He therefore introduces complicated machines to make the production much more effective. Robert, the mill owner, is struggling due to a debt on the mill. Shirley is also more complex than Villette by presenting a more complicated backdrop. Instead of living for, in, and with yourself, as a reasonable being ought, you seek only to fasten your feebleness on some other person’s strength.” “You had no right to be born for you make no use of life. In Shirley you also have the dramatic, existential aspect of not living to your full potential because of your gender: Both characters complement each other very well, and Charlotte is very clear on not saying one type is “better” than the other. You have the fact that we follow two main characters, who do lead different lives. I like the fact that Villette talks about how it’s not easy to grow up, and that the book shows, rather than tells us, why strict gender roles can be harmful. It’s all about how one girl grown and develops against a varied backdrop. Villette is in some ways a very simple book. My opinion of the book: I’m struggling to figure out if this or Villette is my favourite Charlotte Brontë book. Shirley was named after the son her father never had. Her uncle, understanding something is wrong, tries to help by introducing her to Shirley Keeldar, who newly inherited a large fortune. While these visits are important for Caroline, they don’t cure her feeling of emptiness. Robert Moore and his sister are from Belgium, and the reasons for Caroline’s frequent visits are to learn French and all things woman from Hortense. The mill is owned by Robert Moore, a distant cousin of Caroline, who also lives with his sister Hortense.

Her only highlight is when she travels to a mill close by. She is bored, because as the vicar’s niece she is too well off to get an occupation as a governess and as a woman she can’t find a job fitting her station.

Plot: Caroline Helstone is an orphan, and therefore living with her uncle, one of the vicars in the area.

Charlotte bronte 1849