When I say that something is clearly Victorian, that is not a compliment. I have never liked all the doom and gloom, the obsession with industrialisation, the greyness that seems to cover everything, and the desire for all children to either be orphaned or stuffed up a chimney (if you like Dickens this is not a safe space for you). It is with a heavy heart I say that Shirley is the first Brontë novel I've read so far that has filled me with Victorian rage.
Charlotte Brontë prefaces Shirley saying it is, 'unromantic as a Monday morning' and while I appreciated the warning, I didn't find it to be entirely true. The so-called 'romantic' stuff is there, but it's downing, surrounded by monotony and the meeting of characters, who in many cases, have little to no narrative pay-off. I felt I had met every man and his dog within a hundred mile radius before I met the plot. Left un-captivated, my mind kept wandering off the page. Again, this novel suffers for me personally by being a product of its time, engaging with topics like the industrial depression and Napoleonic Wars, so I suppose it was never going to be my favourite. I'm sure there is someone out there who finds it much more engaging than I do.
Charlottes writing is, as ever, briming with headstrong perspectives, and I liked how this was conceived in her protagonist. No, not Shirley, shes not the main character you silly goose, Caroline. Through Caroline, Brontë once again explores a women's desire to do more, to extend beyond the boundaries of what society or circumstance has made available to them. I appreciate Brontë's decision to create a multifaceted main character, rather than a cliche; Caroline can be shy and mild tempered, but her longing for life shows that it is not only wild women who want to break free from their confines. She is desperate for change and sick with the idea of doing nothing she says, 'what was I created for, I wonder? Where is my place in the word?' and she is so me for that.
And then 204 pages in, 1/3 of the way through the novel, in walks Shirley. Despite arriving fashionably late, she takes up space. Even when she is not present on the page, her influence is felt, surrounding her with an aura that is larger than life. She pushes further against the grain, with people saying of her vivid demeanour, 'it was strange; it was unusual. What was strange must be wrong, what was unusual must be improper'. Shirley and Caroline only enforce each other's free thinking though their friendship, chatting away about their distain towards marriage, desire for self sufficiency, and how they enjoy being in each others company, away from a man's. When Shirley finally arrived it reignited my interest in the novel, but her and Caroline's relationship feels somewhat wasted, it gets lost amongst everything else. I would have happily cut whole passages to make space for more Shirley X Caroline content.
Within their relationship, Brontë explores the all too familiar feelings of jealousy and inferiority which can arise in female friendships. Both women are caught up with the same man and Caroline feels she is less deserving of Robert (said man) because of all the things she lacks in comparison to Shirley. 'But I am poverty and incapacity; Shirley is wealth and power: and she is beauty too, and love'. Despite all the ways Shirley and Caroline relate to each other, differences in class, beauty and social graces divide them in Caroline's eyes. This is unfortunately an incredibly recognisable part of the female experience, to be in societally enforced competition with our female friends. I just wish that moments like these were more at the forefront of the novel. Sometimes Shirley gets it right, and sometimes it's a load of waffle about a gaggle of curates.
I think the final line of the novel (semi-out of context) puts it best, 'God speed'. A sentiment I wish Brontë would have employed around 200 pages into this 653 page read.
Honourable mentions for outstanding quotations...
'Parson-hater' <3
'I'm bringing him back to you in a bonny pickle' - Do what you like mate
'A conceited noodle' - What I'll be saying when I catch myself being a little selfish
'A snug nest for content and contemplation' - Take me there x
'Men, in general, are a sort of scum' - No notes
'Sentimental noodle' - Another good noodle variant
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