Agnes Grey

Acton Bell

• Publisher: Dancing Unicorn Books
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781515415312
• Subtopic: Classics

'Agnes Grey' is the debut novel of English author Anne Brontë (written under the pseudonym of Acton Bell). The novel follows Agnes Grey, a governess, as she works in several bourgeois families. The choice of central character allows Brontë to deal with issues of oppression and abuse of women and governesses, isolation and ideas of empathy. An additional theme is the fair treatment of animals. 'Agnes Grey' also mimics some of the stylistic approaches of bildungsromans, employing ideas of personal growth and coming to age, but representing a character who in fact does not gain in virtue.

Table of contents

• The Parsonage
• First Lessons in the Art of Instruction
• A Few More Lessons
• The Grandmamma
• The Uncle
• The Parsonage Again
• Horton Lodge
• The ‘Coming Out’
• The Ball
• The Church
• The Cottagers
• The Shower
• The Primroses
• The Rector
• The Walk
• The Substitution
• Confessions
• Mirth and Mourning
• The Letter
• The Farewell
• The School
• The Visit
• The Park
• The Sands
• Conclusion