Despite its lack of excitement or emotional depth, Charlotte Brontë's The Professor is surprisingly compelling. Its protagonist, William Crimsworth is an elitist, xenophobic, misogynistic creep, but strangely that makes his story all the more readable. His apathy makes him difficult to access, meaning the more we read, the more of his humanity we unlock. At the start of the book William is pretty insufferable, with his own distain towards work and labour coming out in classist statements and resentments towards the North, specifically the much hated 'X——' (name names I dare you). This elitism extends overseas too, with particular slander towards the Flemish, an interesting choice for a man who has moved to Belgium for work. As the chapters go on we begin to see his more redeemable traits, he turns out to be passionate, independent and somewhat of a romantic. Before too long before we're rooting for this grumpy man's happiness, despite some of his questionable beliefs. Put it this way, by the end of the novel he's probably still voting 'leave', but he is, at least, deserving of true love.
I got off to a weird start with The Professor. Until the end of the first chapter I thought the protagonist was female, despite the constant references to 'boyhood' and William’s mention of his own name. Clearly my feminism goggles were on a little too tight. After a quick re-read I was back on board, and the whole male narrator thing made a lot more sense. If I hadn't noticed after chapter one, I'm sure I would have as soon as he began interacting with other male characters. The way Brontë writes men in this novel is really entertaining (and I can only assume a caricature of her experiences with men and male behaviour). Their pomposity and obscene objectification seems somewhat satirical. Deliberately heavy handed in order to oversaturate or make some commentary on masculinity, and more power to Charlotte for it.
The obsession with the small intricacies of women's bodies is excessive. Detailing the faces, heights, complexions and physiques of anything with a couple X chromosomes. The male characters discuss women as if stood around a paddok evaluating which horse to bet on. Since we see the novel through William's perspective, he seems to be the worst of them, sizing up even the young girls in his class (grim). Reducing women down to their aesthetics and sexual appeal. The payoff of this is that he reacts differently to Frances, his love interest and student/fellow tutor. He cannot find the words to describe her as she cannot be summed up by looks alone.
Frances is an absolute girlboss, (said with love) she is the heart of this book, colouring William’s black and white perspective. Not only does she have a hilariously obvious name for a French speaker, but much like the male characters, she is so clearly written by a woman. Driven, self actualised, multifaceted and keen for personal success, she is a female character who happens to fall in love, not one who is defined by it. She has learned how to utilise her humble skills in order to work her way up in the world in spite of her circumstances. In this way, Frances is the antithesis of William with all of his 'work? why should I work?' stuff. Speaking of William, he really needs to learn how to flirt. He is constantly interrupting Frances, telling her to speak in english when she’s literally talking about her dead mother, for example. He then goes onto slander her lace mending career, calls her uneducated, and she’s somehow still into him. One lovely detail though, is when William recognises Frances from her handwriting alone, he feels intimacy from her words and is attracted to her storytelling. This is one of the first moments where we see him soften to her, in a very private and poetic way.
For me, one of this novels credits and subsequent downfalls, is that I could never quite tell where it was going. The romantic plot twist involving Mademoiselle Zoraïde Reuter, followed by William’s blossoming relationship with Frances. His focus on the ‘seductive’ nature of the young girls in his class, which I was certain would take an Ezra Fitz downfall. And then the flirty dialogue straight out of a smutty Wattpad that never went anywhere, ‘how do you prove it mademoiselle', 'are you pleased that I am satisfied with your progress?’. Though maybe I am projecting a little on that one. Either way, it always felt like The Professor was on the brink of something, heading to a climax which it never quite reached.
Some honourable mentions for excellent lines:
‘Rebecca on a camels hump, with bracelets on her arms and a ring in her nose’ - I have no idea what it means but it’s my new self branding.
‘Like a shy noodle as I was’ <3
'My little wild strawberry' - A girl can only dream of being called something so sweet.
‘Elfish freak' - Feels like more of a compliment than an insult.
Oh, also half of the dialogue is in French, enjoy!
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