Agnes Grey (novel)

Agnes Grey is the first of two novels written by Anne Brontë. It was first published in December 1847, in a three volume set alongside Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights

No television or film versions have ever been made of Agnes Grey.

Plot
Agnes is the daughter of Richard and Alice Grey, and the younger sister of Mary. The Grey family are desperately poor, so to earn a family income, Agnes resolves to become a governess.

She becomes a governess to the Bloomfield family, to Tom, Mary-Ann and Fanny Bloomfield. She struggles to get the children to behave themselves, as she cannot punish them, and she is appalled frequently by their rudeness and misbehaviour. The children at one point escape from the schoolroom, and have to be called back in by Mr Bloomfield.

The children's uncle comes for a visit, and encourages Mary-Ann's vanity and Tom's abusive behaviour towards animals. Tom captures a nest of birds to brutally decapitate, but Agnes, with a sense of duty and feeling sick, drops a large flat stone on the birds, crushing them to death before Tom can hurt them.

Agnes is dismissed before long, and becomes the governess of the Murray children, Rosalie, Matilda, John and Charles. Whilst living with them, she begins to visit a Nancy Brown, a woman going blind, where she meets the local curate, Edward Weston, and begins a friendship with him. Rosalie notices this. She has just entered society and is a favourite among all her suitors.

Rosalie becomes engaged to Sir Thomas Ashby, but wants to flirt with other men before she is married, so asks Agnes to keep it secret. Agnes' sister Mary marries the local parson and warns her that their father is dying. Agnes arrives home too late to see her father before he dies.

Agnes leaves the Murrays and opens a small school with her mother. She visits Rosalie, who confesses that her marriage is unhappy and she despises him. Mr Weston has left the area

Agnes returns home and Mr Weston has moved into the local parsonage. He is introduced to Agnes' mother, and Agnes finds a bond forming with him. She marries him and they have three children

Characters

 * Agnes Grey
 * Mary Grey
 * Alice Grey
 * Richard Grey
 * Mrs Bloomfield
 * Mr Bloomfield
 * Tom Bloomfield
 * Mary-Ann Bloomfield
 * Fanny Bloomfield
 * Mr Murray
 * Mrs Murray
 * Rosalie Murray
 * Matilda Murray
 * John Murray
 * Charles Murray
 * Edward Weston
 * Mr Richardson
 * Nancy Brown
 * Sir Thomas Ashby
 * Mr Hatfield