Isabel Quigly Books

When her family becomes impoverished after a disasterous financial speculation, Agnes Grey determines to find work as a governess. This is a personal perspective on the desperate position of unmarried, educated women in Victorian society. Agnes Grey is undoubtedtedly a deeply personal novel, in which Anne Bronte views on the 'contemporary' issue of the treatment of governesses, as well as her passionate religious sympathies, find very deliberate expression; but she also touches on issues of moral behaviour, moral responsibility, and individual integrity and its survival.

Shelley's work has been criticized for its didacticism and undisciplined emotionalism. But essentially, he was a poet of ideas and in his search for truth and original human perfection, Shelley was inspired as much by the Greek poets and philosophers. Above all, his great gift was his lyricism and his verse comes as near to music as poetry can.