illette, Victorian Women, and Opium
Villette, by Charlotte Brontë, confronts women’s anxieties about new roles and uncertain social and economic statuses through its narrator, Lucy Snowe: intrepid young woman extraordinaire, yet a cautious and controlling character and author. It is when Lucy’s subconscious takes greater control, due to the opiate dose by Mme. Beck, that the novel expresses most explicitly the fears and emotions of an English schoolteacher displaced in a foreign world. The Industrial Revolution, redefining work and relocating civilizations to urban areas, destabilized the British social order in the nineteenth century. Specifically relating to Villette, rapid urbanization and new roles for women outside of the domestic sphere …show more content…
The carriage full of her joyful friends represents a sphere of wealth she is adjacent to yet prohibited to enter. Her status as a poor teacher kept her from allowing thoughts of marriage to Dr. John to enter her narrative. Neither would Lucy accept a place as the companion of Paulina or rely on the generosity of her godmother. She is determined to make her own way in the world—a terrifying endeavor in which she ultimately succeeds. Despite being on foot and separate, Lucy follows her friends’ carriage when it appears at the moment she has lost the route to the park, echoing her earlier rescue by Dr. John when she was left alone at the pensionnat and fell ill. Her connection to this group above her social level exemplifies the rigidity of British class dynamics even during the major shifts of industrialization. Lucy can socialize with them temporarily, but as Ginevra puzzledly observes, attending parties hosted by a count obscures Lucy’s identity. With her friends, Lucy would be a nobody because of her lack of either wealth or fortunate birth. Therefore, Lucy—with the choice available to her—chooses to pursue her path in life independently, albeit with occasional guidance from her
Villette, by Charlotte Brontë, confronts women’s anxieties about new roles and uncertain social and economic statuses through its narrator, Lucy Snowe: intrepid young woman extraordinaire, yet a cautious and controlling character and author. It is when Lucy’s subconscious takes greater control, due to the opiate dose by Mme. Beck, that the novel expresses most explicitly the fears and emotions of an English schoolteacher displaced in a foreign world. The Industrial Revolution, redefining work and relocating civilizations to urban areas, destabilized the British social order in the nineteenth century. Specifically relating to Villette, rapid urbanization and new roles for women outside of the domestic sphere …show more content…
The carriage full of her joyful friends represents a sphere of wealth she is adjacent to yet prohibited to enter. Her status as a poor teacher kept her from allowing thoughts of marriage to Dr. John to enter her narrative. Neither would Lucy accept a place as the companion of Paulina or rely on the generosity of her godmother. She is determined to make her own way in the world—a terrifying endeavor in which she ultimately succeeds. Despite being on foot and separate, Lucy follows her friends’ carriage when it appears at the moment she has lost the route to the park, echoing her earlier rescue by Dr. John when she was left alone at the pensionnat and fell ill. Her connection to this group above her social level exemplifies the rigidity of British class dynamics even during the major shifts of industrialization. Lucy can socialize with them temporarily, but as Ginevra puzzledly observes, attending parties hosted by a count obscures Lucy’s identity. With her friends, Lucy would be a nobody because of her lack of either wealth or fortunate birth. Therefore, Lucy—with the choice available to her—chooses to pursue her path in life independently, albeit with occasional guidance from her