Great Literature Discussion Group: Vilette by Charlotte Brontë

Literary works will be discussed based on what can be found in the text in order to enrich each other’s interpretation of the novel/novella. All are welcome to join and any edition or translation of the book under discussion can be used.

Read the novella in advance and be prepared to discuss the aspects of interest to you by referring to specific related text and reading it to the group. Moderated by Ethical NYC member Gunther Tielemans.

Having fled a harrowing past in England, Lucy Snowe begins a new life teaching at a boarding school in Villette (Brussels). There, as she tries to achieve independence from both outer necessity and inward grief, she finds that her feelings for a worldly doctor and a dictatorial professor threaten her hard-won self-possession. The novel presents a strikingly modern psychological insight and a revolutionary understanding of human loneliness. Brontë’s final masterpiece powerfully portrays a woman struggling to reconcile love, jealousy, and a fierce desire for independence

Monthly, 1st Wednesday
Members Free, Guests $5