thought that it was ok. Mostly I remember that the main character’s prejudices against Catholics and in favor of Protestants were rather funny.
Hello Aylinn!
Those prejudices were mostly based on the real life of Charlotte. Her father was a very strict Protestant.
By the way, do you mean funny ha-ha or funny peculiar?Quote:
Originally Posted by Aylinn
I think it is one of the most wonderful novels I've ever read, and also one of the most underrated novels ever. Even a non-reader knows something of Jane Eyre, but somehow even literature buffs seem to overlook this original and unconventional novel, Charlotte's true masterpiece.
I've read it at least seven times. So many favourite scenes - Lucy being rowed to her ship at night by a bunch of foul-mouthed boatmen, her first classroom experience as a teacher, dressing up as a man and playing the libertine in the school play, the schoolroom scenes, the parties, the art gallery where M. Paul reproves her for gazing at a gigantic nude painting, her "scarlet dress" (Pink, pink! And pale pink at that!), Lucy doped and high as a kite, wandering about the festive park at midnight, and encountering every single character in the book, and of course the ghostly nun - Was any other 19th century female character allowed to have such a wide range of experiences and adventures?
Lucy is amazing! I also like Ginevra, and Monsieur Paul.Quote:
Originally Posted by Carmilla
Hello mona amon!
You know the book almost by heart!! Amazing!! :) Yes, Lucy was a controversial heroine for Victorians. But I admired very much her courage and willpower.
I too have just finished reading Villette. Requiring some application for the first half, I found that application deeply rewarding as the novel thundered to its breath taking finish. I think a good book, is one that affects one personally, and Villette certainly does that. I was spoken to by Charlotte Bronte across 150 years, and I wish I could reply. Her device of addressing the reader directly strikes me as sincere, and my sympathy with her characters comes close to empathy.But all this is predicated on her technical skill. Her sentences are complex and satisfying as they tease one's mind along cryptic paths. Similarly the plot unfolds in an unpredictable way that had me physically gasping at several points, indeed until the very last paragraph.
I was one of the unimpressed. I think because Lucy did not seem a real person to me, she remained fictional and unlikely, I thought much of her morality was perverse and frankly a bit silly. I had the same trouble with Jane Eyre though.
Hello Mona Amon
Yes I agree, especially about the dreamy scene in the park. And what about her waking amongst familiar surroundings after her blackout! Many times the author had me foxed, just as bemused as her characters. But what kept me gong, before I became truly involved in the story, was C. B.'s technical skill with sentence structure. I do enjoy a complex sentence, that does more than just transmit data.
Further, I am not so sure the Bronte sisters used pseudonyms to avoid being recognised as women. Particularly Charlotte; her works are obviously written (well, to me) by a mind rare in male authors.
Perverse and silly morality?
IMO rather an intelligent 19th century female writer trying to come to terms with a perverse morality.
Are we talking about sexual morality here? Religion?
It's been a decade or two since I read Villette, but I remember wondering why Charlotte killed off M. Paul, for no apparent reason other than to deny her heroine and readers a potentially happy ending.
Ecurb,
Mr. Paul probably was inspired by Constantin Héger, Charlotte's tutor in Brussel and her unrequited love. By killing the character she was maybe trying to exorcise a love that had made her suffer a lot.
According to her biographer Mrs. Gaskell, Charlotte didn´t want a happy ending for this novel. The open ending was in attention of a wish of her father.
Thanks, but M. Paul's death seemed tacked on to the novel, to me. Charlotte had a propensity for unhappy endings -- like when Jane Eyre gets back together with rude, abusive and self-centered Mr. Rochester.