Friday 8 June 2012

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

Agnes Grey is a semi-autobiographical account of life as a governess in nineteenth-century England.  Agnes decides to take a position to support herself and her family and is shocked by the behaviour of her young charges in both of the families in which she works.  She experiences the frustrations and difficulties of the job and the loneliness that comes from being not a part of the family, but not quite a servant either.

This review will be quite a personal one about my own reaction to the book.  As a teacher, I read this through a different viewpoint to other readers and as such, I loved the book.  Although it was published in 1847, I found myself nodding along with the descriptions of Agnes as she struggled to control the children in her first position, thinking back to my own experiences as a trainee teacher.  She makes all the classic mistakes I made; wanting to be liked by her pupils, not always following through on her warnings, taking any criticism of her skills very personally.  Learning to teach and control a class is a steep slope and it takes time and plenty of mistakes.

As Agnes remains in her first position in difficult circumstances, her abilities as a governess improve and she develops a common sense approach that is very similar to how I approach my pupils now;

"Patience, firmness and perseverance were my weapons, and these I resolved to use to the utmost. I determined always strictly to fulfil the threats and promises I made, and, to that end, I must be cautious to threaten and promise nothing that I could not perform.  Then, I would carefully refrain from all useless irritability and indulgence of my own ill temper."

With teaching, it seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same.  I felt for Agnes when she was criticised for things out of her control and expected to maintain perfect behaviour without any power to do so.  When the father of the family took to performing unexpected 'checks' on Agnes, the pressure it induced reminded me of an OFSTED inspection now!  She is expected to give up all her time to her job, sacrificing her own life and interests; that hasn't changed too much either in the intervening 150+ years.

I also very much enjoyed Anne Bronte's writing style.  Although I've read books by Charlotte and Emily, this is the first book by Anne I've tried and I thought it was a good mix of Charlotte's perceptiveness about emotions blended with a sharp wit that reminded me a bit of Austen.  Like Agnes, I am a very reserved person, so I could identify with her and her struggles not to 'impose herself' on anyone.

The only criticism I will make of the book is that it makes an abrupt turn into a romance about two thirds of the way through.  It starts out as an account of life as a governess and then becomes almost not about that at all and instead about Agnes' romance.  I found the shift abrupt and a bit jarring, almost as if Anne felt that she had to include a romance to make it appeal to most readers. 

Agnes Grey is a quiet, character driven book that probably won't appeal to those who enjoy action and adventure.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to soon read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte's other published novel.

Source: Library
First Published: 1847
Score: 4.5 out of 5

22 comments:

  1. I think I would really identify with this book too. I definitely need to add more Bronte works to my reading list than just Jane Eyre. :)

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    1. Jane Eyre is great but I much preferred Villette. You should give Agnes Grey and Villette a try :)

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  2. My biggest problem with this book was that Agnes never grows as a person, and she doesn't seem to like children at all (and not just because they were brats). It felt like Anne Bronte was just complaining the whole book, until the abrupt shift to romance (which jarred me, too). I much, much preferred The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

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    1. I feel like she grows as a governess over the course of the book. I didn't get the impression that she doesn't like children, I think the negativity is focussed towards the role of governess e.g. her lack of power to discipline.

      Can't wait to try Tenant of Wildfell Hall!

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  3. I agree about the romance switch, that threw me for a loop, but I did love this book. I felt like it was very real, like I was getting to meet Anne. I can see how many people would be bored or irritated but I connected with it. I haven't read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall yet...it seems that it is generally her preferred novel, so it'll be interesting to compare the difference.

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    1. I thought it felt real too, I could tell Anne had lived through some of the experiences she wrote about in her book. I'm interested in trying Tenant of Wildfell Hall too.

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  4. This is one of the two books by the Brontes that I have yet to read. (The Professor by Charlotte is the other, and I hear it's terrible.) I really liked Tenant of Wildfell Hall. It has a more overt social agenda than Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights, which I found interesting.

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    1. I've heard that about The Professor too, I might steer clear of that one. All I know about Tenant is that Charlotte tried to suppress it's publication, which makes me interested to read it.

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    2. The Professor was the novel that was the base for Villette. The Professor was rejected, so she continued working on it and it became Villette a few years later. I want to read it to explore her process as a writer. (I love Villette, by the way.)

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  5. I've always been curious about this one - although now that I hear its got that romance thing going on I probably won't take the time to read it. The same thing happened with Daphne DuMaurier's Jamaica Inn. It's a great story with an unfortunate romance thrown in for no real reason.

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    1. Personally I do think it's worth it for the first two thirds and it's only a short book at approximately 200 pages. I haven't read any du Maurier yet, but I intend to start with Rebecca

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  6. I'm also reminded of Austen when I read Anne Bronte, and I adore this book. I'm glad you saw in it what I did! I'm currently reading The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. :)

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    1. Glad I'm not the only one to make the connection! There was so much sarcasm and Iit reminded me of Austen. How are you finding Tenant?

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    2. I really, really like it. It's much more polished than Agnes Grey. (That's not a slam on Agnes Grey at all. I loved Agnes Grey, but you can see Anne gain confidence as a writer, as the novel advances. In Tenant, she seems more consistently polished.)

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  7. I found this review so interesting particularly because it was so personal - I could never teach, so I'm slightly in awe of those who can! Funny to realise that nothing ever changes :)

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    1. There's lots of things I couldn't do, but teaching is OK. And I think the more things change, the more they stay the same.

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  8. I loved this book - I sympathized with Anne, and the romance part didn't bother me so much because I really, really wanted to see her happy and settled. Also, I had read both Charlotte and Emily before her and I have to say that Anne is the easiest to read - her writing style just flows a lot better.

    Can't wait to see what you think of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - I loved it!

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    1. Glad you loved it too, Sarah, there are a lot of mixed reactions to this book. Like you, I read Charlotte and Emily first and found Anne very readable. Will hopefully get to read Tenant soon :)

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  9. I love quiet, character driven books! Have yet to read Anne Bronte, but will start with The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (it's on my shelf). Agnes Grey sounds wonderful.

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  10. I have not yet read this book, but it is one that I will eventually get to. How odd that the story line does the about-face that you have described. It is a shame that the two elements could not be better meshed together. It is good to hear that you still enjoyed it so much.

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  11. You keep making me add books to my pile! I just downloaded this one to my ereader so that I won't forget about it. I'd like to try Anne Bronte and this sounds worth the read.

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  12. The fact that it reminds you of Austen intrigues me. Will have to give this one a try at some point.

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