Many of you know Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë’s first published novel, but fewer know Villette. Published just six years after Brontë’s extraordinary debut as a writer and after she had suffered the wrenching loss of her three surviving siblings, Villette is a brilliant and surprising work that rebels against the strictures of the marriage plot that Jane Eyre so satisfyingly exemplifies. Based in part on the time she spent in Brussels in 1842–43, when she fell in love with her married teacher, Brontë’s last novel gives us another first-person narrator who, unlike Jane, confounds the reader, withholds important information when she pleases, and tells a story of loss, disorientation, and longing. A psychological novel tinged with mystery and unlikely love, Villette is one of the remarkable literary achievements of the nineteenth century. We will discuss the novel gradually over four class sessions. For our first class, please read chapters 1–10. You are welcome to use any edition.