Review of Two Novels by Charlotte Brontë: Villette and Shirley

Over the last few years, I have been trying to read all of the Brontë's works. I started with the classics, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Then I moved onto the lesser known works including Villette and Shirley, both by Charlotte Brontë, and both phenomenal.

Villette by Charlotte Brontë

This novel, Charlotte's last, was incredible. If you have read Jane Eyre, and it is popular for a reason, then likely you will have certain expectations when it comes to reading future Charlotte Brontë novels. These expectations might include a moody atmosphere, a grumpy MMC, a general sense of darkness and angst, and a resilient albeit quiet FMC.

Well, I can assure you that Villette meets all of those expectations with a plot that feels a bit more realistic and mature than Jane Eyre. And the ending? I won't spoil it, but it stayed with me long after I finished the novel.

Villette is a first-person narrative story about a governess/school teacher who moves to the village of Villette in France to teach at a girls school. She is poor, solitary, and has no family or acquaintance. But she is strong and contented in her solitude, even while she is cautiously open to romance and companionship. Villette is a "day-in-the-life" style story that is full of colorful characters, intrigue, and romance (including two love-triangles). But mostly, it is a story of a strong and independent young woman who is constantly underestimated, but who perseveres through every hardship she encounters in a way that still resonates with readers today.

Shirley by Charlotte Brontë

When I first started reading Shirley, I thought it was Charlotte's most feminist novel. But by the end, I wasn't so sure. In a way, it made me think of how Jane Austen described Pride and Prejudice as "too light and bright and sparkling."

I suppose that it makes sense to expect moody and silent heroines from a Brontë novel, but in Shirley, the men take the role of moody and brooding, while the women trudge on resolutely into the future, keeping their silent yearning to themselves. In retrospect, this flipping of the script works well, and I really loved the character of Shirley herself.

Shirley is sassy, smart, independent, and wealthy. She runs the neighborhood, and even while she is girlish and anxious, she knows how she must operate and what she must do in her role and she does it. Her friend, Caroline, is a quiet and timid young woman with her own silent desires, and very few in her life who truly value her.

Shirley explores themes of industrialization and the factories and equipment that put many people out of work. It also explores themes of prejudice and immigration, and the roles that men and women play in society and in relationship. Shirley also tells two love stories, including another love triangle. (I think maybe Charlotte loved a love triangle.)

While Shirley herself presents a rare kind of woman for that time period, I was rather disappointed by the ending and found it a bit lacking for what originally felt like an early feminist work. However, given the proclivity of publishers to force their heroines into marriage or death, I suppose it is only fair that Shirley ends the way it does.