a word on the Brontes; esp the novel Shirley

obviously there are more books to go; I have not read all the Bronte novels... but a couple of brief comments in general.

the prejudice towards other nationalities in the books are not to the Brontes' credit. I did not comment on them in the reviews because I dismissed them out of hand, but I don't want anyone to think I in any way agree with that nonsense.

I was greatly surprised to find that er the whole world seems to like Jane Eyre the best, and then Villete, which they consider to be a masterpiece, and they dismiss Shirley as badly-written due to the death of Emily during its completion.

wow. I wonder what planet they are all on... but then again, it's probably me, and I'm on Anuurn, or the earth of the Atevi, by default.

they seemed to think that naming it Shirley even though Shirley was not introduced until several chapters into the story was an indication that Charlotte had changed her focus (as if the book were intended at first to be "Caroline") midway through the writing. um, no. it seems obvious to me that she titled it Shirley and then made us really want to find out who this Shirley was by delaying her entrance. it piques the curiousity. Caroline is the foil. she is the Normal. she is the Typical nineteenth-century English female. and we get so caught up in Caroline that when Shirley does come into play, we can't help but at least temporarily believe that it isn't for the better. Shirley is the Atypical here.

yes, Caroline is (said to be) like Emily. but Charlotte is not a simpleton; she is not going to just write a book about her sister. she instead makes a statement by comparing the Typical with the Atypical, and what better foil for Shirley (a powerful, wealthy, independent woman unafraid to stand up for herself) than Caroline/Emily? Charlotte paints the Typical first so that we can truly appreciate the Atypical!

and what was this business about how the other readers seemed to be bothered when ~ "they were dragged out of matters of the heart and into the riots"? what are they talking about? Charlotte did an Excellent job of placing her characters into real history. every love story has a background, people. all those "matters of the heart" don't just float around in nothingness. and I think Charlotte described the action scenes in a very attention-getting way. no, the girls did not join the fray or anything (alas, that would have been interesting! but Shirley is no Pyanfar or Jago), but it was realistic and exciting. especially for the kind of novel it was.

Jane Eyre has real flaws to me. she just happens to fall ill outside of her long-lost cousins' house? she just happens to come into a fortune? Bertha just happens to commit suicide? Her blind husband just happens to partially regain his eyesight? or, moreso than that, he happens to be so wounded in the first place as to bring him down a notch into her economic class? to say nothing of St John! bah. (her father, Patrick Bronte, went to a seminary called St John's... I wonder---no, I hope, I believe, she was making more of a pointed reference to that and to religion in general... but god that St John was enough to kill it for me.)

Villette.... as I said, it doesn't even have an ending! that is a serious crime to me. ok, so Dead Souls didn't have an ending, but part of the manuscript was missing; and in any case, you KNOW what happens. in Villette, you don't. you can guess, but either way you guess would be equally valid. it's just very odd. it would have been much better if Charlotte had ended it right as Paul Emmanuel left on the voyage and Lucy was setting out on her new employment. we wouldn't have known for sure THEN either, but it would have been more artfully done than saying his ship was returning but did it run into storms or did it come safely into the harbor? well, I'll let you guess, dear reader. ... obnoxious.

and I understand about Lucy wanting to find a husband that would be a good life partner for her, but all her other heroines had that going on as well. it's not a new concept.

of course in all the books, the girl ends up married anyway (or, in Villette, engaged to be married). which is so beyond the current experience that it is hard for me to really be happy for them... Wuthering Heights, well, they had an abominable time of it, for sure, but, it ended with a marriage and a happily ever after.

so, basically, Shirley is the best :p and I need more sleep