Agnes Grey

Charlotte Brontë wrote of her sister, in the preface to Agnes Grey’s second printing, that Anne was the “milder and more subdued” of the sisters; she was “self-denying, reflective, and intelligent,” with a “constitutional reserve and taciturnity” (160). Consider the character of Agnes Grey in light of these qualities, particularly her impulses toward modesty, reserve, and self-sacrifice. What benefits might Anne be arguing that a young woman might derive from these virtues? Does Agnes demonstrate any drawbacks in these qualities?

Note the uses that Brontë makes of landscape and weather throughout Agnes Grey and make an argument for how the author uses these, successfully or otherwise, to foreshadow emotional events and create an internal landscape. How does the author use natural settings to comment on or reveal interior emotions?

Compare Agnes Grey with the other daughters in the novel: Mary Ann Bloomfield and Rosalie and Matilda Murray. What argument is the author making for the qualities or behaviors that a young woman should possess? How does she suggest that certain attitudes may help or hinder a young woman in achieving personal happiness?