"Written in the voice of a male narrator, William Crimsworth, it offers a downbeat story of everyday middle-class striving as the protagonist travels to Brussels to establish his career as a teacher. But the last publisher to see it thought it showed promise, despite being too short and insufficiently striking and exciting."
"It also sought to portray everyday life, but the result has a more authentic ring since she drew so directly on her personal experience working as a governess in well-to-do families. The first-person heroine is initially excited at the thought of earning her own living. But she finds herself underpaid and unappreciated by the snooty parents."
The Professor was Charlotte Brontë's first completed novel, rejected by publishers nine times before one recognized its promise despite its brevity. Narrated by male protagonist William Crimsworth, it depicts middle-class life and career ambition in Brussels. Though unpublished during Charlotte's lifetime, she valued it highly. Meanwhile, the three Brontë sisters published a poetry collection under pseudonyms that sold only two copies, prompting them to write novels instead. Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey portrayed everyday life authentically, drawing from her personal experience as a governess. The novel depicted the heroine's struggles with underpaid work and difficult employers, offering an expose-style narrative that was overshadowed by Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights upon publication in 1847.
#bronte-sisters #victorian-literature #governess-narratives #literary-rejection #19th-century-fiction
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