The 19th Century Novel Podcast

EPISODE 3: Anne Bronte, "Agnes Grey" (1847)

Chapters 1-5. 0:00-Governesses in fact & fiction. 5:39-Writing & publishing Agnes Grey. 6:48-Educated middle-class women. 8:40-Anne as governess. 9:28-The novel begins. 10:00-Agnes’s family. 13:20-Leaving home. 14:13-Welcome to the Bloomfields. 15:10-The meating. 17:45-Animal cruelty. 21:00-Class & intelligence. 22:27-Class & violence. 23:30-Male violence. 26:40-Educating boys. 30:30-The Bloomfield daughters. 31:28-Victorian views of children. 33:35-Misbehavior & Miss Grey. 35:00-Governesses remembered.

Chapters 6-16. 38:00-Meet the Murrays. 39:38-Rosalie, the coquette. 42:08-Rosalie torments Hatfield. 44:55-Suitors & power. 47:40-Mathilda, hoyden & tomboy. 52:35-Agnes, anemic & heroic. 54:57-Upper class superiority. 56:15-Class & character. 57:30-Invisible Agnes.

Chapters 17-25. 1:02:40-Hatfield vs. Weston. 1:05:28-Hatfield & Rosalie vs. Weston & Agnes. 1:07:23: Mathilda & the forbidden regions. 1:09:00-Rosalie & heartlessness. 1:10:12-Rosalie, Lady Ashby. 1:12:10-Dissipation & daughter. 1:18:00-On the beach with Edward & Snap. 1:19:00-Married with children. 1:20:05-No happy ending.

Text: Anne Bronte, Agnes Grey. 1847. Oxford Univ. Press, 2010.

Interludes: Frederic Chopin, Polonaise-Fantasy in A-flat major, Op. 61 (1846), performed by Jonathan Bliss, 2009.

Illustration: Anne Bronte, by Charlotte Bronte (c. 1845), Wikipedia.

Click here for transcript Contact: jimjneilson@gmail.com

EPISODE 2: Anne Bronte, "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" (1848), Part Two

Chapters 23-44. 0:00-Sexuality & subservience. 5:57-Women & marriage. 7:15-Annabella teases & torments. 8:45-Double standard. 12:00-Branwell. 13:02-Mortality & morality. 15:50-Universal salvation. 16:44-Annabella. 18:30-The affair. 20:48-Helen vs. Annabella. 22:08-Piano playing. 26:00-Monstrous Annabella. 32:00-Admirable Annabella. 33:27-Trapped. 34:40-Coarse masculinity. 36:41-Escape.

Chapters 45-53. 38:51-Gilbert’s letter. 39:37-Helen nurses Huntingdon. 42:42-Helen & Gilbert reunited. 44:27-Literary legacy.

Text: Anne Bronte, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, 1848. Oxford Univ. Press, 2008.

Interludes: Frederic Chopin, Posthumous Waltz, no. 19 in A minor (1847), performed by Harald Vetter.

Illustration: Possible photo of Anne Bronte. For more information: https://brontesisters.co.uk/

Click here for transcript Contact: jimjneilson@gmail.com

 

EPISODE 1: Anne Bronte, "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" (1848), Part One

Chapters 1-15. 0:00-Background. 7:07-Gilbert, Helen, Eliza. 14:07-Women’s education. 15:16-Why a letter? 17:01-Gilbert, Jane, Eliza. 18:01-Gilbert & Helen. 18:43-Helen & Frederick. 20:08-Anne in love? 23:43-Gilbert & Helen. 24:44-Why letter & diary? 25:33-Print culture. 26:49-Male narrative.

Chapters 16-22. 28:43-Helen enters society. 29:56-Helen meets Huntingdon. 31:04-Victorian vices. 33:09-Prostitution. 33:46-Annabella. 34:37-Helen & Huntingdon. 35:13-Three questions. 39:39-Huntingdon proposes.

Text: Anne Bronte, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, 1848. Oxford Univ. Press, 2008.

Interludes: Chopin, Posthumous Waltz, no. 19 in A minor (1847), performed by Harald Vetter.

Illustration: Portrait of Anne Bronte (detail), by her brother Branwell (1834), Wikipedia.

Click here for transcript Contact: jimjneilson@gmail.com

Preface

 

Illustration from Punch magazine, 27 January 1877, from the  Victorian Web.

 

About this podcast: A retired professor of English discusses 19th Century novels: plot summary, literary analysis, author biography, historical and cultural context. Each episode closely examines one 19th Century novel or focuses on important background material.

All music in this podcast is in the public domain.

Opening theme: Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor (1803), performed by Arthur Rubenstein, 1955.

Closing theme: Gustav Mahler, Symphony 3 (1896), performed by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hermann Scherchen, 1960.

Podcast images: Man on Balcony, Boulevard Huassmann, by Gustave Caillebotte, 1880; La Lecture, by George Croegaert, 1890.

To contact me: jimjneilson@gmail.com