Shirley by Charlotte Bronte

For my next read, I picked another book off my Classics Club list. I decided to try Charlotte Brontё's Shirley. I have read a few of Brontё's other novels over the years, and always enjoyed them, so I figured that this would be the same. I didn't know anything about the plot ahead of time, so I went into my reading hoping for another darkly romantic tale, similar to Jane Eyre. As it turned out, I really couldn't have been further off.

The story is set during the early 1800s in Yorkshire. The Napoleonic Wars are raging, and the effects are taking a heavy toll on local business owners. Laws have been enacted that limit where they can export their goods, which means that warehouses are piling up with unsold products and manufacturers are struggling to keep afloat. Robert Moore, a cloth producer, has opted to introduce new machinery into his mill in order to cut down on labor costs. The workers of the region are incensed at this loss of jobs and are threatening to destroy his machinery in order to force Moore to start hiring people again. Moore, never one to be intimidated by anyone, refuses to acquiesce to the workers' demands. He installs the machines and defends his property. Even with these measures, however, his business is still struggling to turn a profit.

In an effort to generate more capital for himself, Moore considers marrying the wealthy Shirley Keeldar. She has recently come of age and inherited the property his mill sits on, along with a healthy amount of money and other investments as well. Shirley is unlike the other women of the time period, owing to the power and wealth her inheritance has brought her. She is beautiful, outgoing, and fiercely independent. She very much enjoys her unusual position as a female landowner, and acts like a man in the way she takes control of her household. Robert gets along well with her, and marrying her would bring him many financial benefits, but he is hesitant to commit. His heart already belongs to his distant relative, Caroline Helstone, although he has never made any formal advances towards her.

Caroline lives nearby with her uncle and is a frequent guest in the Moore's household. She is also hopelessly in love with Robert, but she is far too shy and proper to reveal her feelings. She is timid, lacks self-confidence, and is very conventional. However, despite these differences, she becomes fast friends with Shirley. It is quite difficult for her to watch Robert and Shirley grow closer, but she tries to accept Robert's feelings and enjoy her new friendship. Meanwhile, Shirley finds herself developing feelings for a man from her past, who is much lower in status than her, and therefore, an unsuitable choice for marriage.

The novel follows all of these characters as they try to sort out their relationships, their financial situations, and their places in society. Shirley is a novel about expectations - about those who choose to follow them and about those who choose to defy them, and how those choices influence their future happiness.

I knew that I was in for a rather slow reading experience with this one from the start, because Charlotte Brontё was kind enough to tell her audience so on the first page. She explains that, "something real, cool, and solid, lies before you; something unromantic as Monday morning." She wasn't kidding either. Shirley is a long, rambling journey of a novel that hops around between many different themes and ideas. The backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars forms an important part of this, as its economic effects on the region are intense. Robert's choice to start mechanizing his mill sets off riots, sabotage attempts, and physical violence. He regrets that he can't afford to keep employing people, but he feels like the politics of the day put him in an impossible position. His situation raises interesting questions about the relationship between politics and industry, the impact of new technology on the workforce, and how much responsibility the wealthy should have for the poor.

Unlike in most of the other novels I have read that involve industrial unrest, Brontё is sympathetic to the business owners of the story, and shows how they suffer and struggle during difficult economic times. She does not imply that they suffer in the same ways or to the same degree as the working poor, but she does show their perspective and portrays them as generally good people that are desperately trying to keep their various enterprises afloat. It is clear that Robert, though he has his flaws, is meant to be seen as one of the most intelligent and respectable characters. It actually felt a bit odd to see the characters on the richer end of the social scale portrayed so positively, especially when their actions directly cause the poorer characters to suffer. It was a more balanced portrayal than I was used to.

While Robert's business difficulties form the background for the events of the story, the main characters of the novel are undoubtedly the outgoing, charismatic Shirley and quiet, proper Caroline. Watching how these very different friends function within the plot was quite interesting. Shirley frequently operates outside the rules of society, relishing her independence and approaching each of her interactions with more than a little spunk. Her inheritance gives her power, and she isn't shy about using it. Conversely, Caroline is a rules-follower and a conventional woman of the time period in most respects. She is shy, submissive, and does not try to act outside of her expected role. In addition to her more quiet characteristics, she is kind, intelligent, and level-headed, which stands in contrast to Shirley's more volatile personality. She is desperately in love with Robert, but doesn't speak up for what she wants, so she is continually disappointed in her romantic hopes. Without a husband or family to take care of, she has trouble filling her hours. At one point, she attempts to seek out a governess job, but is forbidden from this endeavor by her uncle. So, she remains lonely and bored while Shirley keeps busy with the various duties of taking care of her inheritance.

Watching Shirley and Caroline strive towards their personal goals from such opposite perspectives form the bulk of the novel's 600 pages. The plot is very character-driven, and explores the economics, politics, and gender roles of the time period, with a heavy emphasis on how different sorts of people set out to create their own futures, whether that be through business, strategic social-climbing, or romance. While these topics were certainly interesting to analyze, I have to admit that this novel felt over-long. There were several sections that didn't advance the plot at all, and the pacing was very slow. Shirley doesn't come into the novel until page 200. Another major character doesn't enter into the story until page 400. Upon reflection, there wasn't much story to this novel at all; it was mostly a long, thoughtful meander towards two marriages.

That being said, I didn't dislike this novel. However, it's not destined to become a favorite of mine either. I liked the exploration of the issues of the time period and the feminist themes that ran throughout the story. I wasn't a fan of the slow plot and lack of a strong narrative. I was also somewhat disappointed with the ending, as it fell back on tired tropes of the time period. For a book that centered around an unconventional, independent woman, the conclusion was extremely conventional, with both Shirley and Caroline receiving more or less the same (socially acceptable) ending to their stories.

Shirley is a novel that is exactly interesting enough for one reading. I'm glad I experienced it, but I don't see myself ever wanting to do it again. In finishing it, I have now read all of Charlotte Brontë's novels, and I have to say that this is my least favorite out of the four. As always though, I appreciate the journey of reading these classic works and I continue to learn and grow from each one I finish. I am happy to be able to cross Shirley off my Classics Club list and move on to my next adventure.


Challenge Tally
Classics Club (#53 on my list): 60/100 


Total Books Read in 2019: 78