I am only just returned to a sense of the real world about me for I have been reading Villette a still more wonderful book than Jane Eyre. George Eliot Lucy Snowe in flight from an unhappy past leaves England & finds work as a teacher in Madame Becks school in Villette. Strongly drawn to the fiery autocratic schoolmaster Monsieur Paul Emanuel Lucy is compelled by Madame Becks jealous interference to assert her right to love & be loved. Based in part on Charlotte Brontes experience in Brussels ten years earlier Villette (1853) is a cogent & dramatic exploration of a womans response to the challenge of a constricting social environment. Its deployment of imagery comparable in power to that of Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights & its use of comedy D Sironic or exuberant D Sin the service of an ultimately sombre vision make Villette especially appealing to the modern reader. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford Worlds Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxfords commitment to scholarship providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features including expert introductions by leading authorities helpful notes to clarify the text up-to-date bibliographies for further study & much more.