Villette Read-a-Long :: Week Two
Welcome! We are reading through Charlotte Bronte’s Villette this February and March. Feel free to jump in at any time. You can see our reading schedule and guidelines in the starting post. Feel free to leave your thoughts on this week’s reading or a link to your updates in the comments section!
Week Two
Chapters: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Summary:
We last left Lucy as she was arriving in London. In London, Lucy’s predicament (of being totally alone without any means or way of getting them) settles in on her. She feels like a coward for wanting to stay put, and realizes that she has no one in the world to care whether she stays or goes, and if she goes she has no one to care if she is safe or dead in the foreign place. She feels, and is, very much homeless. She sets herself on going abroad to Villette and buys passage on The Vivid. Aboard she meets Miss Ginevra Fanshawe, who speaks to her about her ladies boarding school and it’s mistress, Madame Beck, who is looking for a governess for her children.
Once in Villette, Lucy finds that her trunk has not come to the city with her on the carriage she has paid for. A man is able to communicate with the driver to find out that the bag did not make the trip, but was left behind because the carriage was full and will arrive in the next couple of days. This translator then walks Lucy across a park and points her in the direction of an Inn. While trying to find the Inn, Lucy is followed by two menacing men, and while trying to get away from them, looses her way. As fate would have it, she shows up at the door of Madame Beck, the mistress of the boarding school she learned about aboard The Vivid. Madame Beck hires Lucy to care for her own three children and act as her personal ladies maid, but when a teacher does not show up for work, Madame puts Lucy into the classroom to replace the teacher.
During her time at the school, Miss Ginevra Fanshawe arrives and she and Lucy end up spending time together. Not because they are particularly alike and friendly, but rather because they speak the same language and come from the same home country. We learn that Ginevra has an admirer and that Lucy does not approve of the way she treats him. Ginevra calls him Isidore because she does not like his name, and allows him to lavish her with gifts though she has no plans to marry him. Another male character makes his entrance in the way of Dr. John. Dr. John, who it turns out is the same man who translated for Lucy on her first night in Villette, has come to treat Madame’s ill children because their regular family doctor is out of town. He stays on, however, because much of the household seems to be falling for him (and seems to be falling for a Rosine Matou, whom we know almost nothing about); including, possibly, Madame whom we leave as she is warily looking at herself and examining her escaped youth and worrying about her youngest daughter, who has a very high fever.
What I Thought: (This section contains spoilers)
So much happened during these five chapters. To be sure, these chapters were longer and filled with a bit more action than the first five.
I am still admiring Bronte’s sense of humor… Lucy on the boat, boasting to herself about the beautiful landscape and making snide remarks about those who have gone below – only to have to take back her remarks as she hurries downstairs to be sick. And I love the relationship between Ginevra and Lucy. They are incredibly different and it gives us the opportunity to learn more about Lucy’s personality in their conversations.
It is becoming clearer that Lucy is a woman who does not know exactly where she is going in life nor what she wants to do. She knows that she needs money and does not find herself clever at all (she confides this to Ginevra, but I have a feeling she would state it to anyone who asks). She enjoys her privacy and would rather be invisible than noticed as is confirmed from how she reacts to Dr. John while in the same room with him — always wanting to go unnoticed. She is a Protestant and that is mentioned multiple times as a juxtaposition to the Catholicism of Villette. I am wondering where that is going. It’s mentioned so often I have to believe there is a reason. However, Lucy does not seem very religious herself, and tells her pupils that it is worse to be dishonest than to miss church (though, Bronte uses plenty of references to the Bible, which I am assuming is more a sign of the times of the books publication than of her religiosity).
I enjoyed the symbolism of Madame asking Lucy if she would “go backward or forward” through the door, while insinuating Lucy’s life. And the scene in the classroom on her first day is priceless, maybe my favorite so far. It shows that Lucy is not as timid as she seems and not as un-clever as she proclaims. Instead she is very clever (we know this also fro her learning French so quickly), and quite brave (not only from this classroom scene but also for traveling abroad, alone, without knowing a soul in the new country where she is going).
Now for what I will start (affectionately) calling Bronte-isms:
- “If they had missed going to mass, or read a chapter of a novel, that was another thing: these were crimes of rebuke and penance were unfailing meed”(92, italics mine). I can’t help but think she was being satirical here. I love her.
- On page 94, Lucy is told that by Isabelle that she is going to hell for being a Protestant, to which Lucy laughed at her. I imagine it was a bit of a rebellion to joke about hell in 1853.
- HELP! I have no idea what she means when she uses “viz.” As in, “I divined her motive for this proceeding, viz., the wish to form from the garments a judgment respecting the wearer…”. What does viz. mean? Does anyone know?
- And how about Desiree, Fifine, and Georgette? Does Bronte have a thing about children… as in not liking them? She calls them ‘it’ and so far every child in this book has been rather strange (possibly with the exception of Georgette, who is rather sickly).
Side note: Some of you had said that your books didn’t have translations for the French. I have no idea how you are reading without them. I didn’t realize how much French there was in this book! Luckily my version (Barnes and Noble edition) has the translations right on the bottom of the page.
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(If you are participating and I don’t have you on this list, please let me know. I did not include people who said ‘maybe’ so if you have changed your mind and are definitely reading along with us, let me know so I can add you. Also, if you are not going to be able to join us anymore please let me know and I will take you off the list. If you go for two weeks without sharing the link for your weekly update in my weekly update comments section, I will assume you are no longer participating and will take you off of the list. Thanks!)
Hello! viz. is one of those Latin abbreviations like et. al. “videlicet” is the Latin. It’s used to expand upon or clarify what has already been said. “That is” or “namely” can be substituted usually. I think “namely” would work in the example you posted above
Hope that helps! I had a smidge of Latin in 4th grade but it made SUCH an impression on me! I’d love to study it again!
I’ll post more about this week’s chapters later!
Thank, Jacqueline! I’ve never seen that before… or maybe I’ve just rushed over it normally? Anyway, I hate not knowing what something means, I feel like I’m missing part of the story when I do that, and she uses it a bit so far, so I imagine it will keep coming up. Now I know what it means, thanks to you.
I did find Madame Beck’s children to be odd, no not that, rather they were unruly. I suppose that is no surprise seeing how their Mom does not show them affection. Desiree is the worst of the lot, or so it seems currently. I never thought of Bronte not liking children but now that you bring it up, there could be something to that.
Like you, I really liked the converstaions between Lucy and Ginevra. I agree, I think it showed a bit Lucy’s personality for which I am thinking the only way we are gaining that knoweledge is through her conversations with others, and her insights on events and how she describes other people.
The French, oh wow…there is a lot in this book! I find that fascinating, and it is adding greatly to my reading experience. Fortunately, my e-Book copy has the references hyperlinked. It is rather cool. If I were learning French, I think it would be rather fun to see if I could read what was written. I did find it curious as to how quickly it seems that Lucy learned the language. That part does seem a bit unrealistic to me.
I am loving this read.
True… Madame is not exactly a warm and loving mother, is she? Could make for odd kids. So cool that your e-book has translations — priceless! I would be missing so much as I can’t make out any of the french. Your right about it being unrealistic how quick Lucy has learned French, though Bronte keeps adding that she only knows enough French to get by and that she studies it every chance she gets. Do we know how long she’s been in Villette at this point? I can’t tell.
Reading the above post; I was wondering if ebook versions of the book had some sort of translations readily available. Now I see they do. Thanks! My trusty Oxford classics version has a decent set of translations, although not at the bottom of the page. My solution is to use two bookmarks so I can jump quickly.
I have concentrated on difference this week, in all its incarnations, of which Charlotte mixes together and let’s Lucy loose, so to speak.
A bit of a ramble actually, but these are some thoughts I’ve had during this week’s reading. I look forward to reading your comments. I posted rather late last week, so please check out my first post if you missed it. 
http://jointheroad.blogspot.com/2011/02/villette-read-long-week-2-stranger-in.html
I have to do that too with some of the other references (two bookmarks) Barnes and Noble is good at putting most of it on the same page, but if there are extra’s they put those references in the back.
Will check out your post now. There are so many people participating it is hard to see everyone’s… it would be like reading the book over again, haha! Glad you got an early comment spot this time though — makes it easier to see.
You still have to watch out for the edition that you purchase via e-Book, not all will have translations available.
I love how my e-reader links to the translations and notes, though I really love when I don’t need to find out what the French means because it’s something I remember from high school and college.
And does anyone else have suspicions about Dr. John? Because I totally do.
Here is my post: http://tahleenreads.blogspot.com/2011/02/villette-readalong-week-2.html
My book does not have the French translation included. I am spending way too much time looking up the translations in order to know what is being said. Going to try to get another version. I thought that Madam’s kids were weird because she is not the most nuturing mom!
I highly recommend the B&N version. There is no way I could get the storyline without the translations. I have no abilities in French.
Too true… not a nurturing mother — and (as Susan pointed out below) neither did Bronte as hers died early.
Week Two! I have really got to get a French-English dictionary. When there’s french dialogue I just try to glean what’s going on by everyone else’s reactions.
http://lit-snit.blogspot.com/2011/02/villette-read-long-week-two.html
I guess I always assumed Charlotte Bronte was religous because her father was a reverend and I assume since she was from England she was protestant.
I think the children are undeveloped as characters because they are used only to facillitate Lucy’s story.
Sadly my e-book version does not have French Translations (it was free) and I am like Erin and left to gather what was said by the reactions of others. I think I missed a lot and should look into another version.
I loved your Bronte-isms
From what I’ve studied of Charlotte Bronte’s life I think this particular volume expresses her inner most self the best.
I have noticed Kaye that the free classics usually do not have a decent layout with notes, and such as compared to the editions that are available for purchase. They are free, I believe, because the text is not copyrighted which then means that we, the readers, will only receive that actual text story without annotations, and such. I purchased the Barnes & Noble Classic series edition for about $2 or so. Worth the money for the translation and notes…I think.
I think she probably is religious to a certain extent. You are right. Especially because her father was a minister. But I also wonder how much of that was because everyone was “religious” in that time period or because she actually has faith. I suppose we’ll see more of this since she talks about it so much. maybe she is just against Catholicism and that is why she brings it up so often (and makes fun of it)?
My thoughts:
http://thesleeplessreader.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/villette-by-charlotte-bronte-read-along-chapters-6-11/
Lucy impressed me much less in these chapter. As I said in my post, she looked like a little bundle of negativity… although the writing is still superb. Loved Mrs Beck!
Here’s my post for week 2: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2011/02/villette-by-charlotte-bronte-read-a-long-week-2.html
I don’t have translations for the French in my copy either, but with my background in Latin, Spanish, and Italian, I can decipher some of these conversations. The context and the action around the conversations helps as well.
I’ve been wondering about the Catholic vs. Protestant angle as well.
I’ve just finished chapter 11 this morning so let me just collect my thoughts!
Lucy has now crossed the channel and began a new life, in a new land, where she has no connections, does not speak the language and considering that at the time women did not usually travel alone, she managed very well her first time (only giving tips higher than the norm)!
And we keep having Lucy on the background – she does not talk much about herself and when she does, we realise that she doesn’t want to have a very active role in what is happening around her (eg, the scene when Dr John notices her). However, we do get to know something more about Lucy as she describes her interactions with Ginevra (telling her to shut up on the boat or admonesting her about her moral on her actions towards “Isidore”), Madame Beck (being herself victim of Madame’s observation/spionage and letting her copy the keys to her trunk) or in classroom (quick thought!).
I can’t still decide yet if I like Lucy or not, but I am loving Charlotte’s writing! Not easy (and whenever I check a word on my Kindle, they are often marked as Archaic, Formal, Poetic/Literary), but lovely and often making me wish to re-read her words!
I’ve found Madame Beck quite an interesting character!! I am curious to know what she’ll do next!
I love the fact that we are all having different reactions to Lucy. I, personally, love her so it didn’t occur to me that others wouldn’t. However, through your reviews, I can see now why people might not. I would have had a totally different experience with this book if not reading it with other people. So glad I am!
I enjoyed this week’s reading more than the first one. Lucy takes center stage on route from London to the city where she will be teaching; then, she seems to step back again as she experiences a new environment/new people – Madame Beck, her children, the students, Dr. John.
Lucy’s character has a certain fascination in its sturdiness. She knows what she thinks about things. She is not daunted; she plows ahead. If she can’t find her trunk, she asks someone for assistance and gently insists if it is not given. She sets off alone for an unknown country with no friends, small funds, and not even an acquaintance with the language—not just resolutely but with enjoyment, savoring the night trip over the river to the boat and winning her way onboard.
A quotation from one of Charlotte Bronte’s letters about being a governess seems to apply to Lucy’s situation as well– “If teaching only were requisite, it would be smooth and easy; but it is the living in other people’s houses–the estrangement from one’s real character–the adoption of a cold, rigid, apathetic exterior, that is painful…”
As for Madame Beck, well! Copies of keys and snooping all through someone’s belongings, managing the school through intrigue—there’s a calm, collected deviousness to her character as described so far. In a way, she seems inscrutable—her feelings kept well contained. What happens next? Have to keep reading….
BTW, I found this quote by Charlotte Bronte’s friend and biographer, Elizabeth Gaskell on children: “Moreover, the little Brontes had been brought up motherless; and from knowing nothing of the gaiety and the sportiveness of childhood–from never having experienced caresses or fond attentions themselves–they were Ignorant of the very nature of infancy, or how to call out its engaging qualities. Children were to them the troublesome necessities of humanity; they had never been drawn into contact with them in any other way. Years afterwards, when Miss Bronte came to stay with us, she watched our little girls perpetually; and I could not persuade her that they were only average specimens of well brought up children. She was surprised and touched by any sign of thoughtfulness for others, of kindness to animals, or of unselfishness on their part; and constantly maintained that she was in the right, and I in the wrong, when we differed on the point of their unusual excellence.”
Fascinating! The secondary source material you included has made the reading so much richer!
Thank you for including it! So would you rec Gaskell’s bio? I was going to read one that was written recently, but maybe I should read Gaskell’s first?
Glad you liked the quotes–thought they were so interesting in context of Vilette. Actually, I haven’t read Mrs Gaskell’s life of Charlotte — I just browsed the chapters about the Brontes’ time in Belgium. Unfortunately there are some long passages in French that my book doesn’t translate…There’s something about reading a biography written by someone who knew Charlotte Bronte herself — even though it was written so long ago, it feels like a direct connection with her, I guess.
I, too, love the resources.. thank you! I might share the quote about the children in the next update (will credit you, of course). SO interesting. I KNEW she had something weird going on with children!
Great review!
Jacqueline — I want to read Gaskell’s bio of Bronte as well (I have a copy waiting for me). Maybe we should read it together?
That would be awesome!
It’s very interesting how many people picked up on the slant on the children. If you’d like to see the quote in context, it’s here (Chapter 11): http://www.online-literature.com/elizabeth_gaskell/charlotte_bronte/11/
I did not notice that she referred to the children as “it.” Desiree seems quite ghastly, though, so I’m not sure I really mind.
Here’s this weeks entry:
http://readingsandthingsblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/villette-read-long-week-two.html
Hahaha, “Desiree seems quite ghastly, though, so I’m not sure I really mind.”
This week’s post for me:
http://grieftoreadingjourney.blogspot.com/2011/02/villette-read-long-chapters-6-11.html.
I have no less than 8 quotes from this week’s reading. I love C’s writing and am really enjoying this read-a-long. Am looking forward to reading other posts now…..
I know! I had to control myself because I marked so many passages in the reading. She is really wonderful.
I liked these chapters so much more–you really do have to power through those first five to get to the meat of the book! Love the idea of “Bronte-isms”–she really does have quite a few things that make you go “huh?”
~ Here’s what I’m loving about Villette…how it moves, and KEEPS moving… constantly commandeering Lucy’s life with a plan and a purpose. Sometimes it’s Lucy herself at the helm, steering with determination in the direction of her destiny; as in her snap decision to board the ship for France. At other times Divine Intervention seems to order events, as when Lucy finds herself at the Boarding School instead of the Inn she so desperately seeks. Charlotte Bronte herself said “human beings…must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.” Did Charlotte find the action she craved in the pages of her novels, just as Lucy Snowe found action in France?? I think we can all agree we’re attracted to fiction in large part because there are so few limitations to the action that can take place. Problems are presented and resolved in the span of a few hundred pages. Since so many of our day-to-day problems are the kind that drag on, seemingly indefinitely, as readers we gratefully retreat into fiction as a place where patience is not a prerequisite. If you can’t wait to see how a situation is resolved, keep reading until you find out! ~
Ah, June! I LOVE this review. And I love Charlotte’s quote. And your idea about why we love fiction is so spot on! (Care to do a guest post about that very topic? I’m quite serious.)
I finally have my post up–sorry it’s late! http://fingersandprose.blogspot.com/2011/02/villette-read-along-chapters-6-11.html
I’m still intrigued by the book and can’t wait to read more. I think that the manner in which Bronte is relating the character of Lucy Snowe is fascinating (we see what she does, which is often different from the opinions she espouses, which are both different from how she says she thinks about herself–here is a person with layers and probably a good portion of insecurity). Also, I think that all of Lucy’s opinions and observations about France add depth to the writing. More than the face value of her opinion, it is a commentary about how “foreign” is relative.
Hello Wallace,
my post is late too – but better late than never!
http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/poisoned-apples-blog/read-along-villette-by-charlotte-bronte-chapters-6-11/2011/02
Aimee
Didn’t have too much to say but gave some favorite quotes.
http://www.1morechapter.com/2011/02/17/villette-read-a-long-chapters-6-11/
All the children in the book thus far seem a little “Reagenish” to me. Although, she did become pregnant in her lifetime so she must have they weren’t that bad.
I’m a few days late but here’s my post this week:
http://she-is-too-fond-of-books.blogspot.com/2011/02/villette-read-along-week-two.html
I am very late with my Villette post. I apologize for this! I have some sick kitties and have been spending a lot of time back & forth to the vet and tending to my fur kids.
You are fortunate to have a copy that translates the French for you. The copy I have, a Signet classic, doesn’t do that. I’m constantly looking things up on the internet (thank goodness for it!)
Love your “Bronte-isms” Wallace! I was wondering how Charlotte felt about children, too…she doesn’t seem to like them too much in this book!
“viz.” is an abbreviation of videlicet meaning “namely”, “as follows”, “that is to say”. I found this info. here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viz.
Late to the party, so just a few “bon mots” to share:
* Love how Lucy’s views are so pronounced for someone as parochial as she. Cities create excitement, men are handsome / distinguished, women are seen as dumpy one moment and flawless (despite their faults) the next … e.g., Mme. Beck
* Upon being offered a classroom position: “I shrank into my sloth like a snail into its shell, and alleged incapacity and impracticability as a pretext to escape action. If left to myself, I should infallibly have let this chance slip. … it seemed to me a great thing to be without heavy anxiety, and relieved from intimate trial: the negation of sever suffering was the nearest approach to happiness I expected to know.” — what a sad approach to daily life!
* Versus Ginevra: “He thinks I am perfect … one can’t help, in his presence, rather trying to justify his good opinion; and it does so tire one to be goody, and to talk sense, — for he really thinkgs I am sensible” and later: “My present business is to enjoy youth, and not to think of fettering myself, by promise or vow, to this man or that.”
Found this section far more dense than the opening chapters, slow sledding as Lucy stays wed to inaction even as she encounters new people and a new geography. Hard to know, at this point, what would spur Lucy to action.
Sorry, I completely forgot to add the link to my week 2 review:
http://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2011/02/villette-readalong-week-2.html
And I did not realize my edition had translations in the back until I had already finished 100 pages! So annoying — there’s no actual footnote indicators, it just lists them at the back by chapter, page and line number. Mildly inconvenient but at least they are there.
Yet somehow I saw (and commented) on your post? I am confusing myself, haha!