Villette (1853) is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was the third and final novel she published in her lifetime, followed only by The Professor, her posthumously released first novel which was largely reconceived and rewritten as Villette. Inspired by Brontë’s experience traveling and teaching English in Brussels, where she went at the age of 26 with her sister Emily before returning alone the following year, Villette is the story of an Englishwoman abroad and contains the themes of loneliness, secrecy, romance, and tragedy which circulate throughout much of her work.
Following a family tragedy, Lucy Snowe becomes employed as a caregiver by an elderly woman named Miss Marchmont, who treats her kindly and shares stories of life and lost love. When Miss Marchmont dies, Lucy—now without family, home, or employment—decides to leave England for Labassecour, a fictional country based on Brontë’s experience of Belgium. She is hired to teach English at a boarding school in the city of Villette, where she meets a strangely familiar English doctor and falls in love with M. Paul Emanuel, a local professor. Although he is a widower, M. Paul faces pressure from family members and religious authorities alike, and is forced to choose between a life of social acceptance and a life with the woman he loves. Amidst these circumstances, and haunted by repeated encounters with a nun rumored to be a ghost, Lucy Snowe must rely on her wits and courage as she suffers through not only intense loneliness, but a lack of control over the events which shape her life.
Charlotte Brontë’s Villette is a compelling gothic novel which explores the psychological effects of a lack of agency on its protagonist while illuminating the horrors which loom over everyday life.
This edition of Charlotte Brontë’s Villette is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.
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Über den Autor
Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) was an English novelist. Born the daughter of an Anglican clergyman, Charlotte was educated alongside her sisters Emily and Anne, and all three eventually became successful and acclaimed novelists. Brontë worked for much of her adult life as a teacher and governess, and, in 1846, published a shared collection of poems with her sisters using the names Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. In 1847, the sisters decided to each write and publish their own novels, and while Emily’s Wuthering Heights and Anne’s Agnes Grey were accepted by publishers, Charlotte’s The Professor was not. This rejection encouraged her to write Jane Eyre, by far her most famous work and a classic of English literature. When their identities were revealed, the Brontë sisters enjoyed both critical acclaim and acceptance into the prestigious literary circles of London. Charlotte, whose literary work includes several novels and hundreds of poems, passed away at the age of 38 due to complications from pregnancy, and was tragically the last of her siblings to die.
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