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6. The conclusion of Villette is famously ambiguous (it was made purposefully so by Brontë). Do you find it a happy ending? A sad one? ~from Penguin Random House Reader's Guide #LiteraryCrew #BuddyRead

5. Explore the theme of education in Villette: What is the role of education in Lucy Snowe‘s own life? ~from Penguin Random House Reader's Guide #LiteraryCrew #BuddyRead

4. Virginia Woolf felt that Villette was Brontë‘s “finest novel,” and speaking about Brontë, wrote that “All her force, and it is the more tremendous for being constricted, goes into the assertion, ‘I love,‘ ‘I hate,‘ ‘I suffer.‘ ” What do you think Woolf means? Do you find this observation interesting, appealing, or moving? ~from Penguin Random House Reader's Guide #LiteraryCrew #BuddyRead

3. Writing to her publisher, Charlotte Brontë had this to say about Villette‘s protagonist: “I consider that [Lucy Snowe] is both morbid and weak at times; her character sets up no pretensions to unmixed strength, and anybody living her life would necessarily become morbid.” What do you think of this appraisal? Do her “unheroic” qualities make her more sympathetic or less? ~from Penguin Random House reader's guide #LiteraryCrew #BuddyRead

2. Discuss the character of Lucy Snowe. Do you find her to be an admirable heroine? What qualities do you like in her, or dislike? How do you think you would behave in her circumstances? ~from Penguin Random House Reader's Guide #LiteraryCrew #BuddyRead

1. Villette is considered Charlotte Bronte's most autobiographical novel. It's said that Lucy Snowe has some of Bronte's characteristics, and Monsieur Paul resembles Monsieur Heger, who one can argue Charlotte Bronte was fascinated by (or perhaps in love with). A link to an article about the Bronte sisters in Brussels is in the comments (hopefully it is not behind a paywall).

What did you think about the novel? #LiteraryCrew #BuddyRead