Agnes Grey

by

Anne Brontë

Animals Symbol Analysis

Animals Symbol Icon

In Agnes Grey, animals symbolize the vulnerability of lower-status people to higher-status people in social hierarchies: just as poorly raised children abuse animals, so poorly raised high-status adults abuse lower-status adults, such as their employees and the poor. Animals first make an important appearance in Agnes Grey when Agnes, leaving home to work as a governess for the first time, kisses her pet pigeons goodbye and laments that the family kitten, her “dear little friend,” will have grown into a cat by the time Agnes comes home for Christmas. Agnes’s tenderness toward her pets establishes her kindness and models good behavior toward vulnerable animals. By contrast, Agnes’s first pupil, seven-year-old Tom Bloomfield, tortures helpless baby birds to death—a habit he has learned from his father Mr. Bloomfield and his boorish Uncle Robson. Tom’s cruelty toward the animals he holds in his power parallels the cruelty that Mr. Bloomfield and Mrs. Bloomfield show to Agnes, their economically dependent employee. They will not allow her to discipline Tom or their other children, even though Tom regularly hits Agnes, yet they blame her and eventually fire her for their children’s poor behavior. A similar dynamic plays out in Agnes’s second governess job with the Murrays. When her teenage pupil Matilda neglects Snap, a terrier puppy she is supposed to be raising, Agnes takes responsibility for Snap, who grows to love Agnes and to ignore Matilda. Matilda is annoyed by Snap’s defection, and so the Murrays sell Snap to a rat-catcher despite Agnes’s obvious love for the dog—a sale showing their casual use and abuse of power over both the animals they own and over Agnes. Thus, in Agnes Grey, a person’s cruelty to animals both symbolizes and predicts their cruelty to vulnerable human beings in their power.

Animals Quotes in Agnes Grey

The Agnes Grey quotes below all refer to the symbol of Animals. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Education, Authority, and Class Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2: First Lessons in the Art of Instruction Quotes

“Papa knows how I treat them, and he never blames me for it: he says it is just what he used to do when he was a boy.”

Related Characters: Tom Bloomfield (speaker), Agnes Grey, Mr. Bloomfield
Related Symbols: Animals
Page Number: 17
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5: The Uncle Quotes

“Curse me, if I ever saw a nobler little scoundrel than that. He’s beyond petticoat government already: by God! He defies mother, granny, governess, and all! Ha, ha, ha!”

Related Characters: Uncle Robson (speaker), Agnes Grey, Tom Bloomfield, Mrs. Bloomfield
Related Symbols: Animals
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Agnes Grey LitChart as a printable PDF.
Agnes Grey PDF

Animals Symbol Timeline in Agnes Grey

The timeline below shows where the symbol Animals appears in Agnes Grey. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: The Parsonage
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
...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.... (full context)
Chapter 2: First Lessons in the Art of Instruction
Education, Authority, and Class Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
...and accessories until Tom tells her to be quiet so he can show Agnes his rocking-horse. For 10 minutes, Tom demands that Agnes observe “how manfully” he whips and spurs his... (full context)
Education, Authority, and Class Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
Religion Theme Icon
...objects in the grass and asks what they are. Tom says he uses them to catch birds, which he tortures and kills. When Agnes tells him that that’s evil behavior because... (full context)
Education, Authority, and Class Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
Tom shows Agnes his mole-traps and weasel-traps. Agnes indulges him, hoping to make friends and so exert a positive influence... (full context)
Chapter 5: The Uncle
Education, Authority, and Class Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
...praising her prettiness, which Agnes has tried to teach her is less important than her education and behavior. He also gives Tom alcohol and encourages the boy, through his own behavior... (full context)
Education, Authority, and Class Theme Icon
Women and Fulfillment Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
One day, Tom runs into the garden holding a nest of baby birds and announces his plan to amuse himself by killing them. Agnes, standing by, tells him... (full context)
Women and Fulfillment Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
Agnes finds a large stone. Then she asks what Tom will do with the birds. He describes how he will torture them, so Agnes drops the stone onto the nest,... (full context)
Education, Authority, and Class Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
Religion Theme Icon
...amusements.” Agnes—quoting the Bible—tries to convince Mrs. Bloomfield that people have no right to torture animals and acting mercifully toward animals teaches virtue; Mrs. Bloomfield replies that animals “were all created”... (full context)
Chapter 7: Horton Lodge
Education, Authority, and Class Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
...and awkward—but doesn’t care that she isn’t pretty like Rosalie. Nor does she care about education or “accomplishments.” When Agnes attempts to teach her anything, she develops a foul mood and... (full context)
Chapter 11: The Cottagers
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
Religion Theme Icon
...inflammation and so cannot currently read herself. Agnes finds Nancy knitting at home with her cat and asks how she is. Nancy says that she’s feeling cheerful though her eyes are... (full context)
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
Religion Theme Icon
...Miss Murrays. When Nancy said she’d seen Rosalie nearby, Mr. Hatfield hurried out happily—kicking Nancy’s cat on the way. (full context)
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
Religion Theme Icon
...call her an “old fool.” Yet the next day, Mr. Weston visited her, petted her cat kindly, asked for her story, and listened respectfully. (full context)
Chapter 12: The Shower
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
Religion Theme Icon
...she decides to visit Nancy again. When she arrives, Nancy is deeply anxious about her cat, which has disappeared and which she fears gamekeepers will kill. After Agnes reads to Nancy... (full context)
Money vs. Love in Marriage Theme Icon
Religion Theme Icon
...for him with Mr. Murray, who directed “ungentlemanly language” at him when he saved the cat that had been stalking his rabbits. Agnes tells Mr. Weston that unfortunately, she can’t help—she... (full context)
Chapter 14: The Rector
Education, Authority, and Class Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
...request while Rosalie goes for a walk with a novel. Lying at Agnes’s feet is Snap, a terrier. Matilda planned to raise Snap but neglected him. Agnes cared for him, and... (full context)
Education, Authority, and Class Theme Icon
Money vs. Love in Marriage Theme Icon
...walking with Rosalie and Matilda. When Agnes points out that Matilda is with the other dogs and Rosalie is reading, Mrs. Murray accuses Agnes of being insufficiently entertaining to keep Matilda... (full context)
Money vs. Love in Marriage Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
...one hand and some myrtle in the other, looking coquettishly at her admirer. The terrier Snap, running ahead of Agnes, bites Rosalie’s dress, and Mr. Hatfield hits Snap with his cane.... (full context)
Chapter 17: Confessions 
Money vs. Love in Marriage Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
Religion Theme Icon
...implied, Mr. Weston). Two other incidents hurt her as well: the Murrays give her terrier Snap away to the village rat-catcher, who treats his dogs badly; and she gets a letter... (full context)
Chapter 18: Mirth and Mourning
Women and Fulfillment Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
Religion Theme Icon
...Rosalie, has turned her sights on Matilda. She’s forbidden Matilda from associating with grooms, hunting dogs, and the like, leading to numerous fights between Matilda, her mother, and Mr. Murray. Mr.... (full context)
Education, Authority, and Class Theme Icon
Money vs. Love in Marriage Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
Religion Theme Icon
When Matilda runs off after her dog, Agnes asks Mr. Weston whether he thinks Rosalie will be happy, and Mr. Weston says... (full context)
Chapter 24: The Sands
Money vs. Love in Marriage Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
...almost an hour, she sees some grooms and, in the distance, a gentleman walking a dog. Agnes walks on. A little later, the dog comes running up to her—and Agnes sees... (full context)
Money vs. Love in Marriage Theme Icon
Power and Cruelty Theme Icon
Religion Theme Icon
...on her mother, and he says he’ll do so the next day. Mr. Weston calls Snap away—saying that he likes Snap too much to give him back—and he and Agnes part.... (full context)