I suppose my main gripe is just the tedium of volume 3. Brontë gets a bit too self indulgent (well more than she usually does) in dragging points out which slowed down my reading a lot.

It was very interesting to see her attempt a kind of Victorian version of a Homeric simile when she compares finding the ruined Thornfield to a suitor finding his lover lying dead in a garden. But it lost its power simply because it was so drawn out and wordy. I feel like this is probably an issue with Victorian literature in general though and I’ve been kinda spoiled after reading Homer and Virgil for so long. The Odyssey is about the same length (if a little shorter) and yet covers so much more and the characterisation so much more impactful simply because Homer (and the translator) managed to be economical