Big Read: Villette by Charlotte Bronte
30 April @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Villette (1853) was inspired by Charlotte Bronte’s own experiences in Brussels and her transformative relationship with the charismatic Monsieur Heger. Lucy Snowe is forced to seek her own fortune and finds work in the closed world of Madame Beck’s girls’ school. A Protestant outsider in this Continental environment, she must draw on all her reserves of feeling and courage to maintain her independence and claim happiness on her own terms.
Led by Caroline Heaton, co-editor (with Christine Park) of Close Company: Stories of Mothers and Daughters and Caught in a Story: Contemporary Fairytales and Fables. Caroline’s poetry has been published in literary journals and anthologies.
Big Read is free for BRLSI members and only £3 for non-members – please RSVP or buy your ticket below. Here’s a few things to think about while you’re reading Villette:
1. How did the first-person narration of Villette affect your reading?
2. Writer Harriet Martineau famously said of Villette: “I do not like the love, either the kind or degree of it”. How did you respond to the romance element in the book?
3. What is the importance of religion as a theme in the book?
4. Lucy Snowe could be described as an ‘anti-heroine’. Were you in sympathy with her?
5. How do you regard the treatment of gender relations in the book?
