Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë

I should actually be reviewing Hard Times by Charles Dickens in this entry, since I read it first, but I just finished Agnes Grey and it's fresh in my mind.

This was the only one of the Brontës' books I hadn't yet read. Not knowing what to expect between the brilliance of some of the Brontës' novels and the dullness of others, I just started reading with an open mind, or rather listening as it was an audio book. Although it lacks the mystery and atmosphere of Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, it's still a really good read, especially if you're interested in reading about the lives of governesses in the 19th century. Having read Governess: The Lives and Times of the Real Jane Eyres by Ruth Bandon last year, Agnes Grey was doubly interesting. The story is a history of Agnes Grey, the daughter of a minister who loses everything speculating on a shipment of goods which sinks. Subsequently, the family is forced to look for other means of earning their living and Agnes' only possibility to to go for a governess. Agnes is an infinitely practical and realistic person. She knows life will not be easy, but sees no point in sitting at home hoping for a miracle, so she goes off to work.

Her positions, although carefully researched and considered, are nothing short of nightmares and emphasize the often helpless lots of governesses at the time. Many lacked both the support of the parents and the power to enforce their authority over their charges. Basically, the tried to walk a thin line between retaining their positions and their sanity. Agnes is forced to suppress all of her feelings and pride in order to remain employed. Her charges are arrogant, unruly and have no respect for anyone, including their own parents. The children even go so far as to intentionally make her life difficult for her; treating her more as a figure for sport than as a person of any importance in their lives. They thought nothing of humiliating and abusing her for their own entertainment.

Despite all of the hardships, Anne Brontë didn't allow the book to become the same sort of dour, dreary book that Villette and The Professor are. Agnes remains a positive person throughout all. She would have made a good role model for any young girl of the day as she trusted to hard work and perseverance to help her to improve her situation. Her realism forced her to firmly separate her day dreams from reality and focus on what was necessary for her and her family, yet she still had those dreams which endear her to the reader. You know she's holding out the same hope we all do in times of trouble that everything will be all right in the end. I liked Agnes and I liked the book. This will get a 5 star rating in my list.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

What I thought was going to be yet another of the Brontës' dark and dismal books turned out to be rather good. Until now, Jane Eyre is the only Brontë novel I’ve really ever cared for (I apologize to the Wuthering Heights lovers. I’ve tried, but I just can’t make myself read it a second time.). Knowing that this book dealt with a horrible marriage in which the wife was more or less abused, I was expecting lots of dark, depressing scenes, yet instead of telling the story linearly, Anne starts the novel in a time that gives the reader hope and knowledge that things will get better. She also cleverly creates a mystery, despite giving the reader insight into the future. She only tells part of the story, leaving the reader to guess or wonder out how it reached that point. This pulls the reader into the story as half a story is, well, just that, half a story. It also gives Anne a good side story by allowing her to tell us how people of that day and age looked upon mysterious people. Anyone whose history is not fully known must be bad, otherwise they would tell you what you want to know about their past. There seems to be no feelings of generosity or Christian spirit involved, despite the otherwise important place of Religion in that society. Indeed, it is the vicar who is one of the most involved in spreading slander.

Once having created the mystery, she goes on to tell the story of how Mrs. Graham wound up as the tenant at Wildfell. This part of the book does become dark and sad. The only criticism I have of it is that it went on just a bit too long. I felt like I’d gotten the point and could we please just move along now. However, I don’t suppose the characters were able to do that, so why should we? Finally, it does move along and the author goes on to tie the two sections of the books together.

All in all it’s a good story and one that must be finished to understand how it all fits in together. The author makes many statements about life and religion, the meaning of which aren’t clear until the book has been read to the end, at which point, things seem to fall into place. Anne Brontë's style seems to be something between realism and romanticism. She tries to give the reader a strong sense that should we live our lives as we should and not as we want, things will turn out for the best in the end, but that suffering will and must take place first for us to truly comprehend the extent of our blessings. It’s almost as if she wants her characters to suffer through antithesis of what they are striving for, so that they can see that their ideals are maybe placed a little too high. We should be content with less than perfection, but will only be able to be so if we suffer through horrors first.

I’ll just add that the book has an interesting perspective, namely that instead of focusing on one particular person as a villain residing within a better class of people, Anne shows us what the world of the villain looks like. That is to say that in literature in general, there are often references to unworthy young men who run with the wrong crowd. Anne shows us what the inner workings of such a crowd look like. For this reason alone, the book is worth a read.