As I’ve mentioned before, Jane Eyre is my favorite novel. As much as I admire Charlotte Brontë for writing it though, I had never read anything else she'd written. Until now, anyway, when I decided to read yet another Brontë novel this year and chose Charlotte's Villette.
I went into it not expecting to love it as much as I like Jane Eyre (though it is considered Brontë's best work, actually. The writing is beautiful), and after reading it, I definitely do not. Actually my feelings about Villette are kind of all over the place. I hated some parts of it, found certain passages so moving and beautiful, and was left rather confused, frustrated, and in awe at how much it taught me by the end. It’s all very confusing…
Villette is almost considered an autobiographical novel, because it was inspired by Charlotte Brontë's experience in Brussels. Because of this, her protagonist, Lucy Snowe, takes after Brontë herself. She is more cynical than Jane Eyre, but somehow also more real. She is flawed, but knows it. Charlotte wasn’t trying to write a perfect heroine here, and the result is such a real, raw and complex character. Lucy’s worst flaw, in my opinion, is her propensity to be a bit ethnocentric (meaning she seemed to think England and English people were better than everyone else) at times, but I suppose that was a common experience in England at the time (not that that makes it okay, but it definitely causes the novel to show its time). That was where my main issues with the book stem from, actually.
But in many other ways, it’s also a novel so different from other Victorian books of its time. Its themes of identity and independence are almost stronger than they were in jane Eyre. Lucy spends the book constantly analyzing the depth of her feelings, thoughts and contradictions, as well as how she comes across to others. I read online somewhere that it’s a very psychologically deep novel, and I couldn’t agree more.
The other reason, however, that this book frustrated me so much had to do with Lucy’s love interest. I spent most of the book hating him, and only figured out too late that I was supposed to now love him? I don’t think I quite got there, but at least I can say I hated him less… Lucy (like Jane) had very thick skin and was not easily offended by rudeness. It’s almost as if Brontë found it refreshing, compared with all the focus on propriety and delicacy of the time. But I don’t relate there, so maybe that’s why my initial dislike of that character was so hard to get over…
Basically, I still have very mixed feelings about Villette. It was frustrating and truly heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. The main reason I’m glad I read it though, is that it seems to me to be Charlotte Brontë's attempt at making sense of her world, and all her frustrations and conclusions about it. It’s relatable in a lot of ways even now. A truly remarkable, strange, and fascinating novel.
Rating: 4/5 stars
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