Villette

Madame Beck is the proprietress of Rue Fossette. She is a woman who has learned to exist in a world not made for her sex. To survive, she has developed a tough exterior and stratagems for maintaining power and control over her students and staff: “Madame knew something of the world; Madame knew much of human nature” (185). Lucy initially respects Madame Beck’s authoritarian coldness. Without Madame’s urging to try her hand at teaching, Lucy might not have gained the confidence to move beyond a nursery governess.

However, the women’s relationship changes dramatically when Lucy and M. Paul’s attraction grows stronger. Madame Beck quickly changes from the chief ally of the protagonist to an antagonistic roadblock in Lucy’s journey towards happiness. As long as Lucy does not rise above Madame’s station, Madame tolerates her. When it is evident that Lucy is falling in love and moving towards a happy companionship, Madame must intervene. She has accepted her life as a widow but has become bitter toward those who have the chance for more. Madame’s conspiracy with the priest further deepens the wound.

Lucy notes in the final line of the narrative that Madame lived a prosperous life, but there is no mention of happiness. In Madame’s character, the author presents a woman who has succeeded in a male-dominated world, but not without paying the high price of losing her moral integrity.

Lucy refers to M. Paul Emmanuel as an “autocrat”—a person with absolute power over others. The narrative initially frames him as a volatile, pedantic, and misogynistic man who seeks to exercise his power over the females in the school. He exists in sharp contrast to Lucy’s first love: the affable, charming English gentleman John Bretton. M. Paul becomes a strong antagonist to the restrained Lucy Snowe, but after the theatrical performance, it is clear he sees her in a completely different way than others do.

Through her relationship with M. Paul, Lucy evolves and finds her voice. His character is harsh, but he does offer her a union based on intellectual and emotional compatibility. M. Paul’s erratic temperament softens under the influence of Lucy’s friendship. After she shatters his glasses, he says, “You are resolved to have me quite blind and helpless in your hands” (422). However, other characters conspire to keep the couple apart, and in the end a violent storm sweeps away true love. Lucy maintains her sober, detached tone even in discussing the loss of her fiancé, resolving to find contentment in the school he gifted her and in the fond memories of him she treasures.

John first appears as the attractive yet immature son of Mrs. Bretton. Lucy notes his good looks, and her (mostly unspoken and unacknowledged) attraction to him clouds her perceptions of him; though kind and responsible in his professional life, John is frequently self-absorbed in his dealings with Lucy and does not share or understand her passionate, imaginative nature. From the beginning, it is clear he would not make a suitable match for Lucy. Though they are in the same social class, their personalities are incompatible. Lucy, however, is drawn to his handsome face, staid English sensibilities, and, above all, his willingness to notice her after she has lived for so long in the shadows.

In a classic Victorian coincidence, John Graham Bretton reemerges in Lucy’s life as “Isidore,” Ginevra’s secret admirer, and then as Dr. John, physician to the students of Rue Fossette. Lucy, however, conceals his identity until he rescues her from the storm. John’s return to the narrative comes at a vulnerable time in Lucy’s life and causes her to develop an attachment to him, precipitating further mental and emotional stress. Once she realizes John cannot be hers, she literally and metaphorically buries her infatuation and begins to emerge from the depths of depression to heal and grow. John becomes a crucial part of Lucy’s coming of age when she wholeheartedly blesses his union with Paulina without bitterness or envy. Her last interaction with him at the festival encapsulates her growth. Earlier in the narrative, she longs for his recognition, but during the celebration, she chooses for him to ignore her, ending the relationship on her terms.