Villette III

Lucy is disappointed to find that Dr John is infatuated with the flirtatious Ginevra. She is rather fond of him, herself but she knows that he sees her as an older not very attractive woman. However Lucy's social life improves. She goes into society with the Brettons and gets friendly again with Paulina. She learns that M Paul was in love with a girl, Justine, when he was younger, and she died, and he seems to have no interest in women ever since. She dislikes Madame Beck more and more. The older woman seems hostile to her. Dr John comes to realise that Ginevra is a silly worthless girl and switches his affections towards Paulina. Lucy continues to spar with M Paul, and in the end, he tells her he loves her and they get engaged. She sets up her own school, and is prepared to wait for 3 years while he goes to a post in South America - she becomes reasonably prosperous and is prepared to be happy for the first time in her life. Then there is a report of a shipwreck and Paul drowns. Charlotte wanted a sad ending because she did not believe that Lucy was destined for happiness but Mr Bronte was upset by the ending and wanted a happier one. So she made the ending vague, but still its implied that Paul dies and leaves Lucy a spinster. Ginevra marries a vain dandy Alfred De Hamal whom she has been flirting with and who used to sneak into the school gardens to see her. John and Paulina marry. The novel is deeper and more serious than Jane Eyre, or her other novels, but the anti Catholic, anti foreign prejudice makes it somewhat uneven. Lucy is a more cynical sharp tongued character than Jane Eyre and less virtuous than Caroline Helston in Shirley.