Saturday, 20 October 2012

Agnes Grey Review

There is no doubt about it, I adore this book.
     In my personal opinion Anne Brontë is so very underappreciated in the literary world because she is overshadowed by Emily and Charlotte. I cannot deny that both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are fine pieces of literature, but there is something so much more real in Anne's narrative that I love.
     She is honest about the world and the brutal way that it works without needing to add a gothic element to it. Yes, Agnes can sometimes appear a little too perfect compared to the other characters in the novel, but there is something so genuinely kind about her that it does not bother me in the slightest. I want to appreciate how sweet she is as a person because I fully believe that she deserves to be appreciated.
     One of the best things in the novel? Why Mr. Weston of course!
     I did not read the book purely for the male lead, but as a character and love interest he was perfectly charming. I have never quite been able to understand Heathcliff's popularity among women; realistically he is a frightening, controlling, violent man. As for Mr. Rochester, while he leaves me feeling a little more sympathetic, I am not sure I would be able to trust a man who had kept his wife locked in an attic.
     Mr. Weston is perfectly normal and just plain nice. That, ladies, is what I find attractive in a man. Niceness. While Heathcliff spends his years abusing everyone within his vicinity, Mr. Weston spends his time helping old ladies find their cats. All while keeping his masculinity intact.
     All in all I simply found this novel a pleasure to read. It was calming and sweet and beautiful.
     I am most definitely an Anne Brontë fangirl.

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