well after tsunami this week I missed the book club and I was really looking forward to it, I'd been making notes in the margins.
A few notes:
"he judged her as a woman, not as an artist: it was a branding judgement."
yes that line stood out and summed up quite well how women are viewed in the patriarchy. They are seen as their sex, above all, and any of their achievements, creative breakthroughs etc, will remain secondary to that.
I thought it was marvellous that LUcy Snowe went off on a real adventure to France by herself without knowing what her destiny held. That is more than what a lot of "liberated" women today do. For Bronte to think outside the box like that was really something. Lucy found herself a job by accident, and was promoted through her own hard work, so again, the fact that a character was created that had to rely on her wits like that was really ahead of her time. So many women capitulate to the patriarchy in the subtlest of ways and never end up going through with their "adventure".
M. PAul. I thought he was the campest character ever. I don't know what that says about Bronte's sexuality, or whether she was trying to portray Frenchmen (who are rather effeminate)
"Soit!" was his response, and, gathering his flowers in his arms, he flashed out of class.."
He's just so camp, I can't get over it, and his dramatic plays and petulancy.