Critical Reception
Agnes Grey was popular during Anne Brontë's life, despite the belief of critics at the time that the novel was marred by 'coarseness' and 'vulgarity.' The novel lost some of its popularity after Brontë's death due to disfavour of its perceived moralising. There has, however, been a recent increase in examination by scholars of Agnes Grey and Anne Brontë herself.
In Conversation in Ebury Street, the Irish novelist George Moore provides a commonly cited example of these newer reviews, overtly praising the style of Anne in the book. F.B. Pinion agreed to a large extent that Agnes Grey was quite a masterwork. However, Pinion felt that Moore's examination of the piece was a little extreme and his "preoccupation with style must have blinded him to the persistence of her moral purpose" of Agnes Grey.
Read more about this topic: Agnes Grey
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