"Jane Eyre" is the story of its title character, a poor orphaned girl who comes to live with her aunt where she endures poor treatment from her aunt and cousins. Jane subsequently ships off to Lowood, a Christian boarding school where she endures more horrible conditions. After some time, life becomes more bearable at Lowood for Jane and she eventually finishes her coursework and spends a period of time as a teacher at the school. After leaving Lowood she comes into the employment of Mr. Rochester as a governess at Thornfield Hall. «Jane Eyre» is the story of one woman's struggle to overcome adversity and a classic love story.
"Villette", Charlotte Bronte's classic Victorian era novel which was originally published in 1853, is the story of Lucy Snowe, who following a family tragedy travels to the fictional town of Villette to teach at an all-girls school. There she finds herself unwillingly drawn into adventure and romantic entanglement. A must read for fans of the Bronte sisters, «Villette» is often praised for its exploration of repression and the role of women in society.
The first novel written by the author of «Jane Eyre,» «The Professor» is a story about the life of the resilient William Crimsworth. An English orphan raised by coldly aristocratic uncles, he rejects a life as a clergyman to work in his brother's mill in Yorkshire. Treated abominably in his tedious clerkship, Crimsworth escapes to Belgium and begins teaching in a boys' school. There he eventually meets the headmistress of a neighboring girls' school, Zoraide Reuter, as well as one of the teachers in the girls' school, Francis Henri. Narrated from a convincing male perspective, Bronte exercised her skill as a writer in telling a tale based on her own experiences as a student in Brussels, challenging many of the assumptions of Victorian society in the process. Crimsworth matures, finds a fulfilling profession, and discovers love in this significant commencement to Charlotte Bronte's literary career.
“Shirley” is Charlotte Bronte’s second novel and is set against the backdrop of the Luddite uprising against the Yorkshire textile industry in England during the industrial depression that followed the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. First published in 1849, the novel is the story of mill operator Robert Moore, whose business is troubled by the economic climate; his distant cousin Caroline Helstone, for whom Robert has affections; rich heiress and landowner Shirley Keeldar; and Robert’s brother Louis, a poor tutor, whom Shirley has fallen in love with. “Shirley” is a classically romantic tale that deals with the timely themes of industrial unrest in Britain at the beginning of the 19th century and the role of women both at home and in business. The shy and timid Caroline and the independent and headstrong Shirley are both deeply affected by the decisions of the men in their lives and by changing social roles and expectations for women. They both must grapple with whether they are free to marry for love or if money will control yet another aspect of their lives. Bronte’s popular novel is both an insightful social commentary and a mature and touching portrait of women trying to follow their romantic desires in an increasingly complicated world. This edition includes a biographical afterword.
A reworking of “The Professor”, the author’s first novel, “Villette” is Charlotte Bronte’s fourth and last novel which is loosely based upon her own experiences at a boarding school in Brussels. The work follows the life of Lucy Snowe, a quiet yet self-reliant young girl without any family, from her life in the English countryside where she lives with her Godmother, to London, and finally to the French town of Villette, where she gains employment as a nanny at a boarding school. While there she is reunited with old acquaintances and meets the quick-tempered professor M. Paul Emanuel. The two eventually fall in love but seem destined to be kept apart by persons conspiring against them. “Villette” has gained a reputation as a gothic novel owing to several strange encounters Lucy has with a nun which may be the ghost of a woman who was put to death on the school’s grounds for breaking her vow of chastity. These strange visions give an appropriate atmosphere to a novel whose theme is one of loneliness and isolation. While not as popular as “Jane Eyre”, Bronte’s “Villette” is a work which arguably exceeds in literary standing her more famous work. This edition includes an introduction by Mary Augusta Ward and a biographical afterword.
A classic coming of age story, “Jane Eyre” is the tale of its title character, a poor orphaned girl who comes to live with her aunt at Gateshead Hall. While there she endures great emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her aunt and cousins. Jane subsequently ships off to Lowood, a Christian boarding school for poor and orphaned girls. The conditions at the school are quite brutal. The students are subjected to cold lodgings, poor food, inadequate clothing, and the harsh rule of the administrator, Mr. Brocklehurst. The maltreatment of the students is eventually discovered and after some changes life becomes more bearable. She eventually finishes her coursework and spends a period of time as a teacher at the school. After leaving Lowood she gains a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall working for Edward Rochester, a man whom she will eventually fall in love with. “Jane Eyre” is the story of one woman’s struggle to overcome adversity. The novel was revolutionary in its day for its examination of the internal conflict of its protagonist and for the way in which it addressed the themes of class, sexuality, and religion in the mid 19th century. This edition includes an introduction by Mary Augusta Ward and a biographical afterword.
A classic coming of age story, “Jane Eyre” is the tale of its title character, a poor orphaned girl who comes to live with her aunt at Gateshead Hall. While there she endures great emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her aunt and cousins. Jane subsequently ships off to Lowood, a Christian boarding school for poor and orphaned girls. The conditions at the school are quite brutal. The students are subjected to cold lodgings, poor food, inadequate clothing, and the harsh rule of the administrator, Mr. Brocklehurst. The maltreatment of the students is eventually discovered and after some changes life becomes more bearable. She eventually finishes her coursework and spends a period of time as a teacher at the school. After leaving Lowood she gains a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall working for Edward Rochester, a man whom she will eventually fall in love with. “Jane Eyre” is the story of one woman’s struggle to overcome adversity. The novel was revolutionary in its day for its examination of the internal conflict of its protagonist and for the way in which it addressed the themes of class, sexuality, and religion in the mid 19th century. This edition includes an introduction by May Sinclair and a biographical afterword.
Bereft of family and friends, Lucy Snowe flees her empty life in England to seek independence and fulfillment in a wider world. Her gambit takes her to the Belgian town of Villette, where she secures a job teaching English to the fractious girls of Madame Beck's boarding school. Sensitive but resolute, Lucy struggles with feelings of isolation, and she despairs of her relationships with an English doctor and a haughty schoolmaster. Her dilemma—finding a romance that offers both intimacy and freedom—remains as resonant today as it was for Victorian readers.Charlotte Brontë's last and most autobiographical novel is a vivid narrative of deftly drawn characters and memorably depicted places. Originally published in 1853, it reflects the author's deep loneliness at the loss of her siblings. The remarkably modern heroine, a creature of moody complexity, far predates the advent of psychoanalysis. Villette is nevertheless a powerfully moving psychological study, acclaimed by George Eliot as «a still more wonderful book than Jane Eyre,» and by Virginia Woolf as «Brontë's finest novel.»
Determined to make her heroine «as poor and plain as myself,» Charlotte Brontë made a daring choice for her 1847 novel. Jane Eyre possesses neither the great beauty nor entrancing charm that her fictional predecessors used to make their way in the world. Instead, Jane relies upon her powers of diligence and perception, conducting herself with dignity animated by passion.The instant and lasting success of Jane Eyre proved Brontë's instincts correct. Readers of her era and ever after have taken the impoverished orphan girl into their hearts, following her from the custody of cruel relatives to a dangerously oppressive boarding school and onward through a troubled career as a governess. Jane's first assignment at Thorn field, where the proud and cynical master of the house harbors a scandalous secret, draws readers ever deeper into a compelling exploration of the mysteries of the human heart.A banquet of food for thought, this many-faceted tale invites a splendid variety of interpretations. The heroine's insistence upon emotional equality with her lover suggests a feminist viewpoint, while her solitary status invokes a consideration of the problems of growing up as a social outsider. Some regard Jane's attempts to reconcile her need for love with her search for moral rectitude as the story's primary message, and lovers of gothic romance find the tale's social and religious aspects secondary to its gripping elements of mystery and horror. This classic of English literature truly features something for every reader.
"Villette is a novel by Charlotte Brontë, published in 1853. After an unspecified family disaster, protagonist Lucy Snowe travels to the fictional city of Villette to teach at an all-girls school where she is unwillingly pulled into both adventure and romance." (Citation from Wikipedia: The free Encyclopaedia)<br><br>Mermaids Classics, an imprint of Mermaids Publishing brings the very best of old classic literature to a modern era of digital reading by producing high quality books in ebook format. All of the Mermaids Classics epublications are reproductions of classic antique books that were originally published in print format, mostly over a century ago and are now republished in digital format as ebooks. Begin to build your collection of digital books by looking for more literary gems from Mermaids Classics.