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Abstract
The ending of Villette is one of the most famously ambiguous conclusions in the English novel. It has been less generally recognized that all four of Charlotte Brontë’s novels end with questions to which the reader is invited to provide answers. This article examines the endings of The Professor, Jane Eyre, Shirley and Villette in relation to some of the moral, social and religious issues raised in these novels and argues that, in every case, Charlotte Brontë leaves significant gaps in the narrative and challenges conventional expectations regarding the ‘happy ending’.