Beginning the Bronte Discussion...

Although Charlotte Bronte's book The Professor was her last published (post-mortem), it was actually the first novel she wrote and presents Charlotte's ideals of character and idealism of thought. The main character, William Crimsworth, is a man who must learn to live by his wits and abilities. The younger son of a tradesman, and declining his wealthy and titled uncles' connections to the Church and opportunities of matrimony, William first attempts to follow his deceased father's trade. His elder brother's unfriendly and exacting demands, however, and his own abhorence of the trade, force him away from all familial aid and turn him loose to follow another course. He lands on teaching, which suits him well and leads him to Brussels. [There is quite a bit of french dialogue in the book, so if you know any amount of french you'll have opportunity of exercising it here. But even if you don't know any french, don't use that as an excuse for not reading it; you can pick up the jist of the dialogue by context, or make use of a french-english dictionary.]

While teaching in a boys' school, William gains an opportunity to also teach classes in a girls' school. This introduces him to the world of jeune filles and Charlotte begins to paint a picture of the female sex through William's observations: "Let the idealists, the dreamers about earthly angel and human flowers, just look here while I open my portfolio and show them a sketch or two, penciled after nature." He then proceeds to describe the foibles, flaws, and feeble enticements of girls who "belonged to what are called the respectable ranks of society; they had all been carefully brought up, yet was the mass of them mentally depraved." He admits that the schoolroom does not give opportunity for the girls to show off their most charming assets. "In short, to the tutor, female youth, female charms are like tapestry hangings, of which the wrong side is continually turned towards him; and even when he sees the smooth, neat external surface he so well knows what knots, long stitches, and jagged ends are behind that he has scarce a temptation to admire too fondly the seemly forms and bright colors exposed to general view."

Two women catch his notice and William's choice surely projects Charlotte Bronte's idea of the ideal: a woman of intelligence, simplicity, and sensibility; one who is independent in thought yet willing to submit when submission does not require loss of personal or moral freedom; a woman perhaps lacking in outward beauty, but intent on developing moral character and applying to study; a woman strong but quiet, confident but unassuming. What Charlotte is doing at the same time is developing her ideal Man. In William we find some of the same traits of intelligence, rationality (slightly tinged with the romantic), and respect for personal freedom. In many respects Charlotte has presented a surprisingly modern picture.

One of the most interesting conversations comes near the end of the book when William observed to his wife that she was "a good and dear wife to me, because I was to her a good, just, and faithful husband. What she would have been had she married a harsh, envious, careless man - a profligate, a prodigal, a drunkard, or a tyrant - is another question..." If you read this book, let me know what you think of their subsequent conversation.