Multiple Meanings of Silence in Charlotte Brontë's Villette

Lucy Snowe, the heroine and narrator of Charlotte Brontë's Villette, has oftentimes been studied in terms of her silence. However, the critics' approach to Lucy's silence has been mostly negative as her silence has often been interpreted as an illustration of her sense of absence, powerlessness, unreliability, or mental deprivation. Lucy's silence, however, is complex in nature as the functions and meanings of her silence vary depending on when, why, and how silence is performed. This article particularly looks into the moments in which Lucy's silence generates multifarious meanings and resonances depending on the contexts in and the purpose for which it is exercised, such as a sense of wholeness, marginality, power and individuality. First of all, Lucy's silence about herself during the recount of her childhood days at Bretton implies the feeling of entirety and peacefulness where the identification of the "I" becomes unnecessary. Second, Lucy's silence in relation to Paulina at Bretton denotes her social marginality and powerlessness. Third, as an older self/narrator, Lucy chooses to be silent in order to exert power over the readers. And lastly, Lucy's conscious refusal to tell the readers what she already knows also serves to reveal her sense of individuality. Through the instances of Lucy Snowe's silence in Bronte's Villette, I demonstrate the possibility to reveal various aspects of one's self through silence.