Brontë << BRON tay >> sisters were three sisters who became famous novelists. They were Charlotte (April 21, 1816-March 31, 1855), Emily (July 30, 1818-Dec. 19, 1848), and Anne (Jan. 17, 1820-May 28, 1849). Their lives and works are associated with the lonely moors of Yorkshire, England, where they were born.
Their lives.
Patrick Brontë, the sisters’ father, was a poor Irishman who became the parish clergyman in the small, isolated town of Haworth, Yorkshire. Brontë was somewhat eccentric and inclined to be strict. His wife died in 1821. Her sister brought up the family conscientiously, but with little affection or understanding. The sisters went to several boarding schools where they received a better education than was usual for girls at that time. But the school atmosphere was harsh.
Few jobs were available for women at that time. The Brontë sisters, except for occasional jobs as governesses or schoolteachers, lived their entire lives at home. They were shy, poor, and lonely. They occupied themselves with music, drawing, reading, and—above all—writing. Their isolation led to the early development of their imaginations. In 1846, under the masculine pen names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, the sisters published a joint volume of poems. Although only two copies were sold, all three sisters soon had their first novels published.
Their works.
Charlotte Brontë’s famous novel Jane Eyre (1847) is largely autobiographical. Through the heroine, Charlotte relived the hated boarding school life and her experiences as a governess in a large house. Rochester, the hero and master of the house, is fictional. Jane Eyre was enormously successful. However, many readers were shocked that Rochester, who tried to make Jane his mistress, should be rewarded by marrying her. Some readers were also shocked because Jane wanted to be regarded as a thinking and independent person, rather than as a weak female.
Charlotte Brontë wrote three other novels. The first one, The Professor, was not published until 1857, after her death. Shirley (1849) is set among labor riots of the early 1800’s. Villette (1853), the most popular of the three, is based on Charlotte’s unhappy experiences as a governess in Brussels. Two unpublished manuscripts by Charlotte, a 77-line poem and a 74-line fragment of a story, were discovered by the Brontë Society in 2015. They were published by the society as Charlotte Brontë: The Lost Manuscripts in 2018.
Emily Brontë wrote only one novel, Wuthering Heights (1847), a romantic masterpiece. The work was not as popular as Jane Eyre. It was even more strongly condemned for its brutality, its lack of conventional morality, and its glorification of romantic passion. Not all readers find the supernatural elements, or the hero Heathcliff’s pitiless cruelty, wholly believable. However, the author’s vivid descriptions and her understanding of social class and individual temperament give even the exaggerated elements of her story impact. Her portrait of the moors reveals Emily as a poet of enduring power.
Anne Brontë was the mildest and most patient of the sisters. Both her novels, Agnes Grey (1847) and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), can be seen as less violent versions of Jane Eyre.
See also Jane Eyre; Remembrance; Wuthering Heights.
