Villette

The author continues to present her protagonist as a complex woman. In an attempt to discover her young teacher's true identity, Madame Beck conducts a thorough yet stealthy search of all her belongings. Lucy watches as her belongings are searched with cool detachment, perhaps knowing she can’t expect any privacy while in the employment of someone as cunning as Madame Beck.

Lucy has no desire to cultivate relationships, particularly with females. She describes the ladies with whom she works as lazy, greedy, unscrupulous characters. Lucy’s conversation with Ginevra illuminates most clearly Lucy’s feelings towards other women. Lucy responds to each of Ginevra’s unkind statements about Lucy’s appearance and social status with forthright honesty and pride. Her experiences have given Lucy a tough exterior, and she will not allow silly or vengeful women to cut through to her self-esteem. It is only after Madame’s search is over that Lucy gives her emotions free rein. She weeps not because Madame distrusts her but because the incident reopens an unnamed wound inside her. The author continues to reveal small portions of Lucy’s mysterious past through her internal monologue. Lucy has repressed her trauma and it reawakens at unexpected intervals in her life. The preserved flowers reveal another layer of mystery to Lucy’s life and call into question whether all her memories from the past are unhappy.

The preparations for Madame’s grand party offer an opportunity to see Lucy in another light. She has made it clear she prefers to be alone, so the flurry of activity and the influx of people could be uncomfortable for her. Lucy allows herself to be swept up into the pageantry with a professional hairstyle and new dress, but upon seeing herself in the mirror she hardly recognizes her image. The moment is symbolic: Lucy rarely allows herself to enjoy the pleasures of the world and takes no joy in fine clothes, but the celebration presents an opportunity to shed her stoic façade and allow herself to experience happiness. This comes to fruition in her participation in the play. By taking the role, Lucy pretends to be someone else, if only for a brief moment. The experience is thrilling and reveals another side of Lucy’s personality that she never knew existed. In playing the part of a man, Lucy also has the opportunity to step outside traditional gender roles. Lucy refuses to dress completely as a man, but she fully inhabits the role emotionally, enjoying the flirtation with and wooing of Ginevra’s character. Connecting with this playful and seductive side takes her by surprise, and as with her other compelling internal desires, she feels the need to sequester or extinguish the feelings immediately.

The role in the play also brings Lucy into direct contact with M. Paul again. Their first interaction was brief in his examination of her face on the night she arrived. However, his insistence she participates in his play brings them together in a much more intense way. M. Paul’s imprisonment of Lucy in the attic is boorish and cruel, but she transforms the moment into a blissful reverie. Ignoring the beetles and rats, she builds herself a throne, opens the skylight, and studies her lines peacefully. Lucy’s measured and calm response to this injustice presents a few possibilities. She may possess the natural ability to remain calm in tense situations and look on the bright side. However, her response could hint at a darker truth; she has experienced similar traumas in the past and has developed advanced coping mechanisms to survive emotionally and physically under intense duress.