Godaffiliation: Lucy Snowe’s Thwarted Development in Charlotte Brontë's Villette

Abstract

Charlotte Brontë's character Lucy Snowe, the protagonist of Villette (1853), ostensibly belongs to the canon of Bildungsroman heroes. She narrates her own saga of apprenticeship which includes the tests of poverty, alienation and loneliness, finally finding fulfillment in marriage and professional life. But Villette does not always conform to the Bildungsroman formula; Lucy's story contains many gaps and frustrating deferrals. From beginning to end, genre "violations" occur. Brontë's novel asks its readers to consider several important questions: Where does Lucy begin? Where does she end? And, on a formal level, how does Villette - Lucy Snowe's selfnarrated story - violate reader's expectations of the Bildungsroman genre? In this essay I discuss Villette's genre "flaws", especially its extraordinary use of ambiguities and cultural cliches; I contend that Brontë's novel may be read as both Lucy Snowe's saga and a Victorian guide to misreading.

Opsomming

 Charlotte Brontë se hoofkarakter in Villette (1853), Lucy Snowe, behoort tot die Bildungsroman-kanon se helde. Sy vertel haar eie sage van die smeltkroes van armoede, vervreemding, eensaamheid en uiteindelike vervulling in die huwelik en professionele lewe. Maar Villette konformeer nie altyd met die Bildungsroman-formule nie; Lucy se verhaal bevat vele leemtes en frustrerende afwykings. Van die begin tot die einde is daar genre-"skending". Brontë se roman rig verskeie belangrike vrae aan die leser: Waar begin Lucy? Waar eindig sy? En op 'n formele vlak: Hoe maak Villette (Lucy Snowe se selfbeskrywende verhaal) inbreuk op die leser se verwagtings van die Bildungsroman-genre? In hierdie artikel noem ek Villette se genreleemtes, veral die buitengewone gebruik van dubbelsinnighede en kulturele clichés onder die loep. Ek voer aan dat Brontë se roman gelees kan word as Lucy Snow se sage, asook as 'n Viktoriaanse gids tot waninterpretasie.