Charlotte Brontë
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Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of
English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...
. She enlisted in school at Roe Head in January 1831, aged 14 years. She left the year after to teach her sisters, Emily and
Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
, at home, returning in 1835 as a governess. In 1839, she undertook the role of governess for the Sidgwick family, but left after a few months to return to Haworth, where the sisters opened a school but failed to attract pupils. Instead, they turned to writing and they each first published in 1846 under the pseudonyms of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Although her first novel, '' The Professor'', was rejected by publishers, her second novel, ''
Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...
'', was published in 1847. The sisters admitted to their Bell pseudonyms in 1848, and by the following year were celebrated in London literary circles. Charlotte Brontë was the last to die of all her siblings. She became pregnant shortly after her marriage in June 1854 but died on 31 March 1855, almost certainly from hyperemesis gravidarum, a complication of pregnancy which causes excessive nausea and vomiting.


Early years and education

Charlotte Brontë was born on 21 April 1816 in Market Street, Thornton, west of
Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
in the
West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
, the third of the six children of
Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
(née Branwell) and
Patrick Brontë Patrick Brontë (, commonly ; born Patrick Brunty; 17 March 1777 – 7 June 1861) was an Irish Anglican priest and author who spent most of his adult life in England. He was the father of the writers Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, and of ...
(formerly surnamed Brunty), an Irish
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
clergyman. In 1820 her family moved a few miles to the village of
Haworth Haworth () is a village in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines, south-west of Keighley, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages inc ...
, where her father had been appointed
perpetual curate Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England and Ireland from 1800 to 1871). The term is found in common use mainly du ...
of St Michael and All Angels Church. Maria died of cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters, Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Emily and
Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
, and a son, Branwell, to be taken care of by her sister,
Elizabeth Branwell Elizabeth Branwell (1776 – 29 October 1842) was the aunt of the literary sisters Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë. Called 'Aunt Branwell', she helped raise the Brontë children after her sister, Maria Branwell, died in 1821. S ...
. In August 1824, Patrick sent Charlotte, Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth to the Clergy Daughters' School at
Cowan Bridge Cowan Bridge is a village in the English county of Lancashire. It is south-east of the town of Kirkby Lonsdale where the main A65 road crosses the Leck Beck. It forms part of the civil parish of Burrow-with-Burrow. Clergy Daughters' School C ...
in Lancashire. Charlotte maintained that the school's poor conditions permanently affected her health and physical development, and hastened the deaths of Maria (born 1814) and Elizabeth (born 1815), who both died of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
in June 1825. After the deaths of his older daughters, Patrick removed Charlotte and Emily from the school. Charlotte used the school as the basis for Lowood School in ''
Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...
,'' which is similarly affected by tuberculosis that is exacerbated by the poor conditions. At home in
Haworth Parsonage Haworth () is a village in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines, south-west of Keighley, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages includ ...
, Brontë acted as "the motherly friend and guardian of her younger sisters". Brontë wrote her first known poem at the age of 13 in 1829, and was to go on to write more than 200 poems in the course of her life. Many of her poems were "published" in their homemade magazine ''
Branwell's Blackwood's Magazine ''The Young Men's Magazine'' is the last of a series of three magazines written by Branwell Brontë and his sister Charlotte. The journals were handwritten mini-books containing articles, stories, letters, and reviews, inspired by and following th ...
'', and concerned the fictional world of ''
Glass Town The Glass Town is a paracosm created and written as a shared fantasy world by Charlotte Brontë, Branwell Brontë, Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë, siblings of the Brontë family. It was initiated by Charlotte and her brother Branwell; Emily and A ...
''. She and her surviving siblings – Branwell, Emily and Anne – created this shared world, and began chronicling the lives and struggles of the inhabitants of their imaginary kingdom in 1827. Charlotte, in private letters, called ''Glass Town'' "her 'world below', a private escape where she could act out her desires and multiple identities". Charlotte's "predilection for romantic settings, passionate relationships, and high society is at odds with Branwell's obsession with battles and politics and her young sisters' homely North Country realism, none the less at this stage there is still a sense of the writings as a family enterprise". However, from 1831 onwards, Emily and Anne 'seceded' from the ''Glass Town Confederacy'' to create a 'spin-off' called '' Gondal'', which included many of their poems. After 1831, Charlotte and Branwell concentrated on an evolution of the ''Glass Town Confederacy'' called ''Angria''. Christine Alexander, a Brontë juvenilia historian, wrote "both Charlotte and Branwell ensured the consistency of their imaginary world. When Branwell exuberantly kills off important characters in his manuscripts, Charlotte comes to the rescue and, in effect, resurrects them for the next stories .. and when Branwell becomes bored with his inventions, such as the Glass Town magazine he edits, Charlotte takes over his initiative and keeps the publication going for several more years". The sagas the siblings created were episodic and elaborate, and they exist in incomplete manuscripts, some of which have been published as juvenilia. They provided them with an obsessive interest during childhood and early adolescence, which prepared them for literary vocations in adulthood. Between 1831 and 1832, Brontë continued her education at Roe Head in
Mirfield Mirfield () is a town and civil parish in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the A644 road between Brighouse and Dewsbury. At the 2011 census it had a population of 19,563. Mirfield ...
, where she met her lifelong friends and correspondents
Ellen Nussey Ellen Nussey (20 April 1817 – 26 November 1897) was born in Birstall Smithies in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. She was a lifelong friend and correspondent of writer Charlotte Brontë and, through more than 500 letters received from ...
and Mary Taylor. In 1833 she wrote a novella, ''The Green Dwarf'', using the name Wellesley. Around about 1833, her stories shifted from tales of the supernatural to more realistic stories. She returned to Roe Head as a teacher from 1835 to 1838. Unhappy and lonely as a teacher at Roe Head, Brontë took out her sorrows in poetry, writing a series of melancholic poems. In "We wove a Web in Childhood" written in December 1835, Brontë drew a sharp contrast between her miserable life as a teacher and the vivid imaginary worlds she and her siblings had created. In another poem "Morning was its freshness still" written at the same time, Brontë wrote "Tis bitter sometimes to recall/Illusions once deemed fair". Many of her poems concerned the imaginary world of Angria, often concerning
Byronic hero The Byronic hero is a variant of the Romantic hero as a type of character, named after the English Romantic poet Lord Byron. Both Byron's own persona as well as characters from his writings are considered to provide defining features to the char ...
es, and in December 1836 she wrote to the Poet Laureate
Robert Southey Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...
asking him for encouragement of her career as a poet. Southe
replied
famously, that "Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life, and it ought not to be. The more she is engaged in her proper duties, the less leisure will she have for it even as an accomplishment and a recreation." This advice she respected but did not heed. In 1839, she took up the first of many positions as governess to families in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, a career she pursued until 1841. In particular, from May to July 1839 she was employed by the Sidgwick family at their summer residence, Stone Gappe, in Lothersdale, where one of her charges was John Benson Sidgwick (1835–1927), an unruly child who on one occasion threw the Bible at Charlotte, an incident that may have been the inspiration for a part of the opening chapter of ''
Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...
'' in which John Reed throws a book at the young Jane. Brontë did not enjoy her work as a governess, noting her employers treated her almost as a slave, constantly humiliating her. Brontë was of slight build and was less than five feet tall.


Brussels and Haworth

In 1842 Charlotte and Emily travelled to
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
to enrol at the boarding school run by
Constantin Héger Constantin Georges Romain Héger (1809–1896) was a Belgian teacher of the Victorian era. He is best remembered today for his association with Emily and Charlotte Brontë during the 1840s. Early life Héger was born in Brussels and moved to ...
(1809–1896) and his wife Claire Zoé Parent Héger (1804–1887). During her time in Brussels, Brontë, who favoured the
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
ideal of an individual in direct contact with God, objected to the stern
Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
of Madame Héger, which she considered a tyrannical religion that enforced conformity and submission to the Pope. In return for board and tuition Charlotte taught English and Emily taught music. Their time at the school was cut short when their aunt Elizabeth Branwell, who had joined the family in Haworth to look after the children after their mother's death, died of internal obstruction in October 1842. Charlotte returned alone to Brussels in January 1843 to take up a teaching post at the school. Her second stay was not happy: she was homesick and deeply attached to Constantin Héger. She returned to Haworth in January 1844 and used the time spent in Brussels as the inspiration for some of the events in '' The Professor'' and '' Villette''. After returning to Haworth, Charlotte and her sisters made headway with opening their own boarding school in the family home. It was advertised as "The Misses Brontë's Establishment for the Board and Education of a limited number of Young Ladies" and inquiries were made to prospective pupils and sources of funding. But none were attracted and in October 1844, the project was abandoned.


First publication

In May 1846 Charlotte, Emily, and Anne self-financed the publication of a joint collection of poems under their assumed names Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. The pseudonyms veiled the sisters' sex while preserving their initials; thus Charlotte was Currer Bell. "Bell" was the middle name of Haworth's curate,
Arthur Bell Nicholls Arthur Bell Nicholls (6 January 1819 – 2 December 1906) was the husband of the English novelist Charlotte Brontë. Between 1845 and 1861 Nicholls was one of Patrick Brontë's curates and was married to his eldest surviving child, Charlotte, f ...
whom Charlotte later married, and "Currer" was the surname of
Frances Mary Richardson Currer Frances Mary Richardson Currer (3 March 1785 – 28 April 1861) was a British heiress and book collector. Life Frances Mary Richardson Currer was born shortly after the death of her father, Henry Richardson Currer in 1785. Shortly before he died, ...
who had funded their school (and maybe their father). Of the decision to use ''noms de plume'', Charlotte wrote: Although only two copies of the collection of poems were sold, the sisters continued writing for publication and began their first novels, continuing to use their ''noms de plume'' when sending manuscripts to potential publishers.


''The Professor'' and ''Jane Eyre''

Brontë's first manuscript, 'The Professor', did not secure a publisher, although she was heartened by an encouraging response from Smith, Elder & Co. of Cornhill, who expressed an interest in any longer works Currer Bell might wish to send. Brontë responded by finishing and sending a second manuscript in August 1847. Six weeks later, ''Jane Eyre'' was published. It tells the story of a plain governess,
Jane Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...
, who, after difficulties in her early life, falls in love with her employer,
Mr Rochester Edward Fairfax Rochester (often referred to as Mr Rochester) is a character in Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel ''Jane Eyre''. The brooding master of Thornfield Hall, Rochester is the employer and eventual husband of the novel's titular protagonist ...
. They marry, but only after Rochester's insane first wife, of whom Jane initially has no knowledge, dies in a dramatic house fire. The book's style was innovative, combining Romanticism, naturalism with
gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
melodrama, and broke new ground in being written from an intensely evoked first-person female perspective. Brontë believed art was most convincing when based on personal experience; in ''Jane Eyre'' she transformed the experience into a novel with universal appeal. ''Jane Eyre'' had immediate commercial success and initially received favourable reviews.
G. H. Lewes George Henry Lewes (; 18 April 1817 – 30 November 1878) was an English philosopher and critic of literature and theatre. He was also an amateur physiologist. American feminist Margaret Fuller called Lewes a "witty, French, flippant sort of m ...
wrote that it was "an utterance from the depths of a struggling, suffering, much-enduring spirit", and declared that it consisted of "''suspiria de profundis''!" (sighs from the depths). Speculation about the identity and gender of the mysterious Currer Bell heightened with the publication of ''
Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent re ...
'' by Ellis Bell (Emily) and ''
Agnes Grey ''Agnes Grey, A Novel'' is the debut novel of English author Anne Brontë (writing under the pen name of "Acton Bell"), first published in December 1847, and republished in a second edition in 1850. The novel follows Agnes Grey, a governess, as ...
'' by Acton Bell (Anne). Accompanying the speculation was a change in the critical reaction to Brontë's work, as accusations were made that the writing was "coarse", a judgement more readily made once it was suspected that Currer Bell was a woman. However, sales of ''Jane Eyre'' continued to be strong and may even have increased as a result of the novel developing a reputation as an "improper" book. A talented amateur artist, Brontë personally did the drawings for the second edition of ''Jane Eyre'' and in the summer of 1834 two of her paintings were shown at an exhibition by the Royal Northern Society for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Leeds.


''Shirley'' and bereavements

In 1848 Brontë began work on the manuscript of her second novel, ''Shirley''. It was only partially completed when the Brontë family suffered the deaths of three of its members within eight months. In September 1848 Branwell died of
chronic bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...
and marasmus, exacerbated by heavy drinking, although Brontë believed that his death was due to
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. Branwell may have had a laudanum addiction. Emily became seriously ill shortly after his funeral and died of pulmonary tuberculosis in December 1848. Anne died of the same disease in May 1849. Brontë was unable to write at this time. After Anne's death Brontë resumed writing as a way of dealing with her grief, and ''Shirley'', which deals with themes of industrial unrest and the role of women in society, was published in October 1849. Unlike ''Jane Eyre'', which is written in the first person, ''Shirley'' is written in the third person and lacks the emotional immediacy of her first novel, and reviewers found it less shocking. Brontë, as her late sister's heir, suppressed the republication of Anne's second novel, ''
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ''The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'' is the second and final novel written by English author Anne Brontë. It was first published in 1848 under the pseudonym Acton Bell. Probably the most shocking of the Brontës' novels, it had an instant and phe ...
'', an action which had a deleterious effect on Anne's popularity as a novelist and has remained controversial among the sisters' biographers ever since.


In society

In view of the success of her novels, particularly ''Jane Eyre'', Brontë was persuaded by her publisher to make occasional visits to London, where she revealed her true identity and began to move in more exalted social circles, becoming friends with
Harriet Martineau Harriet Martineau (; 12 June 1802 – 27 June 1876) was an English social theorist often seen as the first female sociologist, focusing on race relations within much of her published material.Michael R. Hill (2002''Harriet Martineau: Theoretic ...
and Elizabeth Gaskell, and acquainted with
William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
and G.H. Lewes. She never left Haworth for more than a few weeks at a time, as she did not want to leave her ageing father. Thackeray's daughter, writer
Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie Anne Isabella, Lady Ritchie ( Thackeray; 9 June 1837 – 26 February 1919), eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray, was an English writer, whose several novels were appreciated in their time and made her a central figure on the late Vic ...
, recalled a visit to her father by Brontë: Brontë's friendship with Elizabeth Gaskell, while not particularly close, was significant in that Gaskell wrote the first biography of Brontë after her death in 1855.


''Villette''

Brontë's third novel, the last published in her lifetime, was '' Villette'', which appeared in 1853. Its main themes include isolation, how such a condition can be borne, and the internal conflict brought about by social repression of individual desire. Its main character, Lucy Snowe, travels abroad to teach in a boarding school in the fictional town of Villette, where she encounters a culture and religion different from her own and falls in love with a man (Paul Emanuel) whom she cannot marry. Her experiences result in a breakdown but eventually, she achieves independence and fulfilment through running her own school. A substantial amount of the novel's dialogue is in the French language. ''Villette'' marked Brontë's return to writing from a first-person perspective (that of Lucy Snowe), the technique she had used in ''Jane Eyre''. Another similarity to ''Jane Eyre'' lies in the use of aspects of her own life as inspiration for fictional events, in particular her reworking of the time she spent at the ''pensionnat'' in Brussels. ''Villette'' was acknowledged by critics of the day as a potent and sophisticated piece of writing although it was criticised for "coarseness" and for not being suitably "feminine" in its portrayal of Lucy's desires.


Marriage

Before the publication of ''Villette'', Brontë received an expected proposal of marriage from Irishman
Arthur Bell Nicholls Arthur Bell Nicholls (6 January 1819 – 2 December 1906) was the husband of the English novelist Charlotte Brontë. Between 1845 and 1861 Nicholls was one of Patrick Brontë's curates and was married to his eldest surviving child, Charlotte, f ...
, her father's
curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
, who had long been in love with her. She initially refused him and her father objected to the union at least partly because of Nicholls's poor financial status. Elizabeth Gaskell, who believed that marriage provided "clear and defined duties" that were beneficial for a woman, encouraged Brontë to consider the positive aspects of such a union and tried to use her contacts to engineer an improvement in Nicholls's finances. According to
James Pope-Hennessy James Pope Hennessy CVO (20 November 1916 – 25 January 1974) was a British biographer and travel writer. Early life Richard James Arthur Pope-Hennessy was born in London on 20 November 1916, the younger son of Ladislaus Herbert Richard Pope ...
in ''The Flight of Youth,'' it was the generosity of
Richard Monckton Milnes Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton, FRS (19 June 1809 – 11 August 1885) was an English poet, patron of literature and a politician who strongly supported social justice. Background and education Milnes was born in London, the son of ...
that made the marriage possible. Brontë meanwhile was increasingly attracted to Nicholls and by January 1854 she had accepted his proposal. They gained the approval of her father by April and married in June. Her father Patrick had intended to give Charlotte away, but at the last minute decided he could not, and Charlotte had to make her way to the church without him. The married couple took their honeymoon in
Banagher Banagher ( or ''Beannchar na Sionna'') is a town in Ireland, located in the midlands, on the western edge of County Offaly in the province of Leinster, on the banks of the River Shannon. It had a population of 3,000 at the height of its econ ...
, County Offaly, Ireland. By all accounts, her marriage was a success and Brontë found herself very happy in a way that was new to her.


Death

Brontë became pregnant soon after her wedding, but her health declined rapidly and, according to Gaskell, she was attacked by "sensations of perpetual nausea and ever-recurring faintness". She died, with her unborn child, on 31 March 1855, three weeks before her 39th birthday. Her death certificate gives the cause of death as phthisis, i.e. consumption (not
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
, which was only one of many diseases included in this now outdated classification), but biographers including Claire Harman and others suggest that she died from dehydration and malnourishment due to vomiting caused by severe morning sickness or hyperemesis gravidarum. Brontë was buried in the family vault in the Church of St Michael and All Angels at Haworth. ''The Professor'', the first novel Brontë had written, was published posthumously in 1857. The fragment of a new novel she had been writing in her last years has been twice completed by recent authors, the more famous version being '' Emma Brown: A Novel from the Unfinished Manuscript by Charlotte Brontë'' by Clare Boylan in 2003. Most of her writings about the imaginary country Angria have also been published since her death. In 2018, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' published a belated obituary for her.


Religion

The daughter of an Irish
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
clergyman, Brontë was herself an Anglican. In a letter to her publisher, she claims to "love the Church of England. Her Ministers indeed, I do not regard as infallible personages, I have seen too much of them for that – but to the Establishment, with all her faults – the profane Athanasian Creed excluded – I am sincerely attached." In a letter to
Ellen Nussey Ellen Nussey (20 April 1817 – 26 November 1897) was born in Birstall Smithies in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. She was a lifelong friend and correspondent of writer Charlotte Brontë and, through more than 500 letters received from ...
she wrote:


''The Life of Charlotte Brontë''

Elizabeth Gaskell's biography ''
The Life of Charlotte Brontë ''The Life of Charlotte Brontë'' is the posthumous biography of Charlotte Brontë by fellow novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. The first edition was published in 1857 by Smith, Elder & Co. A major source was the hundreds of letters sent by Brontë ...
'' was published in 1857. It was an important step for a leading female novelist to write a biography of another, and Gaskell's approach was unusual in that, rather than analysing her subject's achievements, she concentrated on private details of Brontë's life, emphasising those aspects that countered the accusations of "coarseness" that had been levelled at her writing. The biography is frank in places, but omits details of Brontë's love for Héger, a married man, as being too much of an affront to contemporary morals and a likely source of distress to Brontë's father, widower, and friends. Mrs Gaskell also provided doubtful and inaccurate information about Patrick Brontë, claiming that he did not allow his children to eat meat. This is refuted by one of Emily Brontë's diary papers, in which she describes preparing meat and potatoes for dinner at the parsonage. It has been argued that Gaskell's approach transferred the focus of attention away from the 'difficult' novels, not just Brontë's, but all the sisters', and began a process of sanctification of their private lives.


Héger letters

On 29 July 1913 ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' of London printed four letters Brontë had written to
Constantin Héger Constantin Georges Romain Héger (1809–1896) was a Belgian teacher of the Victorian era. He is best remembered today for his association with Emily and Charlotte Brontë during the 1840s. Early life Héger was born in Brussels and moved to ...
after leaving Brussels in 1844. Written in French except for one postscript in English, the letters broke the prevailing image of Brontë as an angelic martyr to Christian and female duties that had been constructed by many biographers, beginning with Gaskell. The letters, which formed part of a larger and somewhat one-sided correspondence in which Héger frequently appears not to have replied, reveal that she had been in love with a married man, although they are complex and have been interpreted in numerous ways, including as an example of literary self-dramatisation and an expression of gratitude from a former pupil. In 1980 a commemorative plaque was unveiled at the
Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels The Centre for Fine Arts (french: Palais des Beaux-Arts, nl, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten) is a multi-purpose cultural venue in Brussels, Belgium. It is often referred to as BOZAR (a homophone of ''Beaux-arts'') in French or PSK in Dutch. The b ...
(BOZAR), on the site of the Madam Heger's school, in honour of Charlotte and Emily. In May 2017 the plaque was cleaned.


Publications


Juvenilia

* '' The Young Men's Magazine, Number 1 – 3'' (August 1830) * '' A Book of Ryhmes'' (1829) * ''The Spell'' * ''The Secret'' * ''Lily Hart'' * ''The Foundling'' * ''Albion and Marina'' * ''Tales of the Islanders'' * ''Tales of Angria'' (written 1838–1839 – a collection of childhood and young adult writings including five short novels) ** Mina Laury'''' ** Stancliffe's Hotel'''' ** The Duke of Zamorna ** Henry Hastings'''' ** Caroline Vernon'''' ** The Roe Head Journal Fragments'''' **Farewell to Angria ''The Green Dwarf, A Tale of the Perfect Tense'' was written in 1833 under the pseudonym Lord Charles Albert Florian Wellesley. It shows the influence of
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
, and Brontë's modifications to her earlier gothic style have led Christine Alexander to comment that, in the work, "it is clear that Brontë was becoming tired of the gothic mode ''per se''". "At the end of 1839, Brontë said goodbye to her fantasy world in a manuscript called Farewell to Angria. More and more, she was finding that she preferred to escape to her imagined worlds over remaining in reality – and she feared that she was going mad. So she said goodbye to her characters, scenes and subjects. ..She wrote of the pain she felt at wrenching herself from her 'friends' and venturing into lands unknown".


Novels

* ''
Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...
'', published in 1847 * ''
Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...
'', published in 1849 * '' Villette'', published in 1853 * '' The Professor'', written before ''Jane Eyre'', was first submitted together with ''
Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent re ...
'' by Emily Brontë and ''
Agnes Grey ''Agnes Grey, A Novel'' is the debut novel of English author Anne Brontë (writing under the pen name of "Acton Bell"), first published in December 1847, and republished in a second edition in 1850. The novel follows Agnes Grey, a governess, as ...
'' by
Anne Brontë Anne Brontë (, commonly ; 17 January 1820 – 28 May 1849) was an English novelist and poet, and the youngest member of the Brontë literary family. Anne Brontë was the daughter of Maria (born Branwell) and Patrick Brontë, a poor Irish cl ...
. Subsequently, ''The Professor'' was resubmitted separately, and rejected by many publishing houses. It was published posthumously in 1857 * ''Emma'', unfinished; Brontë wrote only 20 pages of the manuscript, published posthumously in 1860. In recent decades at least two continuations of this fragment have appeared: ** ''Emma'', by "Charlotte Brontë and Another Lady", published 1980; although this has been attributed to
Elizabeth Goudge Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge FRSL (24 April 1900 – 1 April 1984) was an English writer of fiction and children's books. She won the Carnegie Medal for British children's books in 1946 for ''The Little White Horse''. Goudge was long a popular ...
, the actual author was
Constance Savery Constance Winifred Savery (31 October 1897 – 2 March 1999) was a British writer of fifty novels and children's books, as well as many short stories and articles. She was selected for the initial issue of the long-running series entitled ' ...
.Bronte, Charlotta and Another Lady. ''Emma''. Moscow: Folio. 2001. 11. ** '' Emma Brown'', by Clare Boylan, published 2003


Poetry

* '' Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell'' (1846) * ''Selected Poems of the Brontës'', Everyman Poetry (1997)


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* ''The Letters of Charlotte Brontë'', 3 volumes edited by Margaret Smith, 2007 * ''
The Life of Charlotte Brontë ''The Life of Charlotte Brontë'' is the posthumous biography of Charlotte Brontë by fellow novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. The first edition was published in 1857 by Smith, Elder & Co. A major source was the hundreds of letters sent by Brontë ...
'', Elizabeth Gaskell, 1857 * ''Charlotte Brontë'',
Winifred Gérin Winifred Eveleen Gérin , née Bourne, (7 October 1901 – 28 June 1981) was an English biographer born in Hamburg. She is best known as a biographer of the Brontë sisters and their brother Branwell, whose lives she researched extensively. ' ...
* ''Charlotte Brontë: a passionate life'', Lyndal Gordon * ''The Literary Protégées of the Lake Poets'', Dennis Low (Chapter 1 contains a revisionist contextualisation of Robert Southey's infamous letter to Charlotte Brontë) * ''Charlotte Brontë: Unquiet Soul'', Margot Peters * ''In the Footsteps of the Brontës'', Ellis Chadwick * ''The Brontës'',
Juliet Barker Juliet R. V. Barker FRSL (born 1958) is an English historian, specialising in the Middle Ages and literary biography. She is the author of a number of well-regarded works on the Brontës, William Wordsworth, and medieval tournaments. From 198 ...
* ''Charlotte Brontë and her Dearest Nell'', Barbara Whitehead * ''The Brontë Myth'', Lucasta Miller * ''A Life in Letters'', selected by Juliet Barker * ''Charlotte Brontë and Defensive Conduct: The Author and the Body at Risk'', Janet Gezari, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992 * ''Charlotte Brontë: Truculent Spirit'', by
Valerie Grosvenor Myer Valerie Winifred Grosvenor Myer (April 13, 1935 – August 9, 2007) was a British writer, university teacher, and editor. Early life Valerie Winifred Grosvenor Godwin was born in Lower Soudley in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England ...
, 1987 * ''Charlotte Brontë and her Family'', Rebecca Fraser * ''The Oxford Reader's Companion to the Brontës'', Christine Alexander & Margaret Smith * ''Charlotte & Arthur'', Pauline Clooney (2021) ISBN 978-1916501676 . Reimagining Charlotte Brontë's honeymoon in Ireland & Wales. *''A Brontë Family Chronology'', Edward Chitham * ''The Crimes of Charlotte Brontë'', James Tully, 1999 * A book about Brontë through the eyes of a working-class woman * Fictionalised account of Arthur Bells Nicholls' romance of Charlotte Brontë * Charlotte Brontë and Arthur Bell Nicholls' wedding trip and Irish Odyssey.


External links


Website of the Brontë Society and Parsonage Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire

Modern Day Images of Charlotte Brontë Residences
(Archived) *
Charlotte's Web: A Hypertext on Charlotte Brontë's ''Jane Eyre''
(Archived)
Rare Charlotte Bronte book coming home after museum's auction success

Poems by Charlotte Brontё

Charlotte Brontë papers, 1829-1990s
held by the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature,
New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
.


Electronic editions

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bronte, Charlotte 1816 births 1855 deaths 19th-century English novelists 19th-century English women writers 19th-century pseudonymous writers
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
Burials in West Yorkshire Anglican writers Christian novelists Deaths from typhus English Anglicans English governesses English people of Cornish descent English people of Irish descent English women novelists English women poets Infectious disease deaths in England People from Thornton and Allerton Pseudonymous women writers Victorian novelists Victorian women writers Writers of Gothic fiction