Skip to main content

Villette Has Ended and Everyone Is Confused (Probably)

........wait.



So...ok.

Villette has ended and...huh.


I was totally set to talk about Lucy's drug haze romp through a carnival, but then the ending of the book happened and now my brain is just perplexed and trying to figure out what exactly Charlotte Bronte's game is here, because wait what.

 What are we thinking about this. So Lucy is given everything she wants, and sets herself up a la Jane Eyre, down to the "oh, you suddenly got money from someone in your past who wronged you and are now a lady of independent means," and then the ending happens and it's this weird fizzle of a nothing. 

 MAYBE IT'S EXTREMELY DARING. It's probably that. The problem in my brain is it reminds me, like some other things in Villette, of Wuthering Heights. Just this crashing storm and wild prose and weird imprecations to heaven and then this danced-around ending that reminded me also of the stories I used to write in 5th grade where everyone dies, only finally I wrote some postscript to one that was like "But they never found the body of this one guy! So maybe he's alive! Maybe! If it makes you feel better!"
Charlotte Bronte's attempts at comfort
What do you think was going on here? And come to think of the whole book, what's up with Charlotte Bronte and weather/stars & planets? Because there is a lot of that. Did you like that surreal outdoor party scene, because it was one of my favorite parts of the book. Why is Lucy constantly an observer? Does she make herself that way, or are people really not wanting to hang out with her? (there I obviously believe the former) How much do you love Ginevra? Is it a lot? It should probably be a lot. Are Ginevra/Lucy the best couple in this book? (yes)
[M]y dry gibes pleased her well enough and the more impassible and prosaic my mien, the more merrily she laughed.

I don't even know with this book. I SUSPECT it is genius and I'm very proud of CB for writing it. Imma need to look at it more closely, because honestly this six week period was just about getting through it and trying to figure out wth was going on. Everything is weird and I know nothing. That's what I got from this book. Good job, everyone who made it, on making it. We have all officially read more than just Jane Eyre in the Works by Charlotte Bronte Department.
Labels:

Comments

  1. KhallelMarch 9, 2019 at 6:08 PM

    I found this page because I was searching for a bonnet-grec image to understand what Lucy was describing. So glad! I laughed a lot reading all your posts. I just finished the book and OMG that ending...CB didn't spare anybody's feelings. She was in a dark place, done with fairytales like Jane Eyre, and just went with an ending that conformed with her vision of the world for "poor, obscure, little girls". Damn.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Harry Potter 2013 Readalong Signup Post of Amazingness and Jollity

Okay, people. Here it is. Where you sign up to read the entire Harry Potter series (or to reminisce fondly), starting January 2013, assuming we all survive the Mayan apocalypse. I don't think I'm even going to get to Tina and Bette's reunion on The L Word until after Christmas, so here's hopin'. You guys know how this works. Sign up if you want to. If you're new to the blog, know that we are mostly not going to take this seriously. And when we do take it seriously, it's going to be all Monty Python quotes when we disagree on something like the other person's opinion on Draco Malfoy. So be prepared for your parents being likened to hamsters. If you want to write lengthy, heartfelt essays, that is SWELL. But this is maybe not the readalong for you. It's gonna be more posts with this sort of thing: We're starting Sorceror's/Philosopher's Stone January 4th. Posts will be on Fridays. The first post will be some sort of hilar
1 comment
Read more

Minithon: The Mini Readathon, January 11th, 2020

The minithon is upon us once more! Minithons are for the lazy. Minithons are for the uncommitted. Minithons are for us. The minithon lasts 6 hours (10 AM to 4 PM CST), therefore making it a mini readathon, as opposed to the lovely Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon and 24in48, both of which you should participate in, but both of which are a longer commitment than this, the Busy Watching Netflix person's readathon. By 'read for six hours' what's really meant in the minithon is "read a little bit and eat a lot of snacks and post pictures of your books and your snacks, but mostly your snacks." We like to keep it a mini theme here, which mainly means justifying your books and your snacks to fit that theme. Does your book have children in it? Mini people! Does it have a dog! Mini wolf! Does it have pencils? Mini versions of graphite mines! or however you get graphite, I don't really know. I just picture toiling miners. The point is, justify it or don't
3 comments
Read more

How to Build a Girl Introductory Post, which is full of wonderful things you probably want to read

Acclaimed (in England mostly) lady Caitlin Moran has a novel coming out. A NOVEL. Where before she has primarily stuck to essays. Curious as we obviously were about this, I and a group of bloggers are having a READALONG of said novel, probably rife with spoilers (maybe they don't really matter for this book, though, so you should totally still read my posts). This is all hosted/cared for/lovingly nursed to health by Emily at As the Crowe Flies (and Reads) because she has a lovely fancy job at an actual bookshop ( Odyssey Books , where you can in fact pre-order this book and then feel delightful about yourself for helping an independent store). Emily and I have negotiated the wonders of Sri Lankan cuisine and wandered the Javits Center together. Would that I could drink with her more often than I have. I feel like we could get to this point, Emily INTRODUCTION-wise (I might've tipped back a little something this evening, thus the constant asides), I am Alice. I enjoy
Post a Comment
Read more