"How delightful it would be to be a governess! To go out into the world; to enter upon a new life; to act for myself; to exercise my unused faculties; to try my unknown powers; to earn my own maintenance [...] I had but to turn from my little pupils to myself at their age, and I should know, at once, how to win their confidence and affections: how to waken the contrition of the erring; how to embolden the timid and console the afflicted; how to make Virtue practicable, Instruction desirable, and Religion lovely and comprehensible."
(Agnes Grey, Chapter 1)
Art by Edmund Dulac for The Novels of the Bronte Sisters, Dent 1905
Welcome, Janeites, to the first week of Agnes Grey. Over the next three weeks I will be covering Anne Brontë's first novel as part of our Austen-Brontë reader blog series. Today, we will take a brief yet thoughtful look at Chapters 1-9.
Summary, First Impressions, and a Bit of Analysis
Right at the novel's opening, Anne Brontë introduces her readers to her heroine– and might I just add, title character– Agnes Grey. In a similar style to her sister Charlotte's Jane Eyre or Villette, this initial meeting is by way of first person narration, allowing her audience to find their bearings in the novel's pervading style. Yes, in this novel Agnes herself will spin the tale of her life. We are first presented with Mr. Grey, a middle class clergyman, and his wife, who married for love, leaving behind a family of high social status, finances, and rank. While the couple have many children, only two daughters survive to adolescence: the older sister, Mary, and Agnes, the younger. The two girls are bright and educated at home.
Mr. Grey continually wishes he could provide more comforts for his wife and children, so he invests his money in a merchant ship, hoping to reap great monetary benefits and improve the family's livelihood. This plan unfortunately goes awry when the merchant handling Mr. Grey's investment dies in a shipwreck and everything is lost. This ruination plunges Mr. Grey into melancholy and worsens his health considerably. As a result, the family becomes more frugal and insular, leading Mrs. Grey and Mary to consider additional means of supplying a supplemental income, such as selling the latter's artwork. Whenever she attempts to help, Agnes is only lovingly dismissed on the grounds that she is too young. This frustrates our heroine, who proposes to her family that she be allowed to find work as a governess instead.
The Greys are shocked at this announcement and the parents react in varying shades of denial and disbelief. Agnes avows this is a way for her to prove herself, bring in more money to aid the family, as well as pursue what she thinks will be an enjoyable task: the academic instruction and moral cultivation of children. Her parents are not convinced, but in a short time find her a position with the Bloomfield family, old acquaintances of Mr. Grey's sister.
Agnes leaves home in September, yet there is a chill in the air and the ride to the home of the Bloomfield family takes a great deal of time. Thus, she is rather frozen through by the time of her arrival, which combined with her intense nerves and social anxiety make her first meeting with the haughty, diffident Mrs. Bloomfield difficult. Her introductions to her pupils, the Bloomfield children, are no more successful. The oldest child, Tom, is seven years old and already mercenary, abusive, and tyrannical. These negative traits have been instigated and encouraged by Mr. Bloomfield and other male relatives. Mary Ann, the next oldest, is flippant and rude. The two children are equally lazy but differ in temperament, with Tom constantly formulating horrid plans to torture and kill small animals, most particularly birds, or using violence against his sister and Agnes, and Mary Ann routinely throwing tantrums and refusing to do any work whatsoever by laying motionless on the floor. When the next oldest sister, Fanny, reaches the age to join them all in the schoolroom, Agnes is very disheartened to find that she, too, is spoiled and ill-mannered.
Agnes is forbidden to discuss the many faults of the children with her employers, nor is she allowed to discipline them. She is constantly belittled and verbally abused, or dismissed and ignored by Mr. and Mrs. Bloomfield, which sets a low precedent and example of how Agnes is to be treated by other members of the staff as well as the children. Additionally, all issues found with the children's behavior or lack of academic progress is blamed on Agnes. Even still, she is resolute that she will be able to set in motion positive change.
My task of instruction and surveillance, instead of becoming easier as my charges and I got better accustomed to each other, became more arduous as their characters unfolded. The name of governess, I soon found, was a mere mockery as applied to me: my pupils had no more notion of obedience than a wild, unbroken colt. (Agnes Grey, Chapter 3)
This experience is unfortunately not uncommon to the real life experiences of young women in this line of work during the 1800s. Through the character of Agnes, Anne Brontë shares anecdotes and asides as a potential hopeful aid for those in similar situations. Anne was a governess for five years and paints a realistic portrait in this novel– more so, I would argue, than her sister's Jane Eyre, which includes many fantastical elements– of the realities and horrors and difficulties of life as a governess.
Agnes is allowed to return home for a short while at Christmastime, which is immeasurably beneficial for her spirits, however upon her return to the Bloomfield's home she is only met with more setback, this time from Mr. Bloomfield's hypocritical mother. Her character is directly juxtaposed with Agnes's, most particularly in regard to sincere religious fervor and actions. Later, the family is visited by Uncle Robson, Mrs. Bloomfield's cruel brother, who is one of the adults most responsible for Tom's sadistic behavior. One day during his uncle's visit Tom decides to torture a nest of baby birds. He shares his plan with Agnes to taunt her but rather than allow it to happen, Agnes drops a stone on the nest to kill the birds before Tom can fulfil his evil plot. When the boy complains to his uncle about Agnes ruining his fun, Robson promises to find another nest for his nephew. Agnes stands up to him, saying she would do the same thing again in order to prevent the torture of innocent beings. This is the beginning of an important theme woven between the lines of Agnes Grey, which provides a window into characters' virtues and natures by their treatment of Creation, notably animals.
Some time later– not even a full year since the start of her employment– Mrs. Bloomfield lets Agnes go, claiming the children are not learning enough. While this comes as a severe blow to Agnes, she is in part relieved to exit the Bloomfield household once and for all and resolves to only improve with her next position. Back at home, Mr. Grey's constitution has worsened, so Agnes enlists the help of her mother to secure a second position. She places an advertisement, listing her academic knowledge and expected pay rate and the well-to-do Murray family responds, acquiescing to her monetary request. Thus, Agnes departs once again and travels the farthest distance she ever has from home in order to take the position.
At this point in the narrative the reader experiences time differently, with Agnes detailing the first years of her employment in quick summation. The Murray family is comprised of Mr. Murray, of whom Agnes sees little, Mrs. Murray, frivolous and hedonistic, and four children. The oldest, Rosalie, is sixteen. She is very attractive, (and knows it), as well as bright, yet her worldliness, flirtatiousness, and intense vanity overshadow her positive attributes. The next oldest, Matilda, is fourteen, a tomboyish character who swears and prefers the company of horses and dogs to people. She is followed by wild, eleven-year-old John and ill-tempered, ten-year-old Charles, who are sent to boarding school one and two years after Agnes arrives respectively. The job is better than Agnes's previous position with the Bloomfields, but the Murray girls are ignorant to the feelings of their governess, wholly consumed by their own.
I sometimes felt myself degraded by the life I led, and ashamed of submitting to so many indignities; and sometimes I thought myself a fool for caring so much about them, and feared I must be sadly wanting in Christian humility, or that charity which “suffereth long and is kind, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, beareth all things, endureth all things.” But, with time and patience, matters began to be slightly ameliorated: slowly, it is true, and almost imperceptibly [...] (Agnes Grey, Chapter 7)
Both Rosalie and Matilda are unprincipled, shallow, and have very little moral substance, yet the two girls differ greatly in temperament. Rosalie has talent with languages and music but in conjunction to her great airs and whims this equates to a disastrous combination. Matilda on the other hand could care less about exerting herself academically or about her physical appearance. The girls' treatment of Agnes differs depending on the day, but once the two younger boys leave for school there is more of a chance for positive relationship-building.
When Rosalie turns eighteen, the Murrays plan a ball to celebrate her "coming out" in society. At first, Rosalie is shocked that Agnes will not be in attendance and only softens slightly when Agnes shares she will be going home in order to celebrate her sister Mary's wedding. Mary will marry a vicar, a kind man of moderate means. As Rosalie is obsessed with the conception of wealth and status she is quite horrified by this disparate lack of wealth.
The introduction of Rosalie's hierarchical thinking is a literary premonition of the highest degree, foreshadowing what is to come later in the novel. After her time off for the holiday, Agnes returns to the home of the the Murrays where Rosalie details (in detail) the attentions of the men present at her ball, notably Sir Thomas Ashby, Harry Meltham, and Mr. Hatfield. Sir Ashby is an older man, incredibly wealthy, but in possession of an odious character. Harry Meltham is younger, however he is not the heir to his father's fortune and thus not a viable choice for Rosalie. (Of course, even if he is not "marriageable", he is still perfect for flirtation purposes.) Mr. Hatfield is the local rector, revealed in time to be a young, pompous and self-important man. (Mr. Hatfield is, I would say, rather like Mr. Elton of Jane Austen's Emma...)
In conversation, Rosalie mentions a new character, a Mr. Weston, who has recently been brought in as curate of the parish. According to her, Mr. Weston is oafish and unintelligent and she waves away Agnes's further inquiries. Rosalie goes on to discuss her "prospects", considering each man in turn and landing on Sir Thomas Ashby purely because of his grand status and estate, adding that she would rather be unfettered from a man and flirt forever.
The chapter ends with Agnes warning her young pupil of her dangerous ideals, but in the reader's mind (at least mine), an ominous seed of mishap has already been planted. Here we must conclude our first selection of Agnes Grey, but the pressing question remains:
"What will happen next?"
Keep an eye out for the next bite-sized installment of Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey, covering Chapters 10-17, released next Tuesday, December 3rd. A reading guide can be found here. Before we part, dearest readers, I would love to know what you think! If you feel so inclined, please use the comments below to share your initial thoughts and opinions of Agnes Grey.
If you enjoyed this article, as always, please consider making a donation to keep all online Jane Austen Summer programming free to the public. Thank you.
Comments