Villette, Charlotte Brontë

Hej hej!!✨

The other day while revising the blog and the uploaded posts, I realized that I had a bit abandoned the section about literature, and that is why this post will be on that topic.

English regency and the Victorian era literature are my favorite ones and I'm surprised to see that I haven't written about any of these before, since every person that knows me knows that I always end up bringing up this topic (hehehe): 19th Century English literature (and North American female authors). Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, Gaskell, May Alcott or Edith Wharton are among the most prominent authors and the ones that I like the most. I'm really attracted in general by the classics, for instance, I am currently reading War and Peace by Tolstoi, but I have as well in my list works like The Miserable, Anna Karenina, The Treasure Island or works by authors such as Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, Edgar Allan Poe... however, how am I supposed to have time to read that much if I do so many things during my free time? Anyways, that's another story.

I'll go straight to the point, taking advantage of the fact that I have recently finished it, I'm going to talk about a book that I have loved by one of the authors previously mentioned: Villette by Charlotte Brontë (the oldest one of the 3 sisters). As I already did in my last post talking about Rayuela by Cortázar, first I'll talk a bit about the author (not a biography, just a tiny bit so that you can place her in her context and have a minimum idea of who she is; even though it's true that the Brontë family's history is quite gruesome and dramatic and I could extend a lot talking about that) and I'll do as well a summary of the book. Then, I'll talk about my opinion, feelings towards the work and do a little review. This being said, I start!

Who is Charlotte Brontë?

Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) is one of the most famous authors of the universal and Anglo-Saxon literature of the Victorian age. Maybe you know her because of her most popular work Jane Eyre (btw I'll tell you that this is my favorite book), her first published book but the second she wrote, since the first one was The Professor. She was the oldest one of the three sisters (Charlotte, Emily and Anne), as her other older siblings died, in fact, this shocking event of her life (and not the only one :(( poor her) is portrayed in some of her works.

What is Villette about?

Inspired by her days as teacher and student at a boarding school in Brussels, the authors tells the story of Lucy Snowe, a young English girl who has nothing left: no family, nor money or job and this situation makes her leave England and start working as a teacher at madame Beck's boarding school for girls in the belgian city of Villette, that gives the name to this story. However, the social relationships that she has and the requirements to which she is subjected while she works at the boarding school aren't the best to get her out of her nonconformity with life. Different characters like Ginevra Fanshawe, professor Paul Emanuel, madame Beck or doctor John Graham Bretton embody the different types of relationships, behavior patterns and the nature of the human being with whom Lucy must deal. She has a very contradictory personality, since she is really independent but also wants so be belong, part of something, she is afraid of solitude.

Unlike what one might think, romance is not the fundamental element of Charlotte Brontë's books. It's true that it is important throughout the story, not only with Lucy, but with other characters as well. But it is not the main topic of this work.

My opinion

Vilette was the last novel that Charlotte Brontë wrote and I think that it's well reflected her literary maturity after all her journey as a writer and her personal experience. It's a pretty long book (643 pages in the edition that I read, by Alba Minus clásicos), but this is because it currently is one book when the author published this story in three different volumes.

I started this book because I missed Jane Eyre and her story. For a long time I had the idea in my head of rereding the book, but I wanted to try something different, when I remembered that Brontë had written another story about a girl who worked at a boarding school (which seems to me a bit similar to the story about the governess), and that is why I opted for it and I was completely right.

Regardless of the plot, which I have already talked about, one of the things I like the most about this author is the way in which she describes and portrays the society of that age, the setting of her works. I'm a huge fan of the 19th century in England, which is why I'm fascinated by all of these stories. I love to read about the daily life of the people during that age, their customs, the balls, way of talking... everything, and Charlotte Brontë reflects that with a really poetic way of writing filled with expressions, comparisons, metaphors which, unlike other authors like Bram Stoker (the author of Dracula), doesn't make it tiring to keep reading. Her language is so beautiful and, in fact, I am inspired by her to write. The only thing that can be a bit repetitive and, in some cases can make reading difficult, are the biblical references. The book is full of them and that was a bit tiring in my opinion; however, one must understand the context and the education she received. Religion had a fundamental role, so I can understand why all of those references. Moreover, my edition had footnotes explaining them, so it wasn't that horrible hehehe.

I consider as well a fundamental element the description of spaces in these stories, since I think that they are one of the things that catch you the most. Throughout Villette, numerous aesthetically pleasing scenarios are described (or at least that is how I imagined them). This incredible author has the capacity to describe luminous spaces that you picture in your head with a pure and pristine aura. So that you understand this better, imagine the film Pride and Prejudice, which is aesthetically delightful; now, Charlotte Brontë makes you imagine that same thing but with words. Besides, these scenarios that I have talked about contrast with other drk and mysterious ones.

I would highlight as well the gothic element that splashes out the work. It wouldn't be the first time that this author introduces scenes with paranormal appearances, with makes us pay more attention to the story. Another thing that I personally enjoy from Charlotte Brontë is the nature of every single one of her characters. All of them are really different and have their own fixed and defined personalities that makes it easy to remember and identify them. Additionally, the evolution they go through is amazing.

Two intereesting things that Charlotte Brontë uses in her stories are the breaking of the forth wall in numerous occasions when referring personally to the reader and Chejov's Gun... let me explain. Imagine I'm writing a story and in the first chapter I mention that there is a gun on a table. What this resource does is that further in the story this gun I have previously talked about has a meaning, a role, a reason that has led me to mention that that gun exists. Instead of beating around the bush, you mention the useful and important things in the development of the story. It's really interesting to see how this author does it and the surprise element that is usually carries with it.

I must tell you that because the story takes place in Belgium and French is spoken there, many of the interventions and dialogs are in that language (at least in my edition, but maybe in others all of them are already translated). Luckily I know French, so I had no problem with that; nevertheless, maybe for the people who don't know that language it can be a bit tiring to switch from the text to the footnotes repeatedly with their translations. Anyhow, I promise it is not as horrible as it may seem! :)

It is truly a book that I would highly recommend reading. It's not difficult to follow the story and it's really entertaining, even though it can be stressful due to all the events that take place, the changes and plot twists. If you are interested in reading something by Charlotte Brontë, I would suggest starting with Jane Eyre, since it's her masterpiece, her most known work and a classic of universal literature, but if you want to start with Villette, I do really encourage you to do so!

I hope I have convinced you even if it is to take a look at this work or at least that you are slightly interested in this type of literature that I enjoy so much. Trust me, you won't regret it, and if you end up not liking it, at least you will have tried something new!

Stay hydrated and stay safe <3

Hej då och vi ses!! 🪴🤍

-Kae