Reading the Classics: Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë
The Book
This is Anne Brontë’s debut novel written under the pen name of Acton Bell. It was first published in 1847 and many believe that it depicts Anne’s own experiences as a governess. It deals with themes of oppression, treatment of animals, empathy and isolation, and at least one incident described in the book is based on real events (Agnes killing a nest of birds to prevent them from being tortured by the young boy of the family she is working for).
The Author
Anne Brontë was born in 1820 and died in 1849. She was the youngest of the Brontë sisters and lived with her family most of her life. In her early 20s she worked as a governess, but after leaving that profession in 1845 she started writing. She wrote poems, which were published in a volume of poems written by her and her sisters, and she proceeded to write two novels, “Agnes Grey” and “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” before she died. All of these were first published under a pseudonym; Acton Bell. Her sisters also published their first works under pseudonyms, because they were afraid that they would be judged differently if people knew they were women. Once “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë was published, interest in the work of the sisters grew and it was thought that all of them would have great careers as writers. However in 1848 Emily fell ill and died, and not long after Anne was taken ill too. The doctor diagnosed it as tuberculosis and in February of 1849 Anne died and was laid to rest in Scarborough, where she had been visiting in order to try and restore her health by change of scenery and fresh sea air.
Review
I quite liked this book, more so than I expected. I was slightly underwhelmed by “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” even though I gave it 3 stars. I had expected a bit more, so I went into “Agnes Grey” with pretty low expectations. Maybe that was why I liked it so much.
This book follows Agnes, who is a young woman, brought up almost exclusively socializing with her own family. When her family falls on hard times she decides to take up a job as a governess to help provide for them. I thought this bit was really interesting because her family objects to this, saying that she doesn’t know how to take care of herself and that she is just a child. I believe she is 19 or so at the time, and while young by no means a child. And it is her family who has made her “unable to take care of herself” which I think was a great disservice to her. To anyone really. What did they expect her to do? Just live in the family home forever, having her parents and her sister take care of her? Anyway, she finds a position as governess, and the rest of the book is pretty much about how horribly governesses in general are treated. It was an interesting insight into the conditions of governesses at the time, and the little love story weaved in was also quite gratifying, so I gave this book 3 stars out of 5.
Is it still a classic to me?
You can say that the time of governesses raising children in mansions is past, but then again. Consider our day’s au-pair girls/women. I think many of these would agree with this portrayal of their duties, so I do think that this book still has value today.
Links:
vhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Grey
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