Villette · Chapter
XXVIII: The Watchguard explained
Lucy Snowe recounts M.
What happens
Lucy Snowe recounts M. Paul Emanuel's fierce possessiveness over his classroom, his intolerance of interruptions, and her own risky decision to deliver a message to him despite his decree. After accidentally breaking his cherished spectacles, she finds him unexpectedly forgiving, and he leaves in good humor. Later that evening, he returns to conduct a dramatic reading session, but a quarrel erupts between them before nightfall.
Themes in this chapter
Passion and Repression
M. Paul's explosive temper and his later clemency illustrate the tension between passionate outbursts and controlled forgiveness; Lucy's internal conflict over her own 'vanities' also reflects repressed desires.
Gender and Power
Lucy, a female teacher, must navigate M. Paul's male authority; her successful persuasion after breaking his spectacles subverts the power dynamic momentarily.
Characters to notice
- Lucy Snowe
Narrates the chapter; she braves M. Paul's wrath to deliver a message, accidentally breaks his spectacles, and later quarrels with him again.
- M. Paul Emanuel
Shows his volatile temper during lessons, his unexpected clemency after Lucy breaks his spectacles, and his passionate style during evening readings.
- Rosine Matou
The portress who repeatedly fears M. Paul's anger and shirks the duty of delivering a message, passing it to Lucy.
- Madame Beck
Mentioned as the school's head who avoids M. Paul's classroom and directs Rosine to give the message to Lucy.
- Ginevra Fanshawe
Referenced in Lucy's internal monologue as regarding Lucy a 'second Diogenes.'
- John Graham Bretton
Mentioned in Lucy's thoughts as Dr. John Bretton, who sees her as 'quiet Lucy' and 'a creature inoffensive as a shadow.'
Key passages
“M. Paul Emanuel owned an acute sensitiveness to the annoyance of interruption, from whatsoever cause occurring, during his lessons: to pass through the classe under such circumstances was considered by the teachers and pupils of the school, individually and collectively, to be as much as a woman’s or girl’s life was worth.”
M. Paul was extremely sensitive to any interruption during his lessons, and everyone in the school believed that crossing the classroom while he was teaching was extremely dangerous.
Establishes M. Paul's fearsome reputation in the classroom.
“I lifted my eyes: his face, instead of being irate, lowering, and furrowed, was overflowing with the smile, coloured with the bloom I had seen brightening it that evening at the Hotel Crécy. He was not angry—not even grieved.”
When I looked up, his face was not angry or scowling but smiling and flushed, just as I had seen it at the Hotel Crécy; he showed no anger or sorrow.
Highlights M. Paul's unexpected forgiveness after Lucy breaks his spectacles.