this will be a smallish post as i don't have much to say. three novels in three weeks. jane eyre, villette, and agnes grey; it was a victorian /bronte fest! wuthering heights was too dark for me at the time in my life when i read it, so i was turned off to the brontes. seeing the latest masterpiece theatre version of 'jane' was enlightening. at tea with mrs. taylor just one day later, she read to me the last lines of 'jane'. i then had a heightened interest and my taste buds had been whetted with charlotte's thoughtful and insightful words. i picked it up the next day and finished it three days later. on completion of the book i was thirsty for more charlotte, so i picked up a copy of 'villette'. there is something in charlotte bronte that intrigues me- her writing style and her subjects, her characters and their convictions. jane; true innocence, true convictions, true faith. and miss lucy snow; weathered but not hardened, faithful and teachable, thoughtful protestant and open to seeing true faith in Christ in someone outside of her own 'church'. i find it amazing that charlotte even writes on the subject (romanism vs protestantism) 1. being a woman 2. being a woman in victorian britain.
anne bronte's 'agnes' was quite different though had the same thoughtful convictions and morals. anne comes across as less mature to me, the obvious younger sister. character development seemed understated and incomplete, especially with the men in the book. the portrait of agnes' hero seemed to be based on here say. in the conversations, he asks her questions; rarely does he talk. we don't get to see him enter into hardship or watch him as he deals with the snobby miss murrays' (agnes' pupils). and the proposal was rather flat to me. anne seemed to be attempting some of charlotte's wit (when mr. weston says that he is looking for a woman in the area but doesn't let agnes know she is that woman), but it comes across sappy and contrived. the book was sweet and entertaining but seemed to lack the depth i saw in charlotte's works.
what next? maybe some mary ann evans...
I tried to hide it. I am endeared to Dickens' "buffoons"-- maybe both annoyed and endeared. They provide such a comic relief to the paragraphs that are otherwise filled with relentless hardship.
