"Agnes grey", Anne Brontë | Guided reading (chapters 2 and 3)

[@meganneuhoff1997]

I think the family where she is going to work, is represented by this mood of the landscape. They are serious, distant, cold and maybe even rude. I haven’t read the book, so I am speculating. I think this could also reflect on our main character and that her disposition might change, where she grows up, becomes more serious and aware instead of being oblivious and cheerful most of the time. 📚

[@booksandculture]

@@meganneuhoff1997 that’s very perceptive Megan! Indeed, Anne Brontë (like her sisters) explores emotional landscape in her fiction! The outside world mirrors the character’s inner state! ❤️

[@meganneuhoff1997]

When we came to the part about Tom, at first I was positively annoyed and the absolutely disgusted and angry after we found out we he’d be doing to animals. It almost feels sadistic to me. In a way we can see Agnes as a helpless creature. Like the sparrows, sang wonderful songs, felt the beauty of life and once she became a governess was treated miserably, being controlled and manipulated, almost like the birds being torn, and hurt. The way the mother spoke about the children’s disposition was a complete lie and resembles that of the traps the birds found themselves. Something is there for them, they seem hopeful and then all of a sudden, they are ensnared and torture. The same goes for Agnes. Being a governess is respectable and she had this idea that would be wonderful to help her family, instead she is trapped. It feels to me that Agnes might lose her mind in this situation. I can relate so much to her. As a teacher (8 years in teaching) we see similar behaviours. I know that there are children with no regard or respect for the life of animals and also the manipulation and the constant fear of having a parent berating and belittling you if you even dared to reprimand their children. And if you tell the parents, they always find a way to bring it back to and say it is your fault. (Just an extra note, there’s also a handful of amazing parents, and take the teacher’s observation into account, but what I usually find is that their characters are respectable, kind and caring.) The irony of the situation is astounding, since if you look at the children’s behaviour it almost always a reflection of the parent, in the book and real life.

[@meganneuhoff1997]

(That their children are respectable…*)