Agnes Grey

Though Agnes believes that all true stories have a lesson to teach; some teach a lot, some only a little. She isn’t sure how much her story has to teach, but—having changed her subjects’ names to protect their anonymity—she’ll let her audience judge.

Agnes’s mother, a squire’s daughter, decided to marry Richard Grey, a clergyman with a small personal property and a modest income. She persisted even though her alarmed family warned her that she would have to give up her carriage and maid. Her father threatened to disown her, thinking that would stop the marriage. It didn’t: Richard Grey wanted to marry Agnes’s mother, of whom he thought highly, whether or not she had money, while she would rather work than give up Richard.

Agnes’s mother and Richard have six children, of which two—Agnes and her older sister Mary—survive. Agnes and Mary are homeschooled by their educated parents, so they rarely interact with the outside world. Though their mother never seems to regret marrying Richard, Richard—a melancholy man—worries about how much she gave up and often tries to figure out how to increase his wealth, though not by spending less. He likes to buy his family good clothes and give money to poor people.

A friend of Richard’s convinces him to invest in the friend’s merchant business, claiming that Richard will make double on the investment. Richard sells part of his inheritance to fund the business, and the merchant sets out. Unfortunately, the merchant’s ship wrecks, the merchant drowns, and Richard’s investment is lost. Richard takes the disaster hard, blaming himself for worsening Agnes’s mother’s situation, and his health suffers. The family sells its carriage and pony, lets go all but one servant, and tries to save on food and coal.  

Agnes wants to work around the house, but her active, competent mother babies her, preferring that she study rather than help. One day, Agnes’s mother suggests that Mary sell drawings and paintings to an art dealer. When Agnes expresses a desire to contribute too, her mother suggests that she make drawings as well. But Agnes proposes her own idea: to work as a governess. When her mother laughs, Agnes explains that she knows enough to teach small children, whom she adores. She appeals to her mother to let her try. 

When Agnes’s mother exclaims that Agnes is a child herself, Agnes points out that she’s older than 18. She can work—she just hasn’t had the chance. When Richard walks in and hears the discussion, he laughs at Agnes too, but then he tears up. Agnes’s parents conclude that they neither want nor need Agnes to leave the home. Yet Agnes keeps thinking how good it would be to teach children good morals, to earn money, and to show her family what she’s capable of. After a few days, she convinces her dubious parents to consent to her plan and gets a job with the Bloomfields, acquaintances of her father’s sister.

Agnes, though hopeful about the job, is sad to leave home: she kisses her favorite pet pigeons and thinks how much bigger the kitten will be when she returns home for Christmas. The morning she leaves, she says goodbye to her family, gets into a rented coach, and starts sobbing. As the coach drives away, she looks back at her village and prays for all who live there.