ipertator, februarp 12tb, 1853
V1LLETTE, BY CURRER BELL• Villette is Brussels, and Currer Bell might have called her new novel " Passages from The Life of-a Teacher in a Girls' School at Brussels, written by herself." Of plot, strictly taken as a series of coherent events all leading to a common result, there is none; no more, at least, than there would be in two years of any person's life who had occupa- tions and acquaintances, and told us about them. Of interesting scenes, and of well-drawn characters, there is, on the other hand, abundance; and these, though they fail to stimulate the curiosity of the reader like a well-constructed plot, sustain the attention, and keep up a pleasant emotion, from the first page to the last.... The style of Villette has the same characteristics that distinguished Currer Bell's previous novels— that clearness and power which are the result of mastery over the thoughts and feelings to be expressed, over the persons and scenes to be described. When the style becomes less pleasing, it is from an attempt to point by highly figurative language the violent emotions of the heart. This is sometimes done at such length, and with so much obscurity from straining after figure and illusion, as to become tedious and to induce skipping.
• Villette. By Currer Bell, Author of Jane Eyre. in three volumes. Published by Smith. Elder, and Co.
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