Brontë Places and Poems

(quoted in the Introduction) provides a startling contrast to the extract from Charlotte Bront€e’s ‘Biographical Notice’ in which she wrote that Anne and Emily were not learned, and ‘had no thought of filling their pitchers at the well-spring of other minds’ (p. 222). The influence of nineteenth century attitudes to animal welfare can be seen throughout Agnes Grey. Cruelty to animals within the novel signifies moral failings, while the most sympathetic characters are those who show compassion towards them. While this seems fairly standard to a modern audience, at the time of publication it reflected shifting ideas about animal welfare. Inboden’s discussion of this in the Introduction, and the material chosen for the appendices, contextualises Agnes Grey as being very modern in its attitudes towards animals, how they were treated, and how a character may be judged by their treatment of them. The footnotes included throughout are informative without intruding on the experience of reading the novel. They provide readers with an understanding of antiquated language and references. Those in Chapter X in particular are extensive, and draw attention to Anne Bront€e’s critical and intellectual relationship with her faith. She was pious, but was not necessarily the victim of religious melancholy that she has often been presented as. Inboden takes good advantage of opportunities to remind the reader that Anne Bront€e’s influences extended beyond the Bible, with footnotes referencing literary influences such as Byron, Shakespeare, and Coleridge. Inboden’s edition of Agnes Grey does an excellent job of deconstructing the outdated ideas about Anne Bront€e, and instead presents her as a radical realist. ‘What is radical about Agnes Grey is [... ] the clear moral compass, quiet wit, and simple ardour of the narrator’ (p. 10). Inboden argues successfully that the major strengths of the novel lie in its simplicity – the events of the novel could have happened to many women living at the time it was published. Inboden also praises the portrayal of the romantic interest as a ‘hero who exhibits a masculinity built on compassion, trust, and dependability’ (p. 10); this form of masculinity is an important theme in both of Anne Bront€e’s novels. ‘Agnes Grey deserves to be read afresh and in the context of Anne’s literary craft and the world she inhabited – a world beyond Haworth Parsonage and her sister’s books’ (p. 22). Robin L. Inboden’s new edition of Agnes Grey provides new and returning readers alike with the context necessary to deconstruct their preconceptions of Anne Bront€e and her first novel. The novel itself is still as fresh and compelling as it always has been. The Introduction, appendices and footnotes all work together to give a greater appreciation for the novel, and for Anne Bront€e’s talents as a writer.