I had no idea about this novel. I should have read it long ago but it has been reserved for me after I have read the other Bronte novels; Villette, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Elizabeth Gaskell’s biography of Charlotte Bronte. This is my first novel of Anne Bronte and I have ‘The Tenant of Wildfell hall’ lined up. Like Charlotte’s two novels that I mentioned, this novel too takes after the life of governesses and schooling.
Agnes Grey is the daughter of a minister (church). Her mother, a woman of some upbringing and wealth casts aside everything to marry her fiancée who is not very well provided, but has only moderate means. She doesn’t regret her decision but brings up her two daughters Mary and Agnes with good manners, education and general principles of morals and integrity. The father forever sorry for the apparent simplicity of his family, chiefly, because of his poverty, embarks on an ambitious business scheme, staking all his property, to turn a leaf and earn some profits. But his business scheme fails miserably and he sinks deeper into debt. The adversity affects him further and he becomes moody and melancholic. Although his wife solaces him with cheer and hope, his health deteriorates rapidly.
In these circumstances, Agnes decides to find a situation for herself as a Governess to lighten the family’s burden but also to save some money for the family, not entirely with the explicit support of her family, who would rather want her to be near. First she joins the family of the Bloom fields. After a year of service there, she is relieved of her position. After a gap of a few months, she joins the family of Murrays where she has the occasion to make the acquaintance of Mr. Weston, the curate.
Anne Bronte’s personal experiences as a Governess are invaluable to the shaping of the novel. Agnes Grey’s association with these families reveals the coarseness, the vanity, the vulgarity and the moral impropriety of these families. Anne Bronte directs her attention towards the mothers Mrs. Bloomfield and Mrs. Murray who are utterly callous and prejudiced in their treatment of their children, not admonishing (but even encouraging) their vile and mischievous conduct while expecting the Governess to put them on the right track. These ladies are in sharp contrast to Mrs. Grey who has groomed her children to respect others and more importantly to be empathetic.
Perhaps luxury and position must be two privileges which blind people to others needs and feelings. The moral degeneration is so ingrained in this society of the landed gentry that a mother will not hesitate to marry her daughter to a rake only because he is extremely rich. (Rosalie being wedded to Mr. Ashby) After the death of Mr.Grey, Agnes returns home and establishes a boarding school with her mother in a sea-side town with her sister Mary being married now.
While with the Murrays, Agnes begins to idealize and adore Mr. Weston who for her is a complete reverse of the craving, flattering rectors or the unfeeling, dismissive gentry. He is not rich, but his heart overflows with empathy for his poor parishioners and animals. His sermons are not about God’s wrath but about the Lord’s love and kindness. He is strong and sincere not falling for the entrapments or allurements of Rosalie Murray. When Agnes moves out of her position as Governess and settles with her mother, she goes through a struggle. She misses her friend and her companion whom she believes to be her life’s partner. All things are settled favorably when Mr. Weston meets her in the new town, and proposes to her after obtaining her mother’s consent to make her the happiest person.
Agnes Grey is a short novel, but within its pages, it contains acute observations about the struggles of instruction especially to an unwilling and disdainful set of children, hyper conscious about insulting or humiliating a low governess. Isolation is another theme. Agnes goes through this; her friendless, hostile stay with the Bloom fields, her supercilious employees always eager to show her place. The isolation is more psychological and emotional than physical: being alone in a group. Anne Bronte seems to question the charity of the rich, the facile tossing of coins at the needy by Rosalie and Matilda has no value when compared with the thoughtful service done by Agnes and Mr. Weston to Nancy Brown and others. The prose stands out for being precise and exact. Devoid of design or ornament, it propels the story forward with purpose, and irony. Agnes Grey is a remarkable first novel for any novelist.