"How often, while women and girls sit warm at snug firesides, their hearts and imaginations are doomed to divorce from the comfort surrounding their persons, forced out by night to wander through dark ways, to dare stress of weather, to contend with the snow-blast, to wait at lonely gates and stiles in wildest storms, watching and listening to see and hear the father, the son, the husband coming home." (Villette, Chapter 25)
Art by John Jellicoe for the 1906 edition of Villette
Greetings, Janeites! Welcome back to the Austen-Brontë reader series and to the second week of Villette. Charlotte Brontë's third novel is my current focus and today we will take a brief yet thoughtful look at Volume II, which spans from chapter sixteen to chapter twenty-seven. One must admit– considering where we concluded last week– that the authoress left her readers on none too small of a cliffhanger. On that note, let us begin without another moment's delay...
Summary and First Impressions
After her collapse on the streets of Villette, Lucy is found by Dr. John and brought to the home he shares with his mother. Mrs. Bretton welcomes Lucy warmly and it is only then that Dr. John– at his mother's urging– recognizes his childhood companion. This figurative veil Charlotte Brontë throws over the relationship between Dr. John and Lucy is a nod– or rather a twist or rejection– of the "recognition scene", a plot element most frequently employed in works of the sentimental style, popular in the late 18th century. (This style was satirized by a young Jane Austen in her Juvenilia, which we will cover in our next JASP blog series, so stay tuned!) Even though Lucy herself had suspected Dr. John was one and the same with the Graham Bretton of her youth, she discloses her reasons for staying silent in an introspective passage, quoted below. An important observation here is that during Dr. John's visits to Madame Beck's school, not once did he notice Lucy. This wounds her deeply and hearkens readers back to effect of Dr. John's childhood attachment to Polly Home rather than Lucy.
"To say anything on the subject, to hint at my discovery, had not suited my habits of thought, or assimilated with my system of feeling... I had preferred to keep the matter to myself. I liked entering his presence covered with a cloud he had not seen through, while he stood before me under a ray of special illumination, which shone all partial over his head, trembled about his feet, and cast light no farther." (Villette, Ch. 16)
This portion of the novel deals with despair, grief, heartbreak, and misunderstanding. As Lucy recovers at the home of the Brettons, the authoress includes many passages of deep contemplation, giving her readers a more intimate look at the inner world of the heroine. Also during this time, Dr. John and Lucy gradually become friends, discussing many topics, including Ginevra Fanshawe. Dr. John is passionately in love with the coquettish student, however Lucy knows his feelings are not returned by Ginevra. This is difficult for Lucy to witness as she finds herself falling in love with Dr. Graham. Her low spirits are buoyed, however, by the letters she and Dr. John exchange after she leaves the Bretton residence.
Time passes Lucy and M. Paul Emanuel grow closer. One evening, Lucy, M. Emanuel, Mrs. Bretton, and Dr. John attend a concert, during which Ginevra Fanshawe, also in attendance, snubs Mrs. Bretton. This illuminates her true character and Dr. John's affection for her ends.
"I suppose people who go every night to places of public amusement, can hardly enter into the fresh gala feeling with which an opera or a concert is enjoyed by those for whom it is a rarity. I am not sure that I expected great pleasure from the concert, having but a very vague notion of its nature, but I liked the drive there well... all these small matters had, for me, in their novelty, a peculiar exhilarating charm." (Villette, Chapter 20)
Drama ensues when M. Emanuel intercepts a letter to Lucy from Dr. John. While he leaves it unread, he guesses at the letter's contents, which greatly embarrasses Lucy. Later, she forays to the attic in order to peruse the missive in solitude and is startled by the appearance of a mysterious figure, whom she believes is a nun. Our heroine flees the attic and is comforted by Dr. John, who predicts the incident stemmed from Lucy's depression. He also advises her to speak to no one about what she saw for fear others will think her hysterical.
"This present moment had no pain, no blot, no want; full, pure, perfect, it deeply blessed me. A passing seraph seemed to have rested beside me, leaned towards my heart, and reposed on its throb a softening, cooling, healing, hallowing wing. Dr. John, you pained me afterwards: forgiven be every ill–freely forgiven–for the sake of that one dear remembered good!" (Villette, Ch. 22)
In another instance of pseudo-sentimental reunion, Polly is reintroduced to the story– as Paulina de Bassompierre, due to an inherited title of her father– after a night at the theatre. A fire is somehow started and in the mad dash to evacuate the building, Polly is injured. Dr. John tends to her and they eventually rekindle their past relationship. Mrs. Bretton often hosts dinners and gatherings at her home, including Polly, her father, Lucy, and Dr. John.
In the final chapter of Volume II, all the major characters in the novel attend a speech at the college in Villette, followed by a dinner party at the home of the Bassompierres. While it is meant to be an enjoyable evening, it is rather the opposite for Lucy Snowe, for whom pain and misunderstandings abound at every turn. The worst of all comes when Dr. John remarks that had Lucy been a boy, he supposes they would have been great friends as children.
"I smiled; but I also hushed a groan. Oh!–I wished he would just let me alone–cease allusion to me. These epithets–these attributes I put from me. His 'quiet Lucy Snow,' his 'inoffensive shadow,' I gave him back; not with scorn, but with extreme weariness: theirs was the coldness and the pressure of lead; let him whelm me with no such weight." (Villette, Chapter 27)
In the midst of sorrow, however, M. Emanuel becomes a surprising– if severe– beacon of light. The evening marks the beginning of a true friendship between the two, and as Lucy travels back to Madame Beck's school, we reach the end of Villette's Volume the Second.
Watch your inbox for the final capsulized installment of Charlotte Brontë's Villette, covering Volume III or Chapters 28-42, released next Friday, September 6th. A reading guide can be found here. But, dear readers, before we go our separate ways, I would love to know what you think! Please consider leaving quick comment below with your thoughts of Villette.
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