Reading Villette during the pandemic

A contributor to The Daily Targum has a renewed appreciation of Villette because of the pandemic.

A promise of reading about this heroine’s adventures and romances was what initially intrigued me, but the exploration of her isolated state was the aspect that really drew me into the story. How she dealt and reacted toward the few people who interacted with her, and what happened after she lost them resonated with me as I sat in my room, separated from the rest of the world. 

But perhaps I am also exaggerating when I compare college students in quarantine to this character, as many of them are in a much better position than Snowe who was without family, home or inheritance. 

Snowe's willingness to explore the world, despite being in such a state, gained my admiration because if I was in the same position, I would feel completely hopeless. Her deficiencies were also a much greater problem in the classist and sexist setting of 19th century Europe. 

She was “quarantined” from the rest of her society and the infectious disease affecting her was not the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), but poverty and lack of connections — things which if a woman was without during that time, they would be nothing but an object of pity to the rest of society.

Therefore, there is a quality of Snowe I would have taken for granted if I had read the novel in a much less stressful period than in the current quarantine: resilience. 

Snowe goes through many difficulties in search of love and companionship, while at the same time trying to support her independence. Many students face similar issues in trying to balance out life, education and jobs. This novel continues to encourage me, because even in these precarious times, I am still looking forward to a better future. (Miriam Kim)

Nation (Sri Lanka) interviews local actor Cairo Smith.

Even when my parents divorced, I still had a lot of exposure to the creative arts through both of them, even if it was very different from each. With my mother, it was more Moby Dick and Jane Eyre, and with my father it was more Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. They do both love Shakespeare, though. (Jennifer Anandanayagam)

AnneBrontë.org posts about Elizabeth Gaskell's impressions of Haworth.