Title: Agnes Grey
Author: Anne Brontë
What I think so far: I chose to read the book as I wanted to explore the writings of the ‘underrated’ Brontë sister – allowing me to make my own judgement on whether Anne is relatively unknown because of her death at a tragically young age, or simply because the writings of her older sisters do a lot to overshadow her work. Agnes Grey is almost short enough to be classified as a novella, yet we are introduced to a multitude of characters, the sole purpose of which appears to be to set the protagonist apart from her surroundings and allow her characteristic differences to be explored.
Agnes Grey largely neglects the Gothic genre so typically utilized by the older Brontës in favour of a rather pious, remonstrative narrative, largely based upon Anne’s own experiences as a governess for the landed gentry in her late teens. The ironical tone of the book is fantastic – Anne frequently exposes the hypocrisy of the middle-classes, demonstrating their week-day vices of greed, corruption and egotism contrasted with their continual appearance at church on Sundays. Suffice to say the character development is generally lacking, presenting us more with caricatures than anything else.
There are no wild fires, no passionate declarations of love or romps on the moors, but perhaps Anne’s greatness lies within her differences from her sisters. The issues she narrates are timeless: class divisions, isolation and the conflict between love and godliness and, whilst not enthralled in the story, I am interested to see how her carefully crafted plot continues to unfold.
Would I recommend?: For anybody interested in the developments within the classic novel, Agnes’ social standing, morality and introspectiveness all somewhat subvert the classic novel as we know it. For fans of the Brontë sisters, it demands to be read in order to understand the nuances within their respective styles. However, for simple ‘light reading’, it’s doubtful whether the book is absorbing enough to truly captivate the reader, unlike Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre for example.
Words by Beth Chaplow