Agnes Grey (Classics)

Admission time: I've never liked Wuthering Heights. My sister and I both tend to lump the Brontë sisters together as one category of literature but it's always grated on me that I couldn't enjoy Emily's contribution. I don't know precisely why I couldn't get into the novel - mainly, I think, because I didn't enjoy either Heathcliff or Catherine. My favourite of...more

Admission time: I've never liked Wuthering Heights. My sister and I both tend to lump the Brontë sisters together as one category of literature but it's always grated on me that I couldn't enjoy Emily's contribution. I don't know precisely why I couldn't get into the novel - mainly, I think, because I didn't enjoy either Heathcliff or Catherine. My favourite of the sisters' works will always be Charlotte's Jane Eyre. And since I esteemed Eyre so highly, I thought I would enjoy Agnes Grey as well. I was partly right. It's no secret that these Victorian novels, when they are centred on young women, have two possible endings: the heroine dies or is married. Tragedy or comedy - and I mean comedy here in the antiquated sense. Agnes Grey is of the comedic variety. Unfortunately, the the romantic plot of the novel is it's weakest. Overall, Grey feels very segmented. There is the portion of the novel that deals with the horrible Bloomfield household, and then with the Murrays (mostly Miss Murray), and then Agnes's love interest competes for the reader's attention along with her mother and the storyline of the two women beginning their own school. Although Mr. Weston makes an early appearance in the novel, I can't help but feel that Agnes's desire for him is rather sudden. That would be just fine however, these rapidly-evolving feelings are not an uncommon motif, if Agnes herself wasn't such a doormat. Passive to the point of acting more like her charge's slave than governess, Agnes allows the children in her care to trample over her own feelings and desires constantly. When Miss Murray gets an inkling of Agnes's attraction to Mr. Weston, she takes it on herself to keep the two apart by setting Agnes menial task after menial task and doing her best to have Mr. Weston fall in love with her instead. Agnes is too much dependent on the living she makes to speak up for herself or speak truthfully about the children to their mother. I would have enjoyed her so much more if she had been capable of that. </center> All that said, Agnes Grey is still an enjoyable and quick read. It accomplishes what it set out to do in enlightening the reader about the limitations placed on women who must work to provide for themselves and the abuses they necessarily suffer. I would not, however, recommend this over Jane Eyre. Anne's novel is not the tremendous undertaking of Charlotte's, but I couldn't help comparing the two at every turn. To me, Agnes Grey was Jane Eyre without the strong characters, compelling romance, mystery, and that little touch of the supernatural.   hide

The experiences, feelings, dreams and thoughts of an individual can never be known unless the person chooses to pen it all- in a diary, or... in a book. As with this book, readers are introduced to a world previously unknown to others- the world of an English governess- and the exposure that is granted through it. Reading this book is likened to stepping back in time, to an earlier...more

The experiences, feelings, dreams and thoughts of an individual can never be known unless the person chooses to pen it all- in a diary, or... in a book. As with this book, readers are introduced to a world previously unknown to others- the world of an English governess- and the exposure that is granted through it. Reading this book is likened to stepping back in time, to an earlier era where the roles of a working-class governess were often not described. A detailed expression and recollection of the life of an English Governess in the 19th century; as well as the wards and charges she would have. This is an era long gone- the lives of these English families and even the patronage- are probably now but fading memories. Yet in this book, the years and time disappear, leaving us precious glimpses of life.   hide

Short, a great read! It's your typical 19th Century fairytale really... It lacks the depth of plot that her sisters could reach, but brilliant in its own right none the less!

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