Villette · Chapter
Paulina explained
Lucy Snowe observes the arrival of Paulina Home at Bretton, a young girl deeply attached to her father and suffering from homesickness.
What happens
Lucy Snowe observes the arrival of Paulina Home at Bretton, a young girl deeply attached to her father and suffering from homesickness. The chapter explores Paulina's intense, monomaniacal devotion to her father, her interactions with the Bretton household, and her spirited exchanges with Graham Bretton, highlighting themes of isolation, identity, and the complexities of love and attachment.
Themes in this chapter
Isolation and Identity
Paulina's homesickness and solitary behavior illustrate her struggle with isolation and her identity being entirely defined by her relationship with her father.
Love and Self-Sacrifice
Paulina's devoted care for her father, such as insisting on serving his tea, demonstrates a self-sacrificing love that borders on obsessive.
Social Class and Independence
The interactions between the Brettons and Mr. Home subtly reflect class dynamics, while Paulina's assertiveness with Graham hints at her independent spirit despite her youth.
Characters to notice
- Lucy Snowe
Narrator and observer of Paulina's behavior and the dynamics at Bretton.
- Paulina Mary
A young girl deeply attached to her father, exhibiting homesickness and a monomaniacal focus on him.
- Mr. Home
Paulina's father, a stern-featured but affectionate man who shares a deep bond with his daughter.
- John Graham Bretton
Mrs. Bretton's son, who returns home and engages in playful, teasing interactions with Paulina.
- Mrs. Bretton
Lucy's godmother and hostess, who cares for Paulina and welcomes Mr. Home.
Key passages
“She moped: no grown person could have performed that uncheering business better; no furrowed face of adult exile, longing for Europe at Europe's antipodes, ever bore more legibly the signs of home sickness than did her infant visage.”
Paulina's homesickness was so profound that it surpassed even the most sorrowful adult exile, making her appear old and ghostly.
Lucy emphasizes the depth of Paulina's emotional distress, likening it to a form of exile.
“I, Lucy Snowe, plead guiltless of that curse, an overheated and discursive imagination; but whenever, opening a room-door, I found her seated in a corner alone, her head in her pygmy hand, that room seemed to me not inhabited, but haunted.”
Lucy, who considers herself rational, finds Paulina's solitary, melancholic presence so unsettling that the room feels haunted.
Lucy distances herself from excessive imagination while acknowledging the eerie effect Paulina has on her.
“The fixed and heavy gaze swum, trembled, then glittered in fire; the small, overcast brow cleared; the trivial and dejected features lit up; the sad countenance vanished, and in its place appeared a sudden eagerness, an intense expectancy.”
Paulina's expression transformed from dull sadness to bright anticipation when she saw her father approaching.
Lucy vividly describes the dramatic shift in Paulina's demeanor upon recognizing her father.