Nancy Brown Character Analysis in Agnes Grey

Nancy Brown is a poor, elderly, devoutly religious cottager in the village near the Murrays’ estate, Horton Lodge. When she develops an eye inflammation that prevents her from reading the Bible, Agnes begins visiting her to read to her. From Nancy, Agnes learns that the village rector Mr. Hatfield treated Nancy’s “melancholy” (depression) quite dismissively when she asked for his help and counsel—but that the new curate Mr. Weston sought her out, gave her good advice, and helped her considerably. Mr. Weston’s kind treatment of Nancy Brown contributes to Agnes’s falling in love with him.

Nancy Brown Character Timeline in Agnes Grey

The timeline below shows where the character Nancy Brown appears in Agnes Grey. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

One February day, Agnes decides to go read to a cottager, a widow named Nancy Brown, who is suffering from an eye inflammation and so cannot currently read herself. Agnes... (full context)

Nancy explains to Agnes that Mr. Hatfield is always criticizing the poor villagers he visits. After... (full context)

Nancy apologizes to Agnes for talking so much, but Agnes urges her to continue. Nancy explains... (full context)

Nancy explains that Mr. Weston told her that Mr. Hatfield’s advice to attend church was correct... (full context)

Agnes asks whether Mr. Weston has visited Nancy since then. Nancy says that he has, though he is busy visiting many villagers. His... (full context)

...Matilda is going for a ride and Rosalie is socially busy, she decides to visit Nancy again. When she arrives, Nancy is deeply anxious about her cat, which has disappeared and... (full context)

When Agnes prepares to leave, Nancy tells her to stay until the rain that has started stops again. Meanwhile, Mr. Weston... (full context)

...to him. When the girls ask where Agnes talked to him first, Agnes says at Nancy’s cottage—and Rosalie laughingly accuses Agnes of visiting Nancy to rendezvous with him. Yet the girls... (full context)

...at all. Finally, she keeps Agnes so busy that Agnes has no time to visit Nancy Brown or other cottagers. (full context)

Education, Authority, and Class Theme Icon

...asked after her health, given that he sees her out so rarely. Agnes asks whether Nancy Brown ever asks after her. When Matilda says they told Nancy that Agnes preferred to... (full context)

That evening, Agnes visits Nancy Brown, apologizes for the hiatus in her visits, and asks about Mr. Weston. Nancy doesn’t... (full context)

...at Horton Lodge. Two weeks after her return, while she is walking back from visiting Nancy Brown, Mr. Weston runs into her and asks sympathetically how her mother is doing. After... (full context)