First published in 1853, Villette draws from Charlotte Bronte's experiences in Brussels in the 1840's. In this emotionally charged tale, we see Lucy Snowe's response to the challenges of her restrictive social environment as she flees from her unhappy past in England to a new life as a teacher at Madame Beck's school in Villette.
This new edition features the definitive Clarendon edition of Villette which is derived from the earliest printings of Bronte's great work. The text is supplemented with a newly commissioned introduction, which gives a thorough and in depth analysis of the context of this fine example of the nineteenth century novel.
Synopsis
"Villette! Villette! Have you read it?" exclaimed George Eliot when Charlotte Brontë's final novel appeared in 1853. "It is a still more wonderful book than Jane Eyre. There is something almost preternatural in its power.
Virginia Woolf
Brontë’s finest novel.
About the Author, Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Brontë once wrote, "It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it." Though she led a quiet life (and died young), Brontë indeed created action in her sweeping, passionate novels, such as the gothic drama Jane Eyre.