Villette – Bronteová Charlotte (2021)

The theme for the extensive novel, which is being published for the first time in an unabridged single-volume edition, was drawn by Charlotte Brontë from her own life experience. In 1842, at the age of twenty-six, she traveled with her younger sister Emily from England to Brussels, where both educated women found work at the boarding house of the Héger couple. Charlotte taught English and Emily taught music. After a few months, the sisters had to return home for family reasons, but Charlotte soon returned to Belgium and continued working at the boarding house. She faced two sad years: without Emily, she felt lonely in a foreign country, missed home, and as a Protestant, she never adapted to the Catholic environment. The final impetus for her return home to Haworth, where her family lived, was a romantic infatuation: Charlotte fell in love with her employer, Mr. Héger, and realizing that her love would never be reciprocated and would not be fulfilled, she decided to leave Brussels forever. The novel 'Villette,' named after a 'fictional city' in a 'fictional country' somewhere in continental Europe, is to some extent autobiographical. Its main character, Lucy Snowe, experiences similar troubles and has similar dreams and desires as Charlotte did in Brussels. Just like...