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The lives and literary masterpieces of the Brontë sisters have fascinated readers for decades. How did three women from the same troubled background become such successful writers? What was it about their individual experiences that triggered them to write such dark, lyrical and ironic novels? This blog explores the lives and writings of the Brontë sisters, touching upon their family and childhood and the novels that secured their everlasting fame.
Charlotte, Emily, Anne – three sisters with a shared passion for telling stories. All born in Thornton, Yorkshire, there were just four years between them. Their brother, Branwell, was also close in age, arriving just a year after Charlotte. Two elder sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, died in childhood from tuberculosis. The family’s struggles continued with the death of the children’s mother, Maria, in 1821, leaving their father Patrick in sole charge.
As the eldest surviving female Brontë, Charlotte became somewhat of a mother figure to her siblings. Following a brief career as a governess, she turned to writing under the pseudonym Currer Bell. She was the only sibling to marry but died a year later aged thirty-eight.
Jane Eyre: Published in 1847, Jane Eyre is Charlotte Brontë’s most famous work. The orphaned protagonist is plain but fiercely intelligent. The experiences of the plain but fiercely intelligent protagonist draw parallels with the author’s own life. Most notably, the miserable conditions at Lowood School and the exploration of grief and hardship.
Shirley: In part a social commentary, Shirley tells the story of two women, Caroline and Shirley, living in starkly different ‘financial’ circumstances. Satisfying and enriching, it is a fine example of Charlotte Brontë’s work.
Villette: This exquisite tragedy displays some of Charlotte Brontë’s best writing. Her last novel, it follows its protagonist Lucy Snowe on a journey from England to a French boarding school in Villette. Told in first person, it is a haunting yet brilliant read.
The Professor: Charlotte’s first novel was initially rejected as not being suitable for trends at the time. In the end it was published posthumously. While never as popular as Jane Eyre, it shares common themes with other Brontë novels: love, alienation, religion, class and social identity.
Emily was shy compared to her sisters. She was however a brilliant pianist and in 1846 went to study with Charlotte at the Pensionnat Heger School in Brussels and later became a music teacher there. Her first written work appeared in a collection of the three sisters poems under the name Ellis Bell, published in 1846. She died two years later aged thirty.
Wuthering Heights: Wuthering Heights is Emily Brontë’s only novel. Though a passionate love story in part, it also tackles darker emotions such as jealousy, obsession and revenge. Emily’s exploration of loss and the complexities of human behaviour are masterful. However, at the time of publication, the intense atmosphere and ‘amoral’ themes of Wuthering Heights displeased critics and shocked Victorian readers. Only in later years, after Emily’s death, did the novel become more popular.
It was while working as a governess that Anne began penning her first novel, Agnes Grey. Published soon after Jane Eyre in 1847 and under the pseudonym Acton Bell, it was somewhat overshadowed by her sister’s masterpiece. Anne’s more successful work, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, was published a year later. She died a year after that aged just twenty-nine.
Agnes Grey: Anne steered away from the dark, romantic writings of her sisters, favouring more realistic settings and an often ironic style. Her first novel, like those of her sisters, does however draw some parallels with her own life, particularly regarding the heroine who, like Anne, is a clergyman’s daughter. Anne’s exploration of poverty and loss in the novel reflect upon her own experiences of grief and struggle.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall: Follow the character Helen Huntington and her struggles after her failed marriage leads her to raise her child alone. A wholesome story by one of the Bronte sisters. In some ways, this novel is the darkest of all the Brontë works. Its truthful depictions are at times disturbing but it is the depiction of women that makes this multi-layered plot so intriguing and brilliant.
The only Brontë son, Branwell was a painter and writer. Sacked from several jobs, he struggled to build a successful career and turned to alcohol and drugs before his death aged thirty-one.
The Brontë siblings, including Branwell, were close throughout their lives but particularly in childhood when they spent hours inventing imaginary worlds. Surviving poems, articles and letters from their childhood and later years reveal much about their lives.
So how did Brontë sisters become so famous and why do their works endure? Their use of beautiful language and exploration of complex themes are certainly part of it. However, it is their understanding of human emotion and exploration of the darker side of reality that has made their works endure far beyond their times. Their literary creations remain relatable today and for this reason they have become some of the most enduring English classics.
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